My Beetle Restoration

Tag: reserve valve

Removing Gas Tank

by on Nov.17, 2010, under Disassembly

I removed the gas tank today. There are just four bolts holding it to the body and they all loosened easily. Once the bolts were removed, I disconnected the hose connecting the tank to the fuel line.

 

After I lifted the tank, I got my first view of the area under it. Everything here is covered with road grime and flaking undercoating. I also noticed that there was no seal between the tank and the body. Either it had disintegrated over the years or it was removed previously and not replaced.

 

Next I unscrewed the reserve valve from the bottom of the tank. The long brass inlet tube was broken off and missing, as was the copper filter screen. The missing parts were not inside the tank, so it’s possible someone took the tank off and dumped the broken parts out of it. It would have worked without those two pieces, but would have lost the functionality of the reserve tank. Since there is no fuel gauge, the whole function of the valve is to let you know when you are down to the last gallon in the tank. When the longer inlet tube is missing, you are basically just allowing fuel to flow from the tank as if you are in reserve mode whether you have it positioned on normal or on reserve. Also, without the copper screen over the inlet tubes, you would also lose the filtering capabilities. Maybe the longer inlet tube was clogged and was broken off trying to repair it. Who knows? I will have to clean and rebuild this valve and will drill out both inlet tubes, solder in new tubes, replace the gasket inside it, and replace the protective rubber cover on the outside that protects the moving parts of the valve. I will also replace the copper filter screen that goes over the inlet tubes.

 

I also removed the inspection covers in the front trunk and the rear tunnel.

 

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