Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 19:54:22 -0400
Reply-To: "Michael S. Nichols" <m.s.nichols@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Michael S. Nichols" <m.s.nichols@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: repair gas tank--Busdepot.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hello from Atlanta, GA 30306. Wait! Before you order a new Busdepot.com
gas tank, please hear what happened to me with one of their new aftermarket
gas tanks..... I
specified the correct 70 mm opening for the filler neck for my '81 air
cooled vanagon,
and that is the tank I received. I gave it an extra coat of Rustoleum
paint, installed new grommets, fuel lines, O ring for fuel gauge and proper
new VW donut
gasket for filler neck. Sounds great, right? Well, the tank went in the
Vanagon fine, but leaked at the filler donut. What did I do wrong? After
many hours under the car with my GA Tech student son trying to see what was
wrong, we measured and realized that the Busdepot.com tank itself had the 70
mm
hole one quarter inch lower than the genuine VW tank that came with the van.
This small difference did not allow the filler neck to go into the new
Busdepot tank without binding on the frame of the van, and this caused the
leak.
Upshot of my story? I would measure the filler neck opening and it's
relationship to the tank seams on any aftermarket tank you purchase from
Busdepot.com. Busdepot apparently does not
check the specs on the aftermarket items they sell---if you followed the
"exhaust not fitting" thread last week, you can sense the frustration of
customers who buy in good faith, only to find that the "it fits just like
the original VW part" mantra of volume discount parts sellers is mostly a
volume merchandising myth.
The last thing that I want to read on this list is how the vendor was
assured by the importer that the part fit fine, and it is a bad importer
that is to blame.
Good luck with your gas tank project!
Regards,
Mike Nichols
2--'81 air cooled Vanagons
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dennis Haynes" <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 6:18 PM
Subject: Re: repair gas tank
> Just get a new one from Bus Depot. I think they are about $169.
>
> Dennis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of Al and Sue Brase
> Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 12:24 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: repair gas tank
>
> It seems my 91 GL, which is my newest/ lowest mileage Vanagon, but
> unfortunately from Pennsylvania., has a gas tank with LOTS of rust in
> it. After taking it off, it appears to have a LOT of rust on the upper
> outside.
> I've got another less rusty tank from my parts 87, but it's got a couple
> of flattened areas at the back corners (possibly from over zealous SNOW
> driving with 4 studded snow tires).
> Does anyone have any experience popping out dents with air pressure.
> Or is this a good way to get my name on the obit page?
> This tank has some rust powder in it as well. I was thinking of
> perhaps rinsing it out with metal prep (phosphoric acid) to at least
> stop the rust temporarily.
> OR, does anyone have a nice non-rusty tank for sale? I'm in Iowa. I
> suppose it would ship by Greyhound; not sure about others- It might be
> considered a bomb if it were put on an airplane! I think a tank emptied
> of gasoline is perhaps more explosive than one filled with gas.
> Al brase
> 69 doublecab, 91 vanagon, 87 parts car
>
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