[DeTomaso] FUEL TANK

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/18/09 20 54 7, boyd411 at gmail.com writes:


> Does the fuel tank on a 1973 L have a drain plug in the bottom?The 
> service
> manual says "Drain tank" before removal but it doesn't say how. Is there a
> plug or do you just siphon out the gas?
> 

There is a plug, and it's very easy to see.   However, there are 
dangers....

The tank is made of simple sheetmetal, and thus it isn't overly strong.   
There is a fitting welded to the sheetmetal and a plug threaded into the 
fitting.

When was the last time your plug was removed?

Right, I thought so.   

Chances are, it's rusted frozen solid.

If you put a monster breaker bar on it and attempt to open the plug, 
there's a chance that you could literally rip the bottom of the tank apart before 
the plug would budge!   That's not to say you shouldn't attempt to remove 
the plug (after all, you could get lucky), but don't get too rambunctious with 
it.   If the plug doesn't yield, use good judgement and give up before you 
do something you regret.

It's very easy to siphon fuel out of a gas tank.   I keep an old electric 
fuel pump around for just such things (available for next to nothing at any 
junkyard).   Just attach a fuel hose to the pump outlet, to the inlet of the 
pump, and another hose from the outlet of the pump to an empty gas can.   
Then rig up one wire to a 12v source and another wire to ground (you could 
even get fancy and incorporate a fuse and an on-off switch), and away you go.

Alternately, you could buy a pump-type siphon from Harbor Freight very 
cheaply and then just suck all the gas out, old-school-style, through the fuel 
filler.

Mike


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