Date:         Wed, 21 Jul 1999 19:00:40 EDT
Reply-To:     Ssittservl@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         S Sittservl <Ssittservl@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Auxilliary gas can
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

For a while I've wanted some convenient way to carry some extra gas
for emergencies on my Westfalia.  At only 15 miles to the gallon and
a 16 gallon tank, the cruising range is only a few hours of highway
driving, so it would be pretty easy to make a mistake and not fill up
in time if I wasn't paying attention.  When my gas gauge stopped working
recently, I gave the problem a little more attention while waiting for
the replacement sender to arrive.

There was some discussion on the list a while back about round gas cans
that would fit inside the spare tire.  Griot's Garage (www.griotsgarage.com)
used to sell them, but doesn't anymore.  (They were pretty expensive anyway.)
Volvos apparently use them (or used to), but I never did get around to
hunting through salvage yards and looking into the trunks of wrecked Volvos.

However, I did find something else that worked out just fine: the "One
Gallon Plus" red plastic gas can made by Blitz, and available at Wal-mart
for about $3.  Although it's not round, it fits just fine inside the spare
tire.  My spare tire was in its holder with the open/inner/convex side down;
I turned it over to put that side up.  I set the can so that its long
axis would go side-to-side (rather than front-to-back), with the spout on
the passenger side.  I stuffed thin plastic sheet foam packing material
under and around it, to keep it from sliding around, and placed one
more sheet loosely on top just because it seemed like a good idea.
I secured it with a Coleman tie-down strap through the holes in the
wheel.

With the spare tire rack bolted back into its usual position, there
don't appear to be any clearance problems - the can doesn't touch
anything except the wheel it sits in.  It looks like the radiator fan
exhausts through the area just above the spare tire, so I was a little
concerned the can might impede cooling, since it sticks up a few inches
above the tire, but in 85 degree weather I haven't noticed any problems
so far.

Disclaimer: the installation looks safe to me, but I don't have any
particular knowledge of safe gasoline handling practices.  I figure
a commercial gas can ought to be a safe container, particularly since
it's outside the van and wrapped in a big air cushion (the tire).
There are electrical wires a few inches away from the can, and an
electric fan a few inches beyond that; that seemed OK to me, but
again I'm no expert.  I'd appreciate any comments from anyone who
knows more about handling gasoline.

I'll add a picture to my web site (members.aol.com/ssittservl/Westfalia)
as soon as the film's developed.  (But it's just going to look like a
gas can in a tire, so don't get too excited.)

                                   -Steven Sittser