Shameless Plug: New Gas Tank repair webpage

[kaeferman]

Uh. no. I m pretty sure it went up like it is in the pic. Why would it go above the shifter rod? I ll have to check some other rides to see if they ran them above from the factory, I guess!? I haven't had any trouble out of it...

[dhaavers]

Please tell us you put the crossover tube ABOVE the shifter & hoses on your reinstall...???

Looks great!

- Dave
_________________
86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[kaeferman]

I completed my fuel system upgrades with great success i am confident to report at this point. I ordered Van Cafe's aluminum vent kit and their fuel lines kit with their billet fuel rails. I did all the rubber from the filler neck to the fuel injectors, so that I would feel safer knowing I had fresh rubber holding my gas in. My only issue was that several weeks after completion I smelled gas and after checking my new fuel rails, I found one wet. I tighted a clamp and fixed it. I thought I'd post a few pics to aid others.
A couple tips for share.
I used ramps for the front wheels and jacked the read and put bus on stands and had plenty of room to drop tank.
3 Irwin Quick Grip squeeze clamps (carpenter tool for home improvement supply) were really clutch to help me keep gas out of the ground. Don't pollute!

my tank coming down showing what your old lines might look like , red plug on the left is what was keeping gas from spewing on the ground at fill ups.

My tank on horses with new lines and vents. You can see I did a new sender unit and seal. Don't botch that up on install or your be repeating the tank drop...
Best of luck,
B

[yiucycle]

found some pic of it, hope Kayakwesty will get the site back up or post the text here.

http://kayakwesty.smugmug.com/Cars/Van3/44876861_gR5NKz#!i=3600996776&k=XrSN9mG
_________________
1980 2.8LV6 Fiero ASI/Riviera Vanagon
"there is no point in being embarrassed of all the stupid shit i done and will continue to do"

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[jimf909]

Thanks for finding this thread. I've been looking for a different reference because nearly all the fuel tank threads pointed to kayak's (broken) link.

I recommend attending to the vent system too. My tank was resealed by a shop last year and the vent is not working now (it may have been venting through leaky seals cause you could smell gas before it was sealed).

In my searches I was looking for a common reasons for a fuel tank to not vent (big "woosh!" when opening the gas cap). Obviously it's not venting. Is there a check valve that clogs? I'm interested in a test procedure too.
_________________
- Jim

[kaeferman]

Kayak's write up is not clickable from this thread that I could get to work...
I found this one:
http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/technical/how-to/vanagon-gastank-removal.txt
i'm not quite done with it yet but I'll see if I can post some pics of my efforts to get my fuel tank repaired.
I bought my kit from Van Cafe which has aluminum fittings and the correct grommets and lines. They also make replacement billet fuel rails that I'm putting in too. No Fires!! Vanagons hate them.
Just trying to figure out if I need to replace the evaporation lines to the top of the expansion tanks and back to the charcoal can too? Might try to test these somehow. B

[wasserbox]

[kayakwesty]

[wasserbox]

[PDXWesty]

Mark - I'm just curious why the current seals don't last longer than the original OEM seals. I've had three different vanagons in 10 years and none of the tanks have leaked and still don't. (knock on wood) I'm sure I'll have to do it some day, but I would expect it to last another 15 years. Every three years seems rediculous.
_________________
89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[randiego]

Kayak, I just completed this repair - it was a bit tougher than you made it out to be, but thanks!
No leaks, the gas gauge works again (and the engine is running better, a hoped-for result).

A few notes:
1) for the expansion tanks, reinstall them to the bolt first, then use a blunt pry bar to pop them into the oval depression. Learned that one using trial-and-error.

2) The GoWesty re-designed crossover tube turned out to be about 1.5" too short, which made it VERY difficult to reinstall. I ended up using their T-connectors and bought my own fuel line and made my own. Mine went in immediately.

3) The grommets for the expansion tank check-valves are totally unavailable. I found them at a place called "Airhead Parts" in California (http://www.airheadparts.com/home.asp).

4) Kayak's tip about making the hoses that hang off the tank extra long turned out to be important... it's hard to keep track of where they are when you're trying to place the tank and re-connect the hoses on top of the tank.

5) Kayak's tip about using vaseline on the seals worked well too. I almost popped a grommet into the tank before I tried it.

[Terry Kay]

The bed liner is a good way to retard any further rusting of the tank--especially up on the top.

The only thing I would alter is; forget about adding any foam strap insulation tape.
It'll hold water and rust faster--even with the bed liner under it.
It'd be a better deal to just bedliner the tank & the straps, let it set up and then bolt the straps up to the tank.
_________________
T.K.

[kayakwesty]

Thanks here is the new site,the links are fixed! The Earthlink site is dead site, that EarthLink hasn't canceled for some reason or another

http://www.kayakwesty.com/gastank.html
_________________
1984 Westy 2.0 Jetta ABA Motor/1.8 head converted to auto tranny, with 180,000 on body, 55K on engine and transmission

B.5.5 Passat Wagen with 30v V6-67000 Miles

DAS AUTO

CHANGE YOUR FUEL LINES!

A post without pictures is useless

http://www.kayakwesty.com

http://www.waldensridgewhitewater.com/

[thirdman]

Brilliant write-up!
_________________
1983 Rustfalia
1984 Wolftsturd
1985 Vanagon GL

[riosclass]

Kayakwesty the earthlink link is dead. Also I just got the reseal kit from van-cafe , any difference from the gowesty kit... I saw one on vanagain that claimed it was more complete, but it didn't say how, and cost $20 more than what I paid. Anyway, waiting for them to come in and hopefully your link wil be up so I can print it and test it

Ok, I found a way to access everything go to http://home.earthlink.net/~mark.cumnock/westfalia/
and from the top there you will see different topics to click on

kayak, I loved your disclaimer

"*** Okay let me note if you do any of the above I just posted it will kill you, and YOU WILL blow yourself up and the surrounding 5 block neighboorhood. You will make the 6 o'clock news and your kids will be orphans. Then the lawyers will get involved and ban all people from working on their own vans, later the politicians will get involved and ban all the Westys ...thanks to you no less ...so how do you live with yourself ? ***"
_________________
1986 vanagon poptop wolfsburg edition

[BigDog]

Gee, I feel all left out. Here is a sticky post about gas tank repair and all the links are dead.

[kayakwesty]

[pushkick]

where did you get those locking pliers that are plastic i cant find them anywhere

[redstripe GTI]

That rocks. Good article. I was supposed to do this last weekend but I had to help out a friend with a house renovation (long story) I'm glad I caught this before doing it- certainly saved my a trip halfway through to go buy more fuel line. I bought the grommets and orings through the dealer for $28 cad and the t line was $70 so I was going to wait and see but maybe I'll go for broke and replace it too ( I have extra money from working last weekend.
_________________
When my time comes I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandpa- not screaming like the passengers in his car.


1985 Doublecab Transporter

[kayakwesty]