November 1, 2001 - El Gas Tank Pt. 2

Gas tanks are still fun.  Especially after they have been used to simulate a toxic waste disposal in the back yard (never did 1-2 gallons of rotten fuel turn into 3/4 of a tank faster than this tank did).  Anyway back to the point.  Clean tank, time for tank to go back in.

This really is a two person job.  One person gets to hold ye old gas tank up to trunk while wrench boy struggles to get straps hooked in properly and bolted in.  Preferably only dropping chunks of grease and road sludge on all involved rather than the tank (sorry Alan).

Anyway, gas tank goes in and all should be well in the world.  Or not.  Fuel pump isn't pulling any fuel.  Panicking at the thought of changing something I have never even seen, Alan and I dash off to AutoZone to pick up the brand spanking new (only $17.99!) fuel pump.  While we are there, my associates are astonished that I haven't changed the spark plug wires yet (I thought OEM was better...) so we pick up a nice set of Bosch wires for $29.99.

Ain't it purdy?  So now that we know what the fuel pump looks like we can start to look for the old one on the engine.  After about 1 minute a moment of clarity is achieved and the fuel pump is found.

Ick.  I have to touch that?  Braving the oil stained mass, the fuel lines are removed.  Just as an aside, let's see what 22 years of crap will do to a fuel pump compared to the old one.

That was easy.  Just take a 1/2" socket and remove two bolts and pull.  Installation is pretty much the reverse (push new in and fasten two bolts for the slow among this crowd).  Don't forget that gasket!  The entire process took about 25 minutes for someone who didn't have a clue as to what he was doing.

Reconnect hoses and blam-o!  Let us reroute the wires next as that is important as well.

This takes all of 5 minutes to do for even the most inexperienced of car persons, so the process really need not be explained in detail.

Well we are all hooked up.  Let's crank away and see what happens.

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Nothing!  No fuel going to carburetor.  Vacuum leaks?  Definitely.  Rebuild?  Just might have to.

...to be continued

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Last updated November 11th, 2001 at 4:40AM