Date:         Sun, 16 Jan 2011 10:21:20 -0800
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Update on Belize Vanagon- gas tank
In-Reply-To:  <5155A9F9D588450CA06396C68EE0C776@MAINCOMPUTER>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

   I had that problem with a 356 Porsche gas tank.  I stored the car over a
northwest winter and when I got it into my shop to re-activate it, the whole
interior was covered in green mold...I 'dealt with that' but I could not
keep that thing running properly (dual Weber 44IDA carbs)   I finally traced
my problem to the gas tank, which was also totaly molded inside and sort of
rusty, too.
   I removed all the inside stuff...pick up and screens, etc...and strapped
the tank onto an industrial paint shaker machine with some ball bearings
inside.    an hour on the machine and some rinses with gas left the inside
of the tank all bright and shiny like it should have been...no more fine
mold 'hairs' in the jets of those webers..
  Don Hanson

On Sat, Jan 15, 2011 at 10:07 AM, Courtney Hook <courtneyhook@shaw.ca>wrote:

> Ken, in my motorcycle resto days we used to have bad gastanks all the time
> covered inside with rust. The trick was to have them boiled out by a
> radiator shop, then we used a product called Kreem which is basically a
> plastic coating you pour inside and swirl around to put a lining inside the
> tank. Voila, no more rust ever.
> See what you can do with that.
> Courtney
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Always be yourself, because the people that matter don't mind,
> and the ones who mind, don't matter.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ken Wilford" <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2011 5:47 AM
> Subject: Update on Belize Vanagon
>
>
> Thanks so much to everyone who had ideas about what was wrong with the
> Vanagon I was working on in Belize. After testing several things I decided
> to pull the injectors to watch them spray. Instead of a nice cone shaped
> spray pattern I was seeing a little squirt like from a squirt gun. The fuel
> pressure was good, and I even did a volume test which also seemed good. We
> had another set of injectors handy so I swapped them in and voila! The van
> started and ran well. I was so happy and it was still morning so I thought
> we were going to be able to get back on the road with the van and do some
> sight seeing. The customer had complained about the van running good, and
> then starting to run bad after a bit of running and then not wanting to
> restart when hot. I thought this was probably due to the bad wiring harness
> which has been replaced with a new one but I wanted to be sure. So we let
> the van run and it sat there and idled for about 20 mins. Initially it had
> good power and everything. However after about 20 mins of just idling the
> engine started to not respond well to the throttle and then it just died
> and
> wouldn't restart again! It was acting exactly the same way it had when I
> first got there. I pulled the injectors again and they were spraying in the
> exact same way as the old ones. Just peeing, not really spraying at all. I
> decided to replace the fuel pump. when I pulled the line going to the pump,
> about 3 tablespoons of rust spilled out onto my hand. I had found the
> problem. I blew back into the gas tank, hooked the line back up, and the
> van
> started right up, ran for about a minute or two and then died again and
> wouldn't restart. I think there is so much rust inside the gas tank that it
> just keeps getting sucked up into the system and bogging things down. So
> now
> I have to get a new fuel tank and parts sent down here. I am going to try
> to
> get in touch with the customer today and see what he wants to do. If we can
> get this done, perhaps the van will be back on the road and running well. I
> tested through the entire fuel injection system with a meter and all of the
> grounds and sensor tested fine so I am pretty sure that everything is good
> and that the gas tank is the problem.
>
> Just wanted to let you guys know what I found. One suggestion is to run the
> van off of a new 5 gallon plastic gas tank. However I am not sure how you
> could do this without doing some serious mods (drilling holes and running
> really long fuel lines). If anyone has any ideas in this area, something
> that you have done before, please let me know.
>
> Hope you are having a great day!
>
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> www.vanagain.com
>