Date:         Fri, 21 Jun 1996 18:52:38 +0100
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         verbeek@the-hague.stbv.slb.com (Brian Verbeek)
Subject:      Re: some big trouble with a locking gas cap

Jonathan askes:

>i've got a friend with '74? bug that has an aftermarket gas cap that locks..and
>he has lost the keys to the cap...and is outta gas...what's the best way to get
>the cap off without majorly damaging anything......i think i'll get rid of my
>locking gas cap and find an original..what the heck can you do if the keys are
>gone?

I'd do the following:

Pop the hood and disconnect the filler tube. Then remove the vent hose
alongside of the filler tube together with its screw-in connector.
Then you should be able to slide the whole thing from the inside out and use
your drills/hammer/chisels/file/ what have you to remove the fuelcap, if you
fail to remove it or the tube gets damaged in the proces: just replace it all
together. I might overlook something here because the US models have an all
metal filler tube while we still had the small tube with two rubber hose type
connections, the newer MexiBugs do have the metal tube.

Hope it helps,

Brian