TheSamba.com :: View topic

Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:39 pm

the manual says 10.6gal. i think i got shorted. mine is 9.8. found out on the way home tonight! :lol:

i think a fuel guage will be an upgrade shortly. at least i was able to drift it about a 1/8 mile to the station. all slightly downhill thankfully. but seven still, i was surprised it coasted so far! :shock:

Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:17 pm

You may need to "burp" it to get the full 10.6 in.

Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:55 pm

what year is your bug? does it have a reserve lever and did you use it?

Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:04 pm

63. don't know anything about a reserve lever.

Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:24 pm

Do you have no gas gauge now? Those without a gauge (oldies and later standards?) came with a tap--a lever by your driver's toe that when opened, gives you another gallon or so of gas.

Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:18 pm

very interesting. thank you for the info. i went out and looked tonight. i do not have a guage. don't know if it originally came with on or not. but i did find the lever! well, sort of. it is yet another piece hidden behind the PO's uphostlery job!

so now i have found my belt attachments, still trying to pinpoint the back seat hook mount but pretty much know where it is, and now the lever which i can feel through the carpeting! LOL thanks very much. i had no idea.

Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:38 pm

So now that you found it, it begs the question, which position was it in, normal or reserve? Was that that cause for your less than 10.6 gallons added?

Above it was mentioned to "burp" the gas tank. I've done that for years, it's habit for me to pull in at a gas station so if there's any noticable slope or grade to the station's lot that my filler neck is on the high side. When the tank is about full I'll bounce on the bumper a couple of times, fill some more.

Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:48 pm

straight up and down.normal. so that seems to explain the gallon almost difference.

i am continually amazed with the simplicity of design on the car. i wonder why we got away from 'simple'?!

Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:29 am

Are you sure your car is a '63? :shock: I thought Deluxes dropped the reserve lever in '62...

Fri Jul 18, 2008 4:02 am

I have a 63 but don't see a reserve lever but have a red reserve section on my fuel gauge. should i have a reserve lever or is it just supposed to pull from the reserve automatically. I've never been able to put 10+ gallons in the fuel tank.

Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:15 am

No, the fuel guage replaced the reserve lever. The reserve section of the fuel gauge is entirely "mental" - assuming your gauge is even accurate at that point, a lot of them are not!

Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:29 am

so was the gauge an option in 63 and the ones without the option had a lever?

as far as i can tell mine is a 63. body and vin match, titled 63 and on the vin sheet it comes up like march or so 63.

why would there be a cutoff position? it is nice to have for security these days i guess.

Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:45 am

No, in 1962 when they introduced the fuel gauge, it was a standard issue item on Deluxe models, and those cars would not have a reserve lever. After that time the reserve lever and valve was never an item featured on Deluxe models. I think I read somewhere that the reserve tap continued on a couple years on the bargain-basement Standard model that was not sold in the US. ( I guess on those cars if you ordered an accessory fuel gauge then it might have been possible that you'd have ended up with both.)

I wonder if your body really is a 63 - does it have solid heater ducts under the back seat?

The cutoff position, I don't think it was a security thing, more just a way of them labelling the transition dead spot between the two sides of the valve. Usually you use it as a handy way to shut off the gas when you are working on the fuel system or pulling the engine.

-Andy