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Mon Jun 04, 2012 3:59 pm

Hi Guys!

after months of not driving my split , i have decided to completely service it so i have started removing the gas tank for old gas and rust removal .....

once i have removed the fuel tap , i have found that it was completely unuseable , no gas passed through it .

once i have disassembled it , i have found that it has a rubber piece inside , that was completely worn and out of shape .......

anyone knows a source for that rubber piece ??

the fuel tap is an almost NOS split unit with the 8mm pipe ....

any help will be greatly appreciated !

thank you

Ricardo

Mon Jun 04, 2012 4:04 pm

VW used a few different ones. Do you have a photo of yours?

Mon Jun 04, 2012 4:14 pm

well , i can get a pic of the complete unit ....the rubber seems to be a round piece with some holes in it

Mon Jun 04, 2012 4:42 pm

I have that rubber disc for the early taps. See zarwerks.com. Got any ribbed semaphore arms???? :lol:

Mon Jun 04, 2012 5:03 pm

What is the washer for ?

Mon Jun 04, 2012 5:11 pm

It's for the cup.

Mon Jun 04, 2012 5:37 pm

got it !! mine was perfect and not leaking . that`s why i didn`t even notice that it existed ...

Tue Jun 05, 2012 7:13 am

johnshenry wrote: I have that rubber disc for the early taps. See zarwerks.com. Got any ribbed semaphore arms???? :lol:

What rubber nowadays will work for this application? With various amounts of ethanol in the fuel these days, what rubber will withstand being immersed in fuel all the time?

Recommendations?

Tue Jun 05, 2012 7:28 am

That's a good question.

I once made one by using the old gasket as a pattern. I cut the holes using appropriately sized brass tubing that I had sharpened the ends. I put it in my drill press (without it running) and punched the holes.

I just used a large rubber washer I bought at the hardware store. Everything worked fine but when I eventually took the tap apart the rubber had swollen.

Tue Jun 05, 2012 7:55 am

I tested these rubber discs thoroughly before plunking down way more money that I will probably ever make selling them (the tooling costs were high). I soaked them in gasoline for nearly a week and checked for swelling. It was under 5% IIRC. And it really is not that much of an issue (5%) as the disc is entirely captive in the seal on all sides.

Buna-N rubber was used I think, known for its petroleum product and oil resistance. It is the same rubber that is used in rubber fuel line hose.

Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:52 am

I've never taken apart a Split-era tap but my later Bus original one is cork.

Were they originally cork?

Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:17 am

maybe the rubber piece transmuted to a cork type material after 60 years .....

mine was never touched and it was rubber , rotten rubber

Ricardo

Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:59 am

I think I remember seeing some cork ones at one point long ago. But I really don't see that working well at all.

I have a few NOS ones. Old black rubber, as stiff as plastic now...

Tue Jun 05, 2012 1:07 pm

The one in my '60 was cork.

Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:48 pm

If you make your own, VITON gasket material is the way to go. It is impervious to gas/oil/diesel/gas additives and does not swell.

Wed Jun 06, 2012 3:05 am

what is the thickness of that seal ?? i have removed the one i have here , but it came out in pieces :):):)

Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:33 am

splitpartsunlimited wrote: what is the thickness of that seal ?? i have removed the one i have here , but it came out in pieces :):):)

Should be about 3mm

Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:20 pm

thank you Nancy !! now i know how much i have to thread the retainer in

Ricardo