73 Charger - Vapor Separator?

[Hilljack68]

There's a brass shuttle valve in there that keeps fuel from flowing the wrong way.
It can stick.
If it doesn't rattle, it's stuck.

As I was getting the mower out of the barn (uughh, it's that time of year again), I gave the separator a shake... it rattles!

 

[multimopes]

(Is that the only difference between the '72 and '73?)

Not Sure, my car is kind of an abortion, and I don't have all of the specks and details of who did what. I also had a leaky fuel sender from the tank; so, while I had it up on blocks, I decided I wanted a stainless-steel sender. I got one from Summit Racing. Unfortunately, they only had one in 3/8" instead of 5/16". Then, I had trouble getting a hose adapter. I didn't want to use a coupling & threaded adapter, so I ended up ordering a double barbed, one-piece brass 3/8" x 5/16" from a marine supply as even searching on multiple Autopart's &/or racing suppliers yielded nothing. The next issue was that the stainless-steel lock ring was too thin to seal at the tank. I ended up using the original steel lock ring and all was well. Nuthin like fun N"Games!

 

[68BabyBlue]

(Is that the only difference between the '72 and '73?)

Not Sure, my car is kind of an abortion, and I don't have all of the specks and details of who did what. I also had a leaky fuel sender from the tank; so, while I had it up on blocks, I decided I wanted a stainless-steel sender. I got one from Summit Racing. Unfortunately, they only had one in 3/8" instead of 5/16". Then, I had trouble getting a hose adapter. I didn't want to use a coupling & threaded adapter, so I ended up ordering a double barbed, one-piece brass 3/8" x 5/16" from a marine supply as even searching on multiple Autopart's &/or racing suppliers yielded nothing. The next issue was that the stainless-steel lock ring was too thin to seal at the tank. I ended up using the original steel lock ring and all was well. Nuthin like fun N"Games!

I used that same double barb in a different setting, joining different sized air lines to run the pneumatic vibrators I used to unload sticky material from the bulk tankers I used to pull. I bought them in the plumbing supply section of Lowe's and Home Depot.

 

[72 charger]

On my 72 charger I couldn't tell if mine was any good or not and didn't have much luck at the time finding one so I ended up taking fuel hose and looping from one nipple back to the other for all 4 and bought a vented gas cap. I don't believe it has caused me any issues. Sometimes I wonder if I should run them out somewhere higher for vents as the only vent for the tank is through the cap then.

 

[multimopes]

In your case, at least the Dodges had the filler neck projecting upwards through the rear quarter panel. On the Plymouth models, (like mine), the filler neck is much lower, behind the rear license plate.
Venting there would present more of a problem. Not to mention, fueling up these days with newer type of sliding nozzle, it's a pain in the ars to fill as it want's to puke out some gas when nearing the end of pumping & trying to "top it off"!

 

[Hilljack68]

The next issue was that the stainless-steel lock ring was too thin to seal at the tank. I ended up using the original steel lock ring and all was well.

I had the same issue on the aftermarket tank and ring on my 68. The ring was too thin, and I had to buy a factory ring off one of the guys here on the forum. It fit like a glove!

 

[Nacho-RT74]

Same here

BUT also the welded lock ring receptacle at my replacement tank was also too thin and gets bent easily. So It had to be gently locked.

 

[YY1]

In your case, at least the Dodges had the filler neck projecting upwards through the rear quarter panel. On the Plymouth models, (like mine), the filler neck is much lower, behind the rear license plate.
Venting there would present more of a problem. Not to mention, fueling up these days with newer type of sliding nozzle, it's a pain in the ars to fill as it want's to puke out some gas when nearing the end of pumping & trying to "top it off"!

I agree about the lock ring issue. Save your OEM ring.

However, 71-74 Charger fuel fillers are in the same place as Plymouth B body cars...behind the license plate.

 

[multimopes]

Damn, I knew I shouldn't have stopped drinking! I stand corrected sir, thank you! Then you must have the same filling issue that we have in NJ. Unless, you don't have that peskie sliding sleeve in Florida!

