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I have tried to get in the habit of doing searches of the forum before posting questions. In this instance I think I am suffering from information overload and some conflicting information as well.
I have a '78 and when I filled the tank up all the way it would leak. I think I tracked the leak down to the elbow at the top of the tank. Was not able to tell with the tank in the car if it was the hose (a vent hose I believe) or the plastic elbow. Now that I was able to remove the tank I think the elbow fitting itself may be leaking but where it is cemented to the tank.
What can I use to seal the vent elbow? I have seen recommendations for JB Weld as well as all sorts of preparations I have never heard of and plastic welding.
All of the rubber hoses have perished to some degree. There is one hose off the fuel pump located outside of the tank that has a banjo fitting and it travels through a protective cover to a silver thing in the right rear wheel well (fuel accumulator?) I saw one post where someone makes new hoses for this sort of thing with durable materials but $450! Is this a readily available replacement part or is there a way to cobble together something that will do the job.
I do not think there is an in the tank pump on a '78, is that correct? Most posts I have found seem to recommend removing the fuel strainer from the tank and replacing it. Some horror stories about stripping out the threads on the tanks. Is the factory strainer the only way to go, I thought I saw a replacement with a pleated filter element on it but don't recall where I saw that now.
Is the vent hose that passes through the body and is covered with some reinforcing fabric a special molded factory hose or will suitably sized fuel hose suffice?
There doesn't appear to be an abundance of crud build up in the tank but as long as I have it all apart I may as well clean it. Have not done a search for cleaning ideas yet but if anyone reading this wants to chime in with the best way to go, I am all ears.
Not sure what to do with the hose off the top of the tank next to the sender, it is crimped onto a hard line. Should I splice a new piece of hose on the end with a barb?
Speaking of senders, I was getting erratic fuel gauge readings after filling up as much as I could. The needle would jump all over the place for no apparent reason. I saw some threads on testing the sender it self and will do that before re-installing. Maybe more of an electrical fault somewhere? Ideas? Maybe I better do a search for that too.
OK checked with 928 International, the hose with the banjo fitting, the molded vent hose and the hose off the sending unit crimped to a hard line are all NLA...
928 Int. says I should have an in tank pump but shouldn't there be some wires for it? Did early cars not have an in-tank pump? I should take and post a picture but it looks like just a threaded plug with an outlet for the fuel hose. Maybe it means someone was messing around in there before and eliminated it?
928 Int. says I should have an in tank pump but shouldn't there be some wires for it? Did early cars not have an in-tank pump? I should take and post a picture but it looks like just a threaded plug with an outlet for the fuel hose. Maybe it means someone was messing around in there before and eliminated it?
Yes, the in-tank pump has wires to the fitting. So you don't have the in-tank pump, either your '78 never did or somebody swapped it for a strainer.
I've went to this process. Be very careful not the disconnect the boss of the in-tank filter. It happened to me and I had to buy another tank. Luckily I've found a good deal on it. (80$). None of the epoxy's I've used have held up more then 2 days. I haven't done the write up on my blog yet but U can find out a bit about my story here.
Here is a photo of the leaking area. I was not easily able to remove the in tank filter so I think it is best left alone. The screen looks good on the inside so I will endeavor to clean the tank out and call it good. The local radiator fuel tank repair shop quoted me $220.00 to clean the tank and repair the leak by plastic welding.
Where is the fuel filter supposed to be on a '78. The pictures I have seen show it mounted on top of the external fuel pump mounted on the tank. I have no such filter mounted there. SOme other diagrams for the earlier cars seem to show is mounted in the right rear fender well under the fuel accumulator. No filter on mine there either...is there another area where it could be installed?
I wonder if some prior owner eliminated it. Pretty sure that is not a good idea.
Where is the fuel filter supposed to be on a '78. The pictures I have seen show it mounted on top of the external fuel pump mounted on the tank. I have no such filter mounted there. SOme other diagrams for the earlier cars seem to show is mounted in the right rear fender well under the fuel accumulator. No filter on mine there either...is there another area where it could be installed?
I wonder if some prior owner eliminated it. Pretty sure that is not a good idea.
The fuel filter on my '78's has always been in the forward passenger rear wheel well, along with the accumulator. All mine also have no in-tank pump, only a pump that fist in the metal cover at the rear of the tank. check out thi slink for e great writeup by "sharkskin" (lots of great info on restoring a '78)
Update: the fuel leak was not a fuel leak after all, was the vent host that perished. Working on re-assembly with new hoses everywhere. How to wrap it up tonight and get it back on the road.