Fuel Tank Cross Over Pipe - My Fix

[512dude]

Not sure why the photo links aren't working but here is a model of what it looked like and what I had quoted.

[Volksaholic]

I replaced the crossover pipe a couple years ago but early this month had to drop the tank due to a leak... turned out to be the filler neck donut. I don't know about the rest of you, but trying to get this stupid crossover in and out of my van is a B!TCH... especially the driver's side where the A/C hoses cross over the frame. Maybe it's because I've got big hands.

I reglued the donut with RTV, which is mostly holding with very slight seepage/fumes, but knowing I was going to have to pull it again I replaced the hard line with a slightly longer length of 1/2" fuel hose on the stock fittings. It seems to fit well but I can get it on and off the Y-fitting on the passenger side without having a fourth set of knuckles between my wrist and base of my fingers. That leaves it loose enough to drop the tank down to get it off the other side.

Paul
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1988 Wolfsburg Edition, 2001 Subaru EJ251

[Busdepot]

I'm happy to report that we have the original style crossover pipe available again, at a very reasonable price. This is the correct tube with 2 ends, just like OEM, for $39 complete.

Link:
http://busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=251201147B
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- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot
www.busdepot.com

[Kopasz]

I'm at the service shop on SE 82nd right now dealing with this very problem. Using my phone to search the samba for a solution so I can go camping this weekend. I would love to be able to see the pics in this post!
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adam

'87 Wolfsburg Weekender, Bostig Zetec

The rehabilitation of my Van can be found here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5949024#5949024

[PDXWesty]

Now you see the problem with trying to sell niche parts to a small market. You need to invest and carry the overhead yourself or you never get it done. After going through the R&D and time investment as you've done, you can see why the vendors charge the prices they do for some items. It takes two or three times the cost of the parts to bring them to market. I'm not going to complain about Vendor prices. They do what we cannot.
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[512dude]

Died a quiet death due to lack of leaking cross overs or at least owners willing to fix them. Please see burnt vanagon of the week dot com

[msinabottle]

Did this ever go any further? Van Cafe seems to be still selling their set-up with aluminum fittings, but I'd favor something even more permanent with a metal pipe in between. The site for the 'buy' is wildly dead.

If I'm going to be dropping Winston's tank, I'd like the gap to be longer than the last time I dropped it. Looking into a bulb flaring tool to put in as much steel fuel line as I can.

I have bookmarked the location for the Goodyear SAE 30R9 hose, Gates and others say that their Gates 4219D is an equivalent and is alcohol resistant like the Goodyear. Quarter inch should work for Winston's expansion tanks.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[512dude]

I guess I could just up the price to $30 a pair and ask for 125 participants. I see this as a co-op opportunity where the buying power of a collective can get a solution but we have to commit and pool our resources.

I'm working with one retailer that might be keen on a small supply but the final customer will see their handling charges + margin reflected in the final cost.

[kshbaja]

I would recommend not asking for mailing address on the publicly available document. I think you might get more signups. Honestly, I'd be down for buying a pair, I am just wondering if you will hit the 250 mark. Is there a higher priced option if you only get, say 50 people?

Thanks for doing the research and volunteering your time trying to solve this problem!
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1986 Westfalia

[reluctantartist]

I am surprised more people have not signed up for these. You will need to setup a google account to sign up if you do not have one, but it is worth the inconvenience. Everyone needs these or something similar, it isn't a matter of if, but when these will break.
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1982 Westy, 1974 412 Variant... Yes, Aircooled's are great! Oh and I do have modern computer controlled vehicles too, but I just don't care about them.

[kshbaja]

You may also want to contact Peter at Van Cafe. He has an invitation on his website for innovations exactly like this.
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1986 Westfalia

[kenwilfy]

I am interested in these parts. My name is Ken Wilford and I run Van-Again. We were the first company to offer a gas tank seal and fuel line replacement kit almost 10 years ago. Of course now all of the other guys sell one but we were the first and I still think we are the best. However I haven't had a source for the cross over pipe for a while now so I deleted it off of my kit. However I would like to have them available so if customers need one we have it for them. Please let me know how to contact you off this list to talk about getting some of these. My number is 856-327-4936 if you want to give me a call.
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Thanks,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com
856-327-4936

[westy87]

Yes! Count me in! I'll take one pair for now...