 

[YY1]

Yikes.

No sleeve here.

 

[multimopes]

I think the sliding sleeve is part of a vapor recovery system or to prevent vapor from venting to atmosphere, not sure!

 

[RSMS]

It sends vapor from the tank to the carb via a charcoal canister.

There's a brass shuttle valve in there that keeps fuel from flowing the wrong way.
It can stick.
If it doesn't rattle, it's stuck.
I cut a square hole in mine, freed the valve and welded/bondo'd the hole up.

I suppose you could eliminate it, but what would you do with the 4 vents?

I have mine bypassing the canister, and going directly to the carb inlet of the factory BBD.

Not sure what I will do when I eventually put an AFB/AVS on it.

When you cut your vapor separator open, what size was the brass ball roughly? I'm finally getting to mine and when I shake it I get a little rattle but I'm pretty sure it's a couple of rust flakes as they don't sound very solid. If the ball is atleast the size of a BB, I'm pretty confident mine is stuck. I cannot blow thru the inlet hose which leads me to also believe it's stuck, the outlet hoses only vent to each other. I've decided to put it in the ultrasonic cleaner for an hour or so and see if that will free it up. If you were to cut yours open again, where would be the ideal spot to access it? Hopefully the ultrasonic will free it up and I can get the debris out without needing to cut it open

Update:... 45 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner I can definitely hear the ball moving and it is no longer stuck. I'm able to blow thru the inlet hose and it exits thru the outlets. all is good!!! Now I just need to get the water and any leftover contaminants out

 

[YY1]

Glad you got it.

It's a cylinder shape about the size of 2 BB's.

It also matters how you hold it.

Hold it like it's installed, and all 4 vents should blow out the single, but the single should not blow back through the vents

 

[Hilljack68]

Well, my search for a decent vapor separator crapped out. So, I opted for putting a 68-70 style venting system on the Charger. I just had to punch a hole on the trunk floor... for the tube to vent into the frame rail. I'll tie two of the tank nipples into this system, and the other two into the short vent tube that goes up to the shock mount.

 

[RR Fan Dan]

Reviving an old thread. Is the 74 RR the same design as the 73? I don’t see the 4 vent tubes on the gas tank of my 74 but I have a charcoal canister that has been blocked off. The car is being restored and I want to make the charcoal canister functional. The car did have a problem with vapor lock from the previous owner. They added a cool carb spacer to correct but after researching the vent system it could be that the vapor system is blocked off incorrectly. Is this my set up or is it different. I don’t have my FSM as the body shop has it right now. There is a member on here listing a 4 way vapor separator at the tank for a 73. I’m wondering if I need that.

This is my gas tank. It looks differs and only has one vent line

 

[RSMS]

Does your 74 tank have the 4 vent/vapor lines? I've never looked at a 74 tank

 

[RR Fan Dan]

Does your 74 tank have the 4 vent/vapor lines? I've never looked at a 74 tank

I don’t think so. It’s the tank in the picture above with the big hump. I think it’s different than the 73 but I’m not sure. Maybe there is a vapor separator in that hump. I don’t know.

This is the 73 tank from rock auto

This is the 74 from rock auto

I think 73 and 74 are different set ups.

 

[RSMS]

That's what I was getting at. The 73 tank has 4 nipples for the vent/vapor lines to goto the fuel separator so if yours doesn't have them I'm going to say this isn't going to work for you. I am a little curious now how a 74 would be designed for the charcoal cannister. This system was bypassed on my car also when I bought it so I spent a little time trying to understand the 73 version.

 

[RR Fan Dan]

That's what I was getting at. The 73 tank has 4 nipples for the vent/vapor lines to goto the fuel separator so if yours doesn't have them I'm going to say this isn't going to work for you. I am a little curious now how a 74 would be designed for the charcoal cannister. This system was bypassed on my car also when I bought it so I spent a little time trying to understand the 73 version.

Well I’ll let you know cause I’m trying to figure this out. A drawing would be nice but I don’t have my FSM right now. You have a 440 as well so I think vapor lock might be an issue for you too.