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Rickf1985
Samba Member
Joined: November 26, 2022
Posts: 285
Location: NJ
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 Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 5:13 pm Post subject: Interesting gas tank discovery |
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| Emptied out the old gas from my 71 Supers tank and put new lines front to back and put the tank back in. Added a few gallons and primed the carb to get it running to get gas through the line and, Nothing. Line was plugged. The line from the tank to the front pipe was not all that bad as I had replaced it about 6 years ago so it was still connected when I just replaced them with new. But the line from the body to the engine had broken off a couple years ago when I was working on it. I have been running it on a gas can and electric pump since then. So I figured my problem was going to be in the body side pipe. Nothing to lose at this point so I get my small air line and take the gas cap off and blow some air in and nothing. air line does not fit tight which is what I want, I don't want 100 lbs of pressure on it. So I hit it again and pop, the line from the tank to body pops off. Ok, good news is that the entire line under the car is clear, bad news is the tank is plugged. I am thinking this can be easy or a total messy disaster since I have several gallons of gas in the tank that really needs to come out now to free up the line. So I tried blowing the line out to the tank with gas can at the ready but nothing so out it came, again. I found out that the line goes inside in a U shape to a filter under a plug which is a real treat to get out after 50 years. That line was plugged, plugged, PLUGGED!!! Filter was ate in half. I had another very nice tank but it had the same issue, it did have a good filter though so I used the good filter out of that tank in mine after getting the tube cleaned out and got it all back together and in again. Going to blow out the line through the body with high pressure tomorrow and hook it all back up and try again. I am probably going to need a pump. The pumps I see for sale now look totally different from the one I have. |
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viiking
Samba Member
Joined: May 10, 2013
Posts: 2668
Location: Sydney Australia
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| Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 7:29 pm Post subject: Re: Interesting gas tank discovery |
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Using air to blow out fuel lines or tanks is a disaster waiting to happen.
Air flowing through a plastic air line builds up static and combined with the correct fuel to air ratio provides a perfect fire triangle and explosion ready to happen.
_________________
1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3 |
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Rickf1985
Samba Member
Joined: November 26, 2022
Posts: 285
Location: NJ
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| Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:30 pm Post subject: Re: Interesting gas tank discovery |
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| Plastic air lines? My shop air runs through 1/2" steel pipe and all my hoses are good old fashioned rubber. Hell, my newest hose is probably 30 years old. I don't know if that is what you are talking about but I have no plastic air lines. In addition, these lines on the car have not had gas in them for 10 years minimum. And 30 some odd years as a firefighter I am well aware of the fire triangle and fire safety. You forgot to mention the compressor motor and lights though. My compressor is in another section of the building not connected to the shop and the lights are all enclosed. Yup, I have it covered but that is a good thought. With that said in all the years in the fire company I have never heard of an air hose starting a fire. |
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viiking
Samba Member
Joined: May 10, 2013
Posts: 2668
Location: Sydney Australia
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| Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:38 pm Post subject: Re: Interesting gas tank discovery |
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Plastic, rubber are non conductive (generally).
45 years in the petrochemical industry and history is littered with accidents caused by static build up in compressed air lines discharging into flammable vessels. It even happens in airplane wing fuel tanks. Even in steel lines with high particulates in the air feed can cause charge separation between the air flow and the grounded steel pipes. That’s why we used to purge lines with nitrogen or steam.
Didn’t mean to offend but I shudder when I see people on here advocating that blowing lines through to the fuel tank. Yes it’s an unlikely scenario but then the severity of the accident is usually inversely proportional to the risk likelihood. That is the more unlikely an event is going to be the worse the consequences are.
_________________
1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3 |
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busman78
Samba Member
Joined: August 17, 2004
Posts: 4524
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
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| Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2022 7:56 am Post subject: Re: Interesting gas tank discovery |
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| So the fuel line is steel, the tank is steel, both are secured to the body/frame, the vehicle is grounded, I have a hard time believing blowing air from the rear of a vehicle to the front through steel line is going to cause a catastrophic explosion. |
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Rickf1985
Samba Member
Joined: November 26, 2022
Posts: 285
Location: NJ
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| Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2022 8:00 am Post subject: Re: Interesting gas tank discovery |
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| Always better safe than sorry. I am a product of my age I guess. |
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Tom K.
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Joined: March 10, 2005
Posts: 1606
Location: Central Pennsylvania
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viiking
Samba Member
Joined: May 10, 2013
Posts: 2668
Location: Sydney Australia
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| Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2022 12:59 pm Post subject: Re: Interesting gas tank discovery |
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| busman78 wrote: |
| So the fuel line is steel, the tank is steel, both are secured to the body/frame, the vehicle is grounded, I have a hard time believing blowing air from the rear of a vehicle to the front through steel line is going to cause a catastrophic explosion. |
Car is not grounded as tyres partially insulate the vehicle. This is the phenomenon of getting a static shock when alighting from vehicle after driving on a dry day. Toll collection points used to have anti static “aerials” on the roadway to discharge the static so that the toll collector didn’t get shocked when being handed the money.
However grounding is irrelevant. The problem exists where the charge (potential) is different between the moving air and the steel piping. In fact the grounding of the piping can actually make the charge difference even higher.
Here’s a short and interesting article on static charges and aeroplanes.
https://news.stanford.edu/pr/97/970724twa800.html
_________________
1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3 |
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Rickf1985
Samba Member
Joined: November 26, 2022
Posts: 285
Location: NJ
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| Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2022 8:31 am Post subject: Re: Interesting gas tank discovery |
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| Tom K. wrote: |
| Attach metal cable to your drill and drill that tube clean - counter clockwise to keep the cable from unravelling. |
I used to have a box of old broken speedo cables and that was what they were used for.
As it turns out I did not blow out the line because I flat out forgot it. If I did I would not have had the following drama. I put the tank back in and hooked up the front line and put gas in the tank. Went back and hocked up the lines on the pump and thankfully the car is up on stands because I looked under it to see a steady stream of gas running out! Turns out the line popped off at the back of the motor at the same time it popped off up front. Well, I know the line is clear, and well flushed!!!! Jumped down there on the freezing floor and clamped off the line and jammed it back on the tube and then spent 20 minutes trying to get by arthritic old hand in a position to release the vice grip on the line. Did I mention the concrete floor was freezing? And I was laying inches from a half gallon puddle of gas. Now, what was it we were saying about fire safety? Guess it was a good thing I didn't have my salamander heater going huh? No, I never have the heater going when working on fuel systems. And that is exactly why.
So, Got it all together, got the gas cleaned up and fired it up. Gas flowed to carb great and I figured I was finally in business. I can move it out of the garage so I can move it back in next week to pull the motor out. Nope, fuel pump is leaking. Oh well. The engine is coming out of this thing to be cleaned up and resealed and all the tin replaced so I am just putting my temporary electric pump on there for now to be able to start and move it. But this was just to show the interesting things you will find and run into with these old bugs. |
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