TheSamba.com :: View topic - Fuel Tank Cross Over Pipe

Tue Jul 21, 2009 4:26 pm

Tired of the nylon fittings busting on the cross over tube (this is the 2nd time for me) and the fact that VW has discontinued them I decided to make my own fittings.

This took me a few hours on a lathe and got me what I needed.

:D

I really was ready to just fabricate my own fuel tank and eliminate the whole cross-over equlization and venting non-sense but that was going to take a bit more time. I'd really like to thermo form a poly-tank but would have to price that out as well as the tooling. Maybe if I had a whole lot of youse guys commit to a bigger lighter poly tank we could make it a tank co-op effort and split the costs. :wink:

Tue Jul 21, 2009 5:15 pm

Sir, this is awesome! Welcome to the Samba!

Tue Jul 21, 2009 5:22 pm

I must be a french fry shy of a Happy Meal but I dont see a few hours on a lathe.
I see a 90' brass angle piece and another brass piece sticking out of it.

Looks as if a drill bit could have accomplished the same thing.
Im interested so please explain.

Tue Jul 21, 2009 5:38 pm

Am I the only one not seeing the pictures ??

edit: seeing them now, but only after switching rendering in Firefox from IE back to Firefox. Weird :?

Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:19 pm

James 93SLC wrote: Am I the only one not seeing the pictures ??

edit: seeing them now, but only after switching rendering in Firefox from IE back to Firefox. Weird :?

No, you are not the only one, count me in. I do not see the pictures either and... I use Safari.

Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:35 pm

512dude wrote: ... Maybe if I had a whole lot of youse guys commit to a bigger lighter poly tank we could make it a tank co-op effort and split the costs. ...

I've often been told I should be committed.

Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:01 am

Maybe re-do the post. I'm not seeing the pictures, either.

Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:10 am

deprivation wrote: Maybe re-do the post. I'm not seeing the pictures, either.

As above, I first opened the thread in Firefox, no pics. Then I opened it in IE, could see the pics, then when I came back to Firefox, pics visible!

I'm tryin' to figure out where the lathe comes into play. Did he turn that hose out of a rubber billet?

8)

Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:33 am

Let me explain...

You are correct, the part you see is an off the shelf fitting but I did need to modify it by taking the barbs off the neck from one side so that it sealed well against the grommet. My tests showed that with the barbs in place it didn't retain itself as well and I figured I might as well do it right the first time. However. since I am an amateur machinist I had to figure out how to hold that fitting in the lathe so I could turn the neck down. That part took me the longest until I discovered a 4 jaw chuck hiding in the cabinet below the machine. :D

I turned down the two fittings and then drilled a hole 45 degrees to the corner of the elbow. I then found a 1/4" barbed fitting that also needed to be turned down to fit inside the hole I drilled.

Last step was to braze the two parts together to get a good seal.

Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:40 am

I don't have access to a lathe so how much would you sell a set of those for?

Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:54 am

Quote: Tired of the nylon fittings busting on the cross over tube (this is the 2nd time for me) and the fact that VW has discontinued them I decided to make my own fittings. Does this happen often? How would I know - gas leaking all over?
I just replaced the crossover, using GW's aftermarket part... (which was too short but that's another story...)

Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:06 am

Busted fittings result in gasoline leaking on to the top of the tank - especially when full - and a strong odor of fuel after filling the tank. If you jack up the front end of your vehicle you can reach thru the wheel well and check the fuel cross over line fittings to see if they are cracked. I can just weasel my arm thru the wheel well when my van is not jacked-up but it is tricky. I was doing this occasionally at the gas pump after filling up to check for leaks.

Re: costs for making a tube....I'm checking what it would cost in larger quantities with options to supply folks with them ;)

Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:16 pm

Excellent solution. Well done.

Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:24 am

Nice Job! You better get a patent for this quick before someone steals your idea :shock: I can think of one person on here who is probably trying this out right now (its not me). Mail yourself a copy of your drawings and don’t ever open it, save that for a judge. I'm not sure how far you want to go with this but it’s just an idea.

And you got an EXCELLENT from tencent so you know you are golden :)

I would be interested in this as well.

Cheers,

Thu Jul 30, 2009 12:00 pm

This is awesome work!

Very briefly.. on the 'patent' idea, I wouldnt rush out just yet. While not exactly quite like the design above, and not suitable for our petrol tanks I found this on the first search

"3/8" OD x 1/4" ID Reducing Tube Tee with 1/4" x 1 /8" Side Barb sized for the smaller Primer Line (as shown in picture with tubes attached). Price = $ 3.44 each"
http://www.lakeaviation.ca/accessories.html?CategoryID=102

I'm sure with a little more digging one could find a better match for our requirements.

I'm not trying to piss on anyone's parade, this is a great custom solution (especially machining off the upper barb)

Tue Aug 18, 2009 6:03 am

I would highly recommend getting intouch with VanCafe.
They are looking for people such as yourself and great Vanagon specific fixes to sell for you.
They could sell many I'm sure.
Nice job.
Good price.

dylan

Tue Aug 18, 2009 6:37 am

Right on!
I knew somebody would step up...
8)

Tue Aug 18, 2009 8:13 am

not to burst bubbles, and I think copper is so much prettier than aluminum but van-cafe has a set-up already.

http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van_1249817945240/page_495_971/fuel_tank_cross_over_pipe.html

Tue Aug 18, 2009 8:25 am

I've always wondered why VW used 2 expansion tanks in the system?
...with the cross over tube..wouldn't just one be enough? :?

Tue Aug 18, 2009 8:36 am

The top of the fuel tank has a low spot down the center to accomodate I believe the heater tube on an air cooled vanagon and the shift linkage. This design left the fuel tank with two identical high spots. The engineers probably felt it necessary to vent both sides independently which included the two tanks. The cross over tube was neccessary to equalize the atmoshpere on both sides of the tank on fill up. Just a guess.