What gaskets to replace on an early Aircooled Fuel Tank

[irishkeet]

Hello

Im planning on dropping the fuel tank in the not too distant future to check the condition
Does anyone have any tips before I do this and....
what gaskets should I replace from the photos below?

I know JK do a gasket kit but I cant seem to find it on their site.



thanks
irishkeet

[Fritz]

One of everything would be handy, then if you don't use em sell em on E-bay.


Regards


Fritz,,,,,,,,

[irishkeet]

One of everything would be handy, then if you don't use em sell em on E-bay.


Regards


Fritz,,,,,,,,

lol cheers fritz

any idea of anywhere selling a set? otherwise ill order from

http://www.vw-classicparts.de

cheers
irishkeet

[dugcati]

When I did mine last year I ended up changing the rubber bend on the filler neck and the small grommets on the top of the tank for the breathers. The main filler pipe rubber was OK for me - as for all the others on the expansion boxes I left all those untouched

Doug

[neil3965]

Hi Irishkeet

I did this job a couple of months back. My petrol tank is relatively new (2001), but all the hoses and rubber grommets are original - I replaced all the flexible rubber hoses (15 and 16 in lower diagram), but the grommets (9 in top diagram, 6 in lower) and the rigid plastic pipes - filler breather (8d on top diagram), transverse breather (not numbered, plugs into 6 in lower diagram) and top tubes on breather bottles (19 on lower diagram) were all in good nick.

Get the tank as empty as possible before dropping. I drained mine from the outlet pipe, but still poured about 12 litres into jerrycans when I got the tank out. If I was doing it again I'd try attaching a longer length of hose to the outlet pipe and siphoning. Jacking up the van on one side won't help much - the outlet pipe is connected to a hose on the inside that sucks from the centre of that circular depression in the floor of the tank.

Put the front of the van on axle stands, and remove the front wheels so you can reach into the top of the tank to fiddle with the grommets (especially when putting the tank back in). Remove the filler neck. I used a scissor jack under a piece of wood about a foot square to support the tank while removing the support bars, then gently lowered it until I could disconnect the various pipes and the fuel gauge sender.

Note that the front edge of the tank rests on a flange, the rear edge is held up by the support bars only, so the rear edge will drop first until you slide the tank back an inch or so. It'll probably hang up on that transverse breather tube - it passes ABOVE the heater tube, heater cables brake pipes etc - until you wiggle the grommets out. I put two long lengths of timber under the van like runners for the tank to rest on, so it was easy to just pull it out once it was down.

Putting it back was the reverse - I fitted the three rubber grommets into the top of the tank, slid it under the van, propped up the front end of the tank on its flange, poked the metal tubes with from the breather bottles with rubber hose attached through from the wheel arch and connected them to the tank, attached the gauge sender cable, then raised the tank into position and replaced the support bars.





(note the transverse breather tube in the second pic is in the wrong position - it should be above the blue heater cable - found out the hard way!)

Then it was a matter of squeezing a hand into the tiny gap to fit the transverse breather tube ends into the grommets (small hands help!), replacing the filler neck and squeezing the filler breather tube into its grommet (easier if you remove the breather bottle.

Hope this helps - any questions, just ask.

Good luck!

[dugcati]

thread hijack......

Neil - just spotted you have used the ally extraction type ducting for your warm air pipe - how well does it work/keep the air inside warm etc as I bought some of this then did a repair on the existing pipework as I thought this stuff might not be any good

thread hijack over....

[neil3965]

dugcati - sorry, but you've been misled by a dodgy photo - that's the original black corrugated plastic ducting, with camera flash reflecting off the dust and muck!

[getunder]

Neil, Your'e post solves a mystery for me. When I dropped my tank to investigate petrol smells I found that the transverse breather pipe had been fitted below the water and heater pipes and when forced up when fitting broke one of the two adaptors on either side. I have just replaced my tank and assuming that was how it should be fitted replaced the breather pipe with petrol pipe slack enough to follow the contours of the tank. It seems to have gone up O.K. without strain and too date have added 3 galls by container and 4 from the pump without any problem so far. Not sure of the consequences of my "modification". I assume the balancer pipes just ensures that air can be vented more easily when filling. Think i'll leave it unless anyone knows better Wish your post had been 2 weeks earlier but at least I am now wiser in case of future problems.

