Would it be a good idea to remove the gas tank and flush it out with a solvent of some sort and clean the pickup screen? I would suspect that after 30+ years with alot of time spent sitting, it'd get quite a collection of grime in there. And I certianly don't want to plunk down 400 bucks for a new tank.

Thoughts?

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

On my 71 duster you don't have to drop the tank to pull out the sending unit. The sending unit and pickup are one piece, I just recently pulled out my sending unit to cure a leak and removed the sock (pickup) screen and cleaned it with some carb cleaner, and put it back in. The tank was recently replaced in the last year or two so dropping the tank wasn't necessary. Although, the next time I drop it I want to install some sort of drain plug on the bottom so if I need to drain the gas out of it in the future to drop it I won't have to use the electric fuel pump.

That tank price is expensive. Several schools of thought on tank cleaning,1: if it ain't broke why fix it and I don't trust 30 year old tanks. I belong to the latter group as at the time leaded gas was the norm and since its phaseout the newer formula gas has a habit of interacting with any remaining lead deposits creating a thick sludge or solid chunks that clogg lines and filters/carb and is highly corrosive and moisture prone creating rust as well. Good news is as long as tank is solid with no weeping seams or pinholes or bad solder or poor former repair jobs or thin metal it can be cleaned if your local EPA lets shops still do this. In SoCal can't farm this out, so in my case replaced for under $150.00 using a local supplier but one could also do it at home using some of the available tank cleaning kits I've seen advertised...Dave

I just cleaned the tank and replaced the lines in my 75 Sport. The tank was in pretty good shape but had a little crud here and there. I used water with dish soap, and a bunch of old nuts and bolts and really swished
it around good for 20-30 minutes, rocking it side to side and back and forth on a sturdy workbench. After dumping out the water I used about a gallon of mineral spirits to rinse it out good to displace the water. (Used a lid from a soup can to plug the sending unit hole, and a rubber cap for PVC to cap the inlet while cleaning.) Most of the crud was from the sending unit line. I reamed it out good with a piece of aircraft cable but I know I'll be looking for a new one in the near future. Fashioning the new line was pretty easy, but I had to cut the old one in two places to get it off. If your tank is really rusty, you might consider derusting with phosphoric acid. Working with acid is nasty and dangerous, so I'm glad I didn't need to use it, but I did find some great info (as well as some mis-info) on the net about how to do it. Some motorcycle shops sell stuff to coat the inside of the tank with, but I was told by the owner that he's seen it break down over time and had a lot of bikes come back with the stuff clogging the carb. It's also very expensive to get enough for a car tank. I siphoned the tank after removing the filler neck, as it made it much easier to get to the bottom but there was still about a gallon left which made things wobbly when taking the tank off the car. Got all new seals and sock filter through the dealership, I think they found most parts through Beaverton, Ore. They did say the sock filter was recently discontinued... for about $100 my fuel delivery is now fresh from the filler cap to the kitted carb and so far has no leaks and no stalling or vaporlock

You should be able to get an 'in tank' filter for a 1988 Dodge Shadow from NAPA or someone similar, it's the same as the ones in our vehicles...I think there's a Ford version that might be easier to get, anyone remember the P/N?

I thought I saw new sending units somewhere on the net recently that were Stainless Steel too.

FYI,


-D.Idiot

I could not believe the amount of crud which was in my 62 dart tank. I am talking pounds, of black sludge and rust. I thought maybe a coffee can full of junk would be found. This was 10 coffee cans full. The replacement tank came from kramers for 229. plus the sending unit 139.

It is nice to see new stainless steel sending units offered, that is the most common problem area.

As for the tank, just clean-out a good used one or bit the wallet and get a new one, if ther is a small pin hole it should be welded / soldered by a pro.
Tanks with lot's of rust inside should be replaced.
www.gastanks.com is one of a number of sources for new fuel tanks.
DD

Howso? Clogs?

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

http://www.classiccarautoparts.com/gast ... _plym.html

DODGE/PLYMOUTH GAS TANKS
1962 to 1963 Dodge Dart, Plymouth Valiant
18 US gallon tank. Comes with grommet, rubber O-ring and locking ring (LO-06) for sending unit, NO filler neck. Replaces Chrysler part No. 2409301, Hollander #143B. CR11F $173.00

GAS TANK SENDING UNIT
1963-1976 Barracuda, Dart, Dart Sport, Demon, Duster, Scamp, Swinger, Valiant - Line size 5/16" S-CR11 $69.00

They have good pictures of the parts on the site, too.
Joe

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My 63 Valiant
http://www.readersrides.com/rides/class ... aliant.htm
<img src="http://www.readersrides.com/slant6-02.gif"/>

The gastanks.com (also called Quanta) has rebuilt sending units (sorry not stainless) and I have ordered the mopar socks strainer and the brass
floats from them as well as the gas tank. They have good service and good quality parts -

To Order the socks and floats I called them on the phone - those parts were not on their web site.

I managed to run out of gas yesterday - sucked all sorts of evil into the fuel lines. It would start up and run for about a hundred yards then it would seem to run out of gas again.

When I filled up the gas tank I only was able to get 11 Gal. in it, plus the 1 that I put in with a gas can. That leaves about 6 Gallons of muck in there as the difference, the aftermarket gas tanks are 18 Gal. so I'm assuming that mine is 18 Gallons.

I replaced the filter in the glass fuel filter and added a Napa clear filter before the fuel pump.

There was a nasty looking filter installed just before the glass one, when I opened up the fuel lines I found a piece of wire hanger that was in there to keep the line from getting kinked. - nice

I got it running well enough to get it home on surface streets and after putting in the Napa filter I took the Valiant out for a "hot lap". The local illegal drag strip is visible from my house (just a nice, freshly paved, straight 1/2 mile run) so I drove it over and ran it up to about 60 MPH (no spedo - just a guess) and it ran OK.... So I'm going to drive it today.

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My 63 Valiant
http://www.readersrides.com/rides/class ... aliant.htm
<img src="http://www.readersrides.com/slant6-02.gif"/>