Step one. Bought the van.
Hello Everybody, First post. I camp a lot in tents but after spending three days straight in a tent in the rain at Dolly Sods I swore I'd make a change. Here it is. Bought it Wednesday. Dro...
Forum Discussion
Heater Fuel Tank continued:
With the rocker panel now open do some test fittings using the fuel hose and fuel inlet.
Mistake 1: I should have covered the face of the fuel inlet with masking tape to prevent scratching it's nice shiny face. I didn't scratch it but I was lucky.
The 1-3/4" gap between the outer skin and the floor level allows the fuel inlet to be positioned higher than originally planned. Mounting the fuel inlet higher increases the slope of the hose towards the tank which will improve the flow when filling the tank. Don't mount it so high that the hose rubs against the floor edge.
Mark out a position for the fuel inlet then drill a small hole to carry this to the outside of the van.
Using the small hole, line up the fuel inlet on the outside of the van. Check look and fit.
I thought it looked better just a little bit lower. Drilled new centering hole.
Point Of No Return
I bought a 1-3/4" bimetal hole saw just for this project. I already had some general purpose hole saws but wanted a good clean cut. Use the new centering hole and start drilling.
Wonder if I'll ever use it again.
Use a curved file to take off the sharp edge of the hole.
The view through the hole into the undervan.
Test fit of the fuel inlet.
There's a problem. The inlet won't sit flat.
If you look closely at the back of the fuel inlet you'll see this very slight arc where the tube and plate back meet. The 1-3/4" matches the tube diameter but is not enough to allow the arc to sit flat.
Need to increase the hole size but not by much. Use a rotary tool with grinding stone bit. Going freehand like this you have to be careful to keep the hole circular and not to start to make it oblong.
There isn't a lot of room between the screw holes and the edge of the hole so don't want to take off any more material than I have to. Just grind a little then do a test fit. Repeat until the inlet is flush.
By the end of the day my tool pile had really grown. One tool at a time.
Tiger had supervisor duty that day.
continued -
With the rocker panel now open do some test fittings using the fuel hose and fuel inlet.
Mistake 1: I should have covered the face of the fuel inlet with masking tape to prevent scratching it's nice shiny face. I didn't scratch it but I was lucky.
The 1-3/4" gap between the outer skin and the floor level allows the fuel inlet to be positioned higher than originally planned. Mounting the fuel inlet higher increases the slope of the hose towards the tank which will improve the flow when filling the tank. Don't mount it so high that the hose rubs against the floor edge.
Mark out a position for the fuel inlet then drill a small hole to carry this to the outside of the van.
Using the small hole, line up the fuel inlet on the outside of the van. Check look and fit.
I thought it looked better just a little bit lower. Drilled new centering hole.
Point Of No Return
I bought a 1-3/4" bimetal hole saw just for this project. I already had some general purpose hole saws but wanted a good clean cut. Use the new centering hole and start drilling.
Wonder if I'll ever use it again.
Use a curved file to take off the sharp edge of the hole.
The view through the hole into the undervan.
Test fit of the fuel inlet.
There's a problem. The inlet won't sit flat.
If you look closely at the back of the fuel inlet you'll see this very slight arc where the tube and plate back meet. The 1-3/4" matches the tube diameter but is not enough to allow the arc to sit flat.
Need to increase the hole size but not by much. Use a rotary tool with grinding stone bit. Going freehand like this you have to be careful to keep the hole circular and not to start to make it oblong.
There isn't a lot of room between the screw holes and the edge of the hole so don't want to take off any more material than I have to. Just grind a little then do a test fit. Repeat until the inlet is flush.
By the end of the day my tool pile had really grown. One tool at a time.
Tiger had supervisor duty that day.
continued -
