P1020460

I only got involved on this job after the old tank was out and the new one was ready to go in, so my apologies for not having a "removal" part of this guide, it's fairly simple though and you can virtually follow the rest of this guide in reverse to do it.

This guide is a fairly basic one on the replacement of the standard petrol tank with another standard petrol tank. This change was performed because the old tank was weeping fuel and the problem was getting worse, it is possible to get sealants that will seal a tank leak but it was our belief thatthis problem was too severe to try any such sealants.

The above photo is taken from the rear of the car looking into the boot, the tank is currently removed and naturally all pipes are disconnected. Before doing anything make sure to put any clamps back onto the pipes so that when you push the new tank up you won't have to struggle to fit them.

P1020461

There is two of us working on this job but we found it easier to use a jack to lift the tank and hold it in position while we put in some bolts to hold it. This made it a lot easier than having one guy holding the weight and the other trying to fit some screws. The tanks are very light though so it is up to you.

P1020462

With the tank pushed up against the floor and a holding bolt at each corner (the jack is also still holding it underneath) we are starting to put the pipes back on. The pipe we are putting on in the picture is the main filler pipe. The pipe has a rubber sleeve that you can push over the pipe that is attached to the tank, after which you can fit and tighten the two hose clamps to make sure it holds and is air/fuel tight. While you have the tank out though make sure all these rubber fittings are ok and haven't broken or perished while you've been moving them around. Ours were fine to use again but it's best to have a good look at any piping that has sat in the same place for the last 38+ years.

P1020463

Make sure the clamps are firmly tightened with a decent sized screwdriver. Don't overtighten them though because the clamps can sometimes break or chew through old rubber. You don't want to be pulling the tank back out just to swap a clamp over or replace the sleeve.

P1020464

Next we are putting the breather pipe back on, you can use a set of pliers against the back edge of the sleeve to coerce it further onto the tank pipe like we are setting up to do in the picture, also, you can use a bit of vaseline under the lip of the hose to help it slide on easier.

P1020465

We are now putting the clamps on the breather pipe sleeve. The clamps on this fitting aren't the hose clamp style but rather spring steel clamps, with these you push the two ends together to open the clamp up and slide it over the sleeve, then release the ends and the clamp will be tight. These aren't as firm as the hose clamps but on a breather pipe it isn't as critical to have such a good seal.

P1020466

The tank has a heap of screws supporting it, half of which come from the top and the other half from the bottom, it is generally easy to see which way you have to put the screws in because they have a small plate on the lip of the tank for the screw to screw into from the other side. In the picture there is no plate so the screw comes up from the bottom (picture taken from under the car).

P1020467

This is an example of a screw coming from the top, you can see the plate that the screw goes through attached to the lip of the tank (this photo was also taken from beneath the car).

P1020468

Back the the breather pipe, this picture shows how the clamps look when they are in position. Make sure that you have this pipe attached because otherwise your boot and car will fill with fuel fumes. While the pipe is off though it is sometimes worthwhile running some thin wire up the pipe to make sure it is clear, if this pipe blocks up it can sometimes be the cause of fuel overflowing at the cap around corners or in heat.

P1020469

This is the fuel level sender, it is a basic item with a float on an arm and a sender at the top. Make sure it is all undamaged and working properly or you may not get a decent signal sent to the fuel gauge in the dash. You can also clean the terminal up with a little sandpaper to make sure the plug when attached gets a good contact.

P1020470

The fuel level sender unit goes into the tank at the back end, there is only one place that it can go so it shouldn't be much of a struggle to work out.

P1020471

Here we are putting the unit into the tank, note that we have the nozzle pointing out to the right, this is due to the pipe that it is attached to being a bit further into the boot at the same angle, a small rubber hose is attached to this pipe then bends and fits to the other pipe, that pipe then proceeds under the car to the front of the car and the petrol pump, from there its content does some amazing things, like make the motor work etc

P1020472

In this photo it is easier to see the angle we have the pipe on and the matching pipe a bit further in.

P1020473

To lock the sender unit into the tank there is a small locking ring that goes over the sender and under a lip, to get the locking ring to lock right into position you'll need to give it a tap with a screwdriver and hammer to turn it until it locks up into position. Note though that you don't need to hit the ring too hard. It's also worth having a screwdriver that has metal reinforcement right through the handle to a metal cap, this saves you cracking the handle on your screwdriver when doing jobs like this, they aren't really meant to be hit with hammers otherwise.

P1020474

We have now attached the last pipe and put its clamps on, try to make sure the pipe isn't pinched at all when it goes on and that it is of decent condition. It would probably be preferrable to have small hose clamps in place of the standard spring clamps that are visible in the picture but these seem to be doing the job for us. After the hose is back on and secure don't forget to attach the wire to the sender terminal or your dash petrol gauge won't work.

P1020475

This is the job done, new tank in and all bolts and clamps secure, one thing I failed to mention is that the breather pipe is screwed to the bottom of the tank through a clamp and one of the screws that holds the tank, if you leave it hanging my guess is it'll vibrate on the road and make and annoying racket that will take you months to find. With all of your mats etc out of the boot it would also be a good time to paint it with some kill rust or fish oil to help keep the cancer at bay.