Gas tank part Duh.

Kit came in today, so I decided that it would be a quick thing I could do before watching the Bruins win the Stanley Cup.

I did prep the tank, and sprayed the underside with a bed liner material that will cut down on road noise if nothing else.  I then flipped the tank for access to the holes  for the kit installation.  I started by wire brushing all the holes outer surfaces.  They were all in great shape, just dirty.  I used a spray bomb paint to reseal up the bare metal and allowed to cure.  I did pull out the sender which worked fine to install a new o-ring.  Had the process to remove the tank been difficult, I might have replaced the sender out of a precautionary effort, but since the tank comes out quite quickly I decided to reuse the sender.

As I had stated, the tank was in great shape.  The only tell tale leak spots I found were around the grommet holes.

So with Oeticker pincers in hand, I started the reinstall.  First was the sending unit, which received a dab of dielectric lube on the seat.  Mostly as a protectant for the o-ring, but for ease of assembly as well.  I also used it in the grommet holes, and the grommets themselves when inserting the crossover tube.

The kit does not come with directions, but its pretty self explanatory.  Two lines come from each of the vapor tanks in the front wheel wells, and there are two lines on each side that need to be attached up.  One large grommet for the fuel fill tube, and three smaller ones for the crossover tube (2) and the fill neck vent tube (1). Simple stuff really. 

The only advice I have is to use the existing rubber hoses to fashion your replacements with the pre-existing hard plastic pieces, assemble them without clamping yet to ensure you have the length required and then clamp them working your way up from the tank but leaving the last one untouched. 

When you lift the tank into place, put the forward lip into place allowing for access to reattach the sender wires and feed the rubber tubes through the space above the frame rails.  Then lift up the rear of the tank but have a screwdriver handy to wedge in through the cross member hole as to hold up the tank while you get the tank straps and bolts.



Picture taken of filler neck hole before replacement of grommet



Insert the tank straps and finger tighten the bolts so you have no concerns about the security of your tank.  Then you can go to each wheel well and attach the final Oeticker clamps to the vapor canisters.  While you are on the passenger side, insert the filler neck using a bit of the lube and then the vent tube into the final open grommet on top of the tank.  Screw in the three screws that hold up the filler neck to the other plastic filler panel and screw in your cap.

Now go back under, tighten up the tank bolts before you forget and then attach up some new fuel line and clamps to the fuel filter / pump on the passenger side and the return line on the drivers side.  Add some fuel and fire it up.

As you can see from the following pictures, it was not the large filler neck grommet, nor the o-ring at the sending unit, but the three smaller grommets that failed.

First decent day yet this year

Got to play a bit today.  Been dying to dig in, but the 20 degree weather has put a damper on things.

Put the Mercedes wheels I got up in Vermont on the Vanagon.  Needed to do a trial fit, in order to establish the length of wheel studs I will need.  They went right on.  Given that these are an Italian aftermarket version of the venerable 15 x 7 in. Mercedes 8 hole alloy, the holes were already a large enough for the Vanagons rear studs and front lug bolts.  Need to get others though, as the seats do not match given the Vanagons concave seat and the Mercedes conical seat.  Already contacted Chris at T3 Technique for the right ones.

Also had to replace the bulb bases for the front side marker lights.  The design flaw allows moisture to get in and then sits there and rots out the connectors.  Found a pair of aftermarket ones at Bus Depot and they arrived today.  Got them in, soldered in new connectors and replaced the lenses.  Thinking about drilling a very small hole in the bottom of the lens to allow drainage, but jury is still out.

Remainder of the lighting all works except brake lights.  Need to tackle that tomorrow.  Brake switch is located near master cylinder under instrument panel cover.  Just going to replace it regardless of what I find.  Its a pressure switch, unlike more recent cars having an electrical switch.  If the switch is original, its far too old and will require more pressure to activate than a new one.  Will start there tomorrow.

Need to get some pictures going.

Also topped off tank today.  Learned that the vapor release setup on top of tank is leaking.  Common enough issue.  But now that the tank is full, I will need to wait to drop the tank and fix it.