[crazyvwvanman]

The reason they kept that valley in the tank was for the aux heaters used in colder climates in all model years. The BA6 and DA6 gas and diesel heaters sit to the rear of the fuel tank but the hot air has to get forward somehow. The heated air goes through a duct that passes through that valley same as the aircooled vans heater tube used to. These added heaters were rare in the US but common in Canada and are covered in the Bentley. Page 82.12 has the diagram for the watercooled version, showing the big heat duct that needs the valley.

Mark

[512dude]

A while back I posted my solution to the cross over tube that started this thread. Worked out my costs and I could sell the full cross over tube for $45 - a heck of a lot less than the VanCafe and GoWesty.

I continued to seek additional sources and ended up getting quotes for just the custom fittings. At this point it looks like I can get a decent price on a quantity of 500 fittings. I would like to extend my efforts to the Vanagon community and offer you the option to buy these fittings at $7.5/pc

Yup that's right, $15 for the pair. Now the issue is I need a minimum of 250 participants who will order and pay for fittings (unless you want two sets of them) to help cover all the costs. I certainly don't have the time to sell and market these things.

I have a small window of opportunity for these things. Anyone know the owner at BusDepot. I have asked them by email and a phone call but no one returned my call to say if they were interested or not. What about Ben? Anyone know how to get a hold of him?

I've done my part now you need to round up your friends and buy some of these fine fittings!

To sign-up for purchase follow this link:

PURCHASE CROSS OVER FITTINGS

The Cross Over Man
Chris
Seattle

[pushkick]

i replaced my crossover tube with a rubber fuel hose instead of the plastic, this seemed easier and has worked very well. i didnt think about using a metal "T" connector but maybe next time i need to redo tank seals and hose i probably will do this.

[blackglasspirate]

I was lucky enough to be able to grab one from the pull-a-part. I finally did something right. woooooo.
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'87 Vanagon GL Westfalia
IG: @holidayatsee
FB: https://www.facebook.com/holidayatsee

[tencentlife]

I've got a spare one I picked up with that in mind. Someday I'll get to it.
_________________
Shop for unique and useful Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/
also available at VanCafe.com!

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is death to doctrine.

[randywebb]

re "design a tank with the smaller valley only large enough to accommodate the water hoses and shift linkage."

- has anybody ever modded the tank by welding in a piece to make a higher valley?

[tencentlife]

I questioned the need for two such large expansion tanks myself, but one day I found out exactly why they are there. Try this: go fill up the tank on a summer morning, then without driving far park the van and wait 'til the heat of the day. I saw my tanks both filled almost halfway with liquid fuel under these conditions. Gasoline has a very high rate of liquid expansion with heat. Most cars have tanks where the filler neck enters the tank well below the very top, and they are usually flatter across the top as well, which leaves plenty of volume for the fuel to expand into. The vanagon tank is already fairly small for a large vehicle, so to maximise storage capacity the filler enters very near the top of the tank. With only the two ridges instead of a wide flat top, the available volume for expansion is painfully small. So the solution to make good use of the available capacity while allowing for occasional expansion when conditions are right (tank filled with cool fuel from the ground, then warming temps with a full tank) was to add auxiliary volume where space was available, up in the wheel wells. Not the simplest appraoch, but it works. The better approach, at least with the advent of the wbx, would have been to design a tank with the smaller valley only large enough to accomodate the water hoses and shift linkage. The there could have been more fuel capacity and perhaps less need for auxiliary expansion space as well. Instead they stuck with the same part used on aircooled vans with the deep valley to accomodate air ducts that were no longer there. Of all the parts they changed and upgraded over the model run, why they couldn't come up with a better fuel tank is beyond me.
_________________
Shop for unique and useful Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/
also available at VanCafe.com!

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is death to doctrine.