In preparation for my new tank, I removed the old one with a crack in it. Its such a shame as the original tank is in amazingly good condition. Oh well, its done 54 years, that's probably enough.
First I cut the old hoses off near the tank. This is an ECS car, so has the 4 nipples on the side. Those are the original hoses folks with the KV logo printed on them and also wearing the original undercoat.
Then I disconnected the sending unit wire and the pickup hose that connects to the sending unit. I started working on the J bolts for the straps. They are a little tiresome but only due to road grime and some of the original spray on undercoat being in the threads. No rust at all.
I chocked the tank with my hydraulic jack and a old piece of scaffolding plank to support it while I lowered it down. I siphoned as much gas as I could from the tank, but there is still a bit in there, so I wanted to be careful not to cover myself in gas. Especially since I removed the filler tube so I could lower it down.
Success. Did not get covered in gas and the tank is safely on the ground in a controlled manner.
I really am shocked what great condition this car is in. You have to love those California cars for their lack of rust. Check this out.
Unfortunately the trunk pan has to be replaced as it is rusty from the top due to the trunk seal failing. That is a shame. When you look at what it could have been, the underside says it all.
The next job was to bend up some tubing for the vent and drain back line. I want to use the original ECS tube in the trunk for this rather than vent it like they did in the other 49 States. That presents a challenge, because the the tubing should run uphill to the trunk vent tube, but my new Tanks Inc tank has its vent tube near the top. That does not leave a lot of wiggle room to route the tubes through the frame rail in the factory location, whilst keeping that slight uphill slope. I have done as good a job as I could with it, so time will tell if I actually have it right. So long as it can vent, I don't see too much of an issue.
Once satisfied, I fitted them and also rattle canned the underside of the trunk where the old tank sat. This is a temporary repair until I replace the trunk pan (which will not be now).
In this shot, it looks like they are falling the wrong way. It is more the camera angle that does that.
Then I crimped on the hoses to the ECS tube and blocked off the two I won't be using.
That's about all I can do now for prep work until my new tank arrives. Hopefully by next weekend it will be here. More to come on that.
I took a look at the problem area. Its a bit hard to see here, but I think it was a combination of a brand new seal and a weak point in the steel ring that caused all of the problems.
