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...
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Fuel tank installation continued:
Cut off a section of copper tubing.
Straighten it out by hand then to check my work I laid it on the flat edge of a metal level. Rolling it back and forth showed where it still needed work.
This copper tube will hold the plastic fuel line inside the fuel tank. Once installed I want the bottom of the tube to be one centimeter from the bottom of the fuel tank. Probably a bunch of different ways to accomplish that. Here's the one I used.
With the 1/4" bushing already installed put Teflon tape on the drilled out brake fitting and tighten it down inside the bushing. Then slide the copper tubing through the fitting until it reaches the bottom of the tank.
Using the vernier caliper measure the distance from the top of the brake fitting to the top of the bushing.
Use a inside caliper to measure the distance from the top of the tube to the top of the brake fitting.
Remove the tube and the fitting from the tank. Lay them down on a piece of cardboard and mark down the measurement from the inside caliper. Also mark the bottom edge of the fitting.
Slide the fitting down the tube then mix up two part epoxy. Using the marks from the cardboard as a guide, spread the epoxy on the tube where the fitting goes.
Again using the marks, slide the fitting through the epoxy back to it's starting position.
Double check the position with the inside calipers. Wait for the epoxy to set up.
Using a tube cutter, remove 1 centimeter from the bottom of the tube. No particular reason why I decided on 1 centimeter. It just seem about right.
Screw the now epoxied together fitting and copper tube back into the tank. Use the vernier caliper to check that I've tightened it back to it previous position. The fuel tank will installed on the driver's side of the van while the heater will be on the passenger side. Bend the outside end of the tube so it will point, once the tank is installed under the van, towards the passenger side.
Remove the tube and fitting from the tank. Slide the plastic fuel line through the curved piece of the tube to check that I didn't create any restrictions with the bending.
One last thing. Need to secure the fuel line so it won't slide out of the copper tube. The fuel line came as a kit with 2 short rubber hose pieces and clamps. The hose will fit over the fuel line but it's ID is too small to fit over the copper tube. Use a drill on one end of the hose. Enlarge it enough so it fits over the tubing.
Install the rubber hose and screw clamps. Slide the plastic fuel line back into the copper tube till it's end is even with the bottom of the tube.
Then tighten the screw clamps to hold everything in place.
Before I screw the tubing back into the tank I'll install a vent line in the other bung.
continued -
Cut off a section of copper tubing.
Straighten it out by hand then to check my work I laid it on the flat edge of a metal level. Rolling it back and forth showed where it still needed work.
This copper tube will hold the plastic fuel line inside the fuel tank. Once installed I want the bottom of the tube to be one centimeter from the bottom of the fuel tank. Probably a bunch of different ways to accomplish that. Here's the one I used.
With the 1/4" bushing already installed put Teflon tape on the drilled out brake fitting and tighten it down inside the bushing. Then slide the copper tubing through the fitting until it reaches the bottom of the tank.
Using the vernier caliper measure the distance from the top of the brake fitting to the top of the bushing.
Use a inside caliper to measure the distance from the top of the tube to the top of the brake fitting.
Remove the tube and the fitting from the tank. Lay them down on a piece of cardboard and mark down the measurement from the inside caliper. Also mark the bottom edge of the fitting.
Slide the fitting down the tube then mix up two part epoxy. Using the marks from the cardboard as a guide, spread the epoxy on the tube where the fitting goes.
Again using the marks, slide the fitting through the epoxy back to it's starting position.
Double check the position with the inside calipers. Wait for the epoxy to set up.
Using a tube cutter, remove 1 centimeter from the bottom of the tube. No particular reason why I decided on 1 centimeter. It just seem about right.
Screw the now epoxied together fitting and copper tube back into the tank. Use the vernier caliper to check that I've tightened it back to it previous position. The fuel tank will installed on the driver's side of the van while the heater will be on the passenger side. Bend the outside end of the tube so it will point, once the tank is installed under the van, towards the passenger side.
Remove the tube and fitting from the tank. Slide the plastic fuel line through the curved piece of the tube to check that I didn't create any restrictions with the bending.
One last thing. Need to secure the fuel line so it won't slide out of the copper tube. The fuel line came as a kit with 2 short rubber hose pieces and clamps. The hose will fit over the fuel line but it's ID is too small to fit over the copper tube. Use a drill on one end of the hose. Enlarge it enough so it fits over the tubing.
Install the rubber hose and screw clamps. Slide the plastic fuel line back into the copper tube till it's end is even with the bottom of the tube.
Then tighten the screw clamps to hold everything in place.
Before I screw the tubing back into the tank I'll install a vent line in the other bung.
continued -
