Date:         Thu, 13 Jul 2000 19:22:07 -0400
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <ron@netcarrier.com>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <ron@netcarrier.com>
Subject:      Re: Bus Depot Fuel Tanks
In-Reply-To:  <396E1498.DCDC8537@renaissance-design.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

A couple of additional comments ...

> Dealer tank is $500 Bus Depot is $170.  Dealer tank does have some half
> hearted baffles, didn't think to look in Bus Depot, but the gauge dips
> when I turn corners indicating to me no baffles, or small ones

Actually, my gauge in my '89 does the same thing with the factory tank.  A
while ago when the question was raised on the list, I tried to peer into the
hole in one of my aftermarket tanks to see if it had baffles and really
could not see well enough to tell.  Someone posted to the list that my tank
does have them; maybe he has better eyes than me, or used a flashlight, or
has X-ray vision, I don't know.

> There are two different tanks with different sized holes for the filler
pipe;
> 50mm or 70mm. You can measure your fuel filler neck; since the OD
> of the filler will be less than 50mm if it is a 50mm hole or between
> 50mm and 70mm if it is a 70mm hole.  Mine measured 62 mm and
> was indeed a 70mm tank.

Great idea.  The reason that we ask people to measure the fuel filler hole
is that while the fiche says that the change occurred somewhere in mid-'84,
I have found earlier vans with later tanks.  I have heard that when tanks
were replaced by VW dealers some time ago, they used later model tanks in
earlier vans.  I think that if you have an '85-up van you are pretty likely
to have a later style tank (smaller hole), unless someone put a junkyard
tank in your van. But if you have a pre-85, you could possibly have either
(although if it's '80-83 it's more likely to be the earlier style than not).

> Shipping - the tanks aren't shipped well, i.e. they are put in a single
> layer cardboard box and shipped with nothing else.  Bus Depot has
> experienced these pains and now only ships priority mail, since they
> seem to be gentler.  My tank had 2-3 dents in addition to 2 dents on the
> seam/edge.

Actually most of the damage occurs in transit over the ocean, as the thin
box that you see is all they are packed in for import.  It is not uncommon
for the corners of the tank to be slightly bent, which has no real impact on
functionality.  On the other hand, UPS seemed to be drop-kicking these
things in shipping (i.e. huge dents in the middle of them as if someone had
stepped on them) so we usually ship via Priority Mail now. They are much
more gentle since they handle fewer heavy packages that can get dropped onto
fragile ones.  Due to their size limits we cannot double-box, but we have
had few complaints with Priority Mail so it seems to be working.

> Fuel sender - I also bought a new fuel sender from Bus Depot, which
> worked, but not with the stock O-ring, the mechanic took one from a
> transmission, I think, and made it fit. (problem is stock O-ring is too
> thick).

The sender we ship is an original-equipment VDO.  Not sure why it would not
work with the stock o-ring, but we do sell an o-ring that works (listed in
our catalog and on the website).

> Recommendations - Buy a tank from Bus Depot. You can't beat the price,
> and the problems are typical of any non-dealer part.  It would be nice
> if Bus Depot could workout better shipping arrangements.  Also, My
> mechanic got all new accessories from the dealership.  This ran me
> another $160.  I recommend getting all of the seals Bus Depot sells and
> the filler pipe ($125 from the dealer, but is a new improved design and
> seals alot better).

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  http://www.busdepot.com