Fuel tank removal and replacing hoses

[DevonAid]

Finally got round to removing the petrol fuel tank today and replacing the fuel hoses and tank seals. This process is well documented on many threads here and definately made the job easier - thanks to this club. Just thought I'd mention one or two things I encountered today:
1: If your van stinks of petrol, make the effort to replace all the hoses or get it done sooner rather than later. All the hoses I removed were so brittle that some of them literally fell apart in my hands, one of the vent/overflow pipes wasn't even connected to the tank (explains why some petrol spills on the floor when filling up then).
2: Get all the bits well ahead of time. My local independant VW factors only had 2 out of the 3 seals and only the 'other' size of the filler pipe seal, meaning much faffing around. Do your homework and get all the right bits to save time.
3: It's true, van does need to be lifted really high at the front to get the tank restraining channels off.
4: Be prepared for tank cleaning and painting (or worse I guess if you're unlucky)
5: Check the weather forecast if you're doing it outside, in case it rains and makes you damp and miserable (it did and I was).
Thats it, haven't filled the tank yet but am quietly confident. Could this be the end to high octane fumes in the van?

[Fritz]

I have to agree as a similar experience happened with our van after a couple of months of ownership,,,,,all rubber link hoses to both expansion tanks were found to be totally perished.

In fact it was starting to smell like a old (sos) mini van I used to own..



Regards

Fritz,,,,,,,,

sos= Sack of Shyte....