Chunkies in the gas tank
Posted: August 18 2008 02:43 PM
I knew going in that I'd have quite a bit of maintenance using the stock Model A gas tank, but this is ridiculous.
I could see down in the tank that there was a lot of scale and crap sitting on the bottom of the tank so I ran a piece of hose from the petcock of the tank out to the ground, filled the tank with water and started scrubbing. The only thing I could fit through the filler neck was a 1" paint brush taped to a paint stick. I scrubbed and scrubbed and got as much as I could out, figuring I'd done a pretty good job but knowing all I could reach was about one square foot of the bottom. I scrubbed until the water ran clean for about 30 minutes AFTER scrubbing.
I let the tank dry out good and hooked the fuel line back up. I installed one of those little fuel filters that have the brass mesh type screen that you can remove and clean. Although the filter is doing a good job (and I'm getting really good at emptying it) there seems to be a bigger problem.
I think (not sure, can't see it) there is a large chunky (or more than one) in the gas tank that moves around the bottom until it hits the opening. Here's why I'm thinking this...
I drive the car around for about a mile (sometimes two or three) and the car runs out of fuel. Leaving the petcock open I can pull the filter, clean the screen, and fuel doesn't come running down the line. This is all below the level of the fuel tank so it should --in theory-- run right out.
At the risk of being the butt of many jokes, the only way to get the fuel flowing down the line again is to literally blow through the gas line until I can hear bubbles coming through the tank. Hey! It ain't Windex and steel wool, okay??? I hook the fuel filter up again and continue cruising for another one to three miles.
Okay, the fuel tank was welded in place and the gaps were bondo'ed before I bought the car, so removing it isn't an option. I don't see how I could coat the inside of the tank without removing it from the car. I could pull the fuel gauge out of the dash and work from there too, but I don't think that will make much difference either.
I doubt the crap in the tank is magnetic so I don't think I'll be able to pull it out that way either.
So what to do? I don't want to run a deuce tank and need all of the interior room I can get so I really need to run the original tank. Anybody have any good ideas??? |
] Cool A-bone, I miss mine.
