NSW Corvettes
Technical Tips => Pre 84 => Topic started by: rebel on June 16, 2003, 02:14:38 PM
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Folks,
Has anyone ever had the experience with corrosion or other contaminants in the fuel tank of their C3 ... ?
Besides the replacement of the tank, what other ideas are out there regarding a solution ?
Do tanks clean well ... and are they expensive ?
Appreciate any comments ..
Thanx ...
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been there done this alot,IE take the tank out and fixed holes, didn't work. so replaced at great expense. But taking out one is relatively easy, just remember to take mufflers off, the long way at the start is the quicker way at the end when it comes to putting it back, most fiddly part is centreing the filler cap and making sure the straps(metal) are tight,also the return line on the near side is fiddly connecting back up,all in all don;t rush it and you'll succeed ;);););)
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It seems a fairly straight forard sort of job, but with the usual fiddy bit entrained along with it. JH has just about covered them all, but would include the metal tank cover on the list of PITA items.
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Um...... if taking the tank out make sure it is near empty! Don't ask me why I know this is a good thing to do. ;laugh
Also, replace the rubber fuel lines while you're there.
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hmmm .. interesting there's no mention of the spare and cover as well ...
The best long term solution is to replace the tank with a new one. That's obviously a more expensive option and at the moment that's not appropriate. Alternatives include draining and cleaning, having a someone like JayJays in Arncliffe cut it, re coat and seal at a lower cost .... or .... placing a heavy duty magnet at the base of the tank to contain any metal filings, installing a fine, good quality filter in the fuel line and simply replacing that every few months whilst fueling up at the qrtr tank level.
It appears this prob dates back to pre Convention and I was surprised that only one of the fuel compartments in the carb was working.
Thanx for comments ...
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SR Perf fixed mine Rebel.About a year ago my tank was leaking,he patched it up and hasnt leaked since!The holes were created by the metal surround strapes rubbing on the tank!So if you fix your tank yourself or use somebody else,make sure you got some rubber in between.Rubber that doesnt melt ! just incase when your filling and the petrol over flows .Mine spills over on the odd occassion and has melted the rubber a bit!
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just another thought that arrived in the way of a rough running big block with a quadrajet carbie, was a dirty fuel filter on the incoming fuel line in the front of the carbie,was blocked full of crap so we gave it the flick and put an inline sports filter clamped to the inside of the guard( well away from getting overheated near the motor) never had another problem with crap coming from the tank, even after fitting a new tank ( still don;t trust petrol stations););););););) by the way best guy for overhauling and modifying quadrajets is sams performance padstow
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Originally posted by rebel
hmmm .. interesting there's no mention of the spare and cover as well ...
One would assume you would know to take that off first! :b2:b2:b2
;--
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Rebel- I have a spare vette tank lying around:p I was suprised it was made of plastic, very light. Anyway, I'll lend it to you if your desperate, still has some optimax in it too! Although the tank only a few years younger than yours!
Adam
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Thanx WR, appreciate the offer.
I should have posted an update but on closer inspection it turned out the tank was full of sand and other debris. A good clean and a vacuum seems to have solved the problem for now. I also fitted a fine fuel filter in line and will keep an eye on that every few months or so to see how it goes.
Thanx to everyone for the responses here too!
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Maybe you could replace the rubber strip around the tank with a nylon strip. Just a thought;27
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I believe there is a product you can use to line your tank with.....a liquid that is sloshed around inside to coat the innards and protect it from any corrosion.
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AT the risk of sounding like a smart arse,
KEEP YOUR TANK FULL WHEN NOT IN USE!!! :evil
Of petrol that is!:};35
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On aircraft there is a tap on the bottom of the tank, the point is, b4 each flight u let out some fuel to take out any water and misc. that may be there. Perhaps an idea for the hardcore motorist.
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Try here for a comprehensive how-to on tank removal and re-installation. Nobody covers his work more thoroughly than Scott81.
http://www.c3sharktank.com/tech2/rearsusp/rear4.html
You might want to check out the rest of his vast range of info on his web page. Check my sig for the link.
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Originally posted by rebel
Thanx WR, appreciate the offer.
... the tank was full of sand and other debris. ....
Sand!!?? :mmm:mmm:mmm;eek;eek;eek
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U know, sand, rocks, birds...
Make sure you have a lockable cap for that matter as anyone can slip anything in yer tank.
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There's nothing like driving past the Kurnell sandhills every working day to test the seals on your car.;eek
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Yea, all those herbs an spices can eat thru the vinyl weatherstrips
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The guy formerly known as 77CVT ... ;-)
Not sure how the sand got to be there but I can guess that when it went through the original restore some years back, the cap was off whilst the panel beater sanded back the panels etc. The previous owner to me had the thing garaged for most of the time he had it so he wouldn't have noticed a prob.
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When I dropped my tank a while back it was a rather easy job, of course make sure it's fairly empty like stated above. I started out as just needing to replace the spring, so much for a nice simple job. Mine was clean but had some surface rust that was easily cleaned up using OxySolve from a company called Eastwood here in the states. It was a messy job but well worth it, I then primered and painted it with a silver zinc paint made for gas tanks. Putting the tank back in is a bit of a pain, getting the rubber lines connected while at the same time lifting the tank was not fun.
If I had to do it all over again I would have cleaned the tank up and put a layer of fiberglass over the outside, then painted that. Also one thing to keep in mind is that some tanks have a rubber/plastic bladder inside them, I'm not sure what year that started though. These baldders are known to collapse over the years which results in you being able to put less fuel in the tank, then it's replace the whole tank time. And if you have an 81 like me, there are no replacements made.
One last tip, if you have your tank out pull the sending unit and check it, also replace the filter sock on it. It's a press fit so it will take some effort to get it off.