[Grumpy Midget]

What gaskets to replace on an early Aircooled Fuel Tank
by irishkeet » Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:40 pm

Early or Late Fuel tanks dont have gaskets, grommets and bungs yes, But in your case of an early Wessie I think yours will be the metal infill pipe, Newer, or later tanks are fitted with a plastic infill pipe and diameters are different were it fits into the tank, you need a bit more of examination of the tank setup before buying your bits.----------------

[billy739]

i have always found the rubber grommets to be ok no problems,

fit new pipes on the breather tanks and a new upper filler neck elbow rubber tho

when refitting grease lightly all the grommets, fit to the tank then fit the tank.

push the pipes into the grommets through the wheel arch holes and push on the pipes this way , they go in nice and easily once lightly greased, never had one leak yet!

one other poit is i would advise painting the tank pefore fitting just to make it last that extra bit longer!

[irishkeet]

Neil

many thanks for your detailed guide
I will of course be replacing all the flexi fuel lines
I am also thinking of removing the expansion tanks completely as per the thread link below
https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... s&start=15

Im LPG'd and i never really have more than 1/3 of a tank at most, also it removes two rot spots.
I have a new set of steels coming from CJ so I'm thinking that I will do this jog when I am changing the wheels.

thanks
irishkeet

Hi Irishkeet

I did this job a couple of months back. My petrol tank is relatively new (2001), but all the hoses and rubber grommets are original - I replaced all the flexible rubber hoses (15 and 16 in lower diagram), but the grommets (9 in top diagram, 6 in lower) and the rigid plastic pipes - filler breather (8d on top diagram), transverse breather (not numbered, plugs into 6 in lower diagram) and top tubes on breather bottles (19 on lower diagram) were all in good nick.

Get the tank as empty as possible before dropping. I drained mine from the outlet pipe, but still poured about 12 litres into jerrycans when I got the tank out. If I was doing it again I'd try attaching a longer length of hose to the outlet pipe and siphoning. Jacking up the van on one side won't help much - the outlet pipe is connected to a hose on the inside that sucks from the centre of that circular depression in the floor of the tank.

Put the front of the van on axle stands, and remove the front wheels so you can reach into the top of the tank to fiddle with the grommets (especially when putting the tank back in). Remove the filler neck. I used a scissor jack under a piece of wood about a foot square to support the tank while removing the support bars, then gently lowered it until I could disconnect the various pipes and the fuel gauge sender.

Note that the front edge of the tank rests on a flange, the rear edge is held up by the support bars only, so the rear edge will drop first until you slide the tank back an inch or so. It'll probably hang up on that transverse breather tube - it passes ABOVE the heater tube, heater cables brake pipes etc - until you wiggle the grommets out. I put two long lengths of timber under the van like runners for the tank to rest on, so it was easy to just pull it out once it was down.

Putting it back was the reverse - I fitted the three rubber grommets into the top of the tank, slid it under the van, propped up the front end of the tank on its flange, poked the metal tubes with from the breather bottles with rubber hose attached through from the wheel arch and connected them to the tank, attached the gauge sender cable, then raised the tank into position and replaced the support bars.





(note the transverse breather tube in the second pic is in the wrong position - it should be above the blue heater cable - found out the hard way!)

Then it was a matter of squeezing a hand into the tiny gap to fit the transverse breather tube ends into the grommets (small hands help!), replacing the filler neck and squeezing the filler breather tube into its grommet (easier if you remove the breather bottle.

Hope this helps - any questions, just ask.

Good luck!

[irishkeet]

Hi GM

thanks for your reply, I have a plastic infill pipe and I think a 48mm tank, I will have all the bits before I begin, I dont want to get caught short with the tank dropped

What gaskets to replace on an early Aircooled Fuel Tank
by irishkeet » Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:40 pm

Early or Late Fuel tanks dont have gaskets, grommets and bungs yes, But in your case of an early Wessie I think yours will be the metal infill pipe, Newer, or later tanks are fitted with a plastic infill pipe and diameters are different were it fits into the tank, you need a bit more of examination of the tank setup before buying your bits.----------------