So I found out the hard way that the "straw" inside my gas tank (connects the outside fuel line to the gas at the bottom of the tank) fell off and is now sitting at the bottom of the tank. I addition, there's all kinds of rust and gunk in the tank. Is there either any way to reattach the internal tube and clean out the tank, or is there anywhere to buy a new or reproduced gas tank for my '67 122. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Trent

Thanks for all your advice. I ended up not having to destroy the tank in my attempt to fix it. Here's what I did. On the tank, there is a connector that screws into the tank on one end and to the fuel line (compression connection) on the other. After taking the connector totally off at the tank end, there is a nice little hole with a lip on the inside. I simply found a length of 1/4" brake line (with a flare on one end), bent and cut it to match the old pick up tube, and stuck it into the hole, mounting it tight with the fuel line connector. Sorry I don't know all the proper terms fo connectors and such, but it is working like a charm. The only drawback is that I must have not made the new tube quite as long os the old (or should have made it an extra 1/8" longer due to the flare end) because, when the gas guage hits empty, it's empty!

Thanks again,
Trent

Next project: More Fun with Brakes!

Trent;

Sorry...I usually try to limit my posts to positive comments, but I have to disagree with cees' well intentioned "advice"...

I suppose he might also advise you to solder house plumbing while full of (cooling) water...I wonder if he's actually ever used the method he recommends, and with what, if any, level of success? I know that if you followed that advice and filled the tank with water, you would alleviate any chance of ignition, but it would also be impossible to get the basemetal up to a temp to make any sort of proper solder joint. When soldering, the basemetal(s) MUST be up to (solder melting) temps to allow solder to flow and wet and adhere (and therefore seal), if not, useless bubbles of solder just sit on the surface.

When I last soldered a tank (actually did), I removed it, completely drained and cleaned it, removed the sender, and blew fresh air through with a fan overnight. The next day, when tank was totally dry, and there was only the slightest odor of fuel (certainly noncombustible), I soldered the acetone cleaned area using a 400W (copper roofing/gutter type) iron, (preferred to open flame...and below flashpoint anyway)...yes it's tricky and tough and not much fun...molten solder tends to want to run away and drip on your shoes (work in small patches and keep area level to prevent this)!! A monster soldering iron also helps as it allows localized, highly controlled heating, but getting one of those may be tough and/or expensive (especially for a one-time job), that's why you may indeed want to ask a radiator shop to do the work (or even consider an epoxy solution).

I certainly don't advocate "gambling" with open fuel either, but maybe someone has been watching too many of those Hollywood fantasies!...remember the fuel going all through the internals of the FI pump including sparking brushes...how come all Bosch FI cars don't just blow up?

Work safely, and intelligently.

...ain't blowed up yet...but maybe I'm just lucky...

Cheers

Remove the gas tank. Before solder or welding, always fill it up with water!!!
Do not gamble!!!
Good luck,
Cees

Trent;

If full of debris and rust, PLUS having a disconnected pick-up tube, it sure sounds like the tank needs to come out to be cleaned and possibly coated with epoxy...any other solution is probably temporary at best and so useless.

If you are sure the pick-up tube is disconnected and laying on the tank bottom (I presume you saw that and all the other contamination when you looked into the sender hole - otherwise how would you know), and want to try something as a last resort before pulling the tank, I do have an idea how I would proceed to get a new one in place...I would unscrew plug and drain tank to well below level of pick-up fitting before proceeding, then using hack-saw cut fuel line a couple of inches from tank. Make a witness mark (indicating at which angle it is when tight) on the hex fitting at the tank, then unscrew and remove the fitting and stubby piece of fuel line, and replace the stubby piece of line with a longer piece of same dia. copper line, sized and curved to reach the tank bottom and SOLDERED (off the car and well away from open fuel) onto the fitting at the appropriate position and angle (from witness mark). Size the other end to make it to the cut line which contiues on to the front of vehicle and reassemble the whole thing back together again with compression fittings (5/16 or 3/8") on both sides and a coupler.

I successfully did this cut-and-reconnect-with-compression-fittings trick when I needed to remove my tank (but NOT the new fuel pick-up line part), but having seen the fitting I know I could use it to incorporate a new pick-up too!

Work carefully around open fuel, contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe, cars DON't just explode (only when carefully prepared with explosives and a remote trigger), but accidents and fires CAN ruin your day!

Good Luck, and let us know how you make out.

Many radiator shops do gas tank work if you talk nice enough to them.
(They don't like to because of flammable/explosive vapors.)
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Oklahoma