[DeTomaso] Gas tank woes

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/17/10 10 58 37, JDeRyke at aol.com writes:


> What year is your Pantera again? Early cars had aluminum tanks, and the
> U,S. DOT made Ford cover them with fiberglas in case the aluminum cracked 
> in
> use. The shrouding was pretty crudely done in many cases. 
> 
>>>Very true!


> >Most such tanks were
> not shrouded but replaced with the later steel and the alloy tanks
> scrapped. 
> 
>>>Where did you hear that?   Most 1971 cars I see have the wrapped 
aluminum tanks unless the owner has changed them afterwards, but I suppose that 
once an adequate supply of steel tanks was in place, it would be 
easier/faster/cheaper to replace them than cover them.   FWIW my 1972 car had a rusty 
steel tank, and I replaced it with a used 1971 wrapped aluminum tank.


> >If the tank isn't magnetic, thats what you've got there. 
> 
>>>The fiberglass wrapping is a big hint too, as they didn't see the need 
to wrap the steel ones.


> >Nothing wrong
> with the aluminum tank but its usually a rear chore to get the fiberglas 
> off to
> make it look decent. 
> 
>>>Or, just leave it on, as you can't see it anyway. :>)


> >Note that all the fittings etc were different on alloy
> tanks too.
> 
>>>Actually they are exactly the same--my old fittings swapped straight 
over.   Other than the clocking of the fuel filler base (it was rotated 1/4 
revolution between the aluminum tanks and the steel ones), all the stuff that 
attaches to the tank is the same, except for the fuel pickup.

The later L-model tanks were different from the pre-L tanks in that the 
fuel pickup was moved from a stand-alone pipe with a banjo fitting, to a pipe 
incorporated into the fuel sender.   So the fuel sender was different, but 
they are interchangeable.

If you put an early sender into a late tank, you can't get fuel out of it, 
which is bad. :>)

However, if you put a late sender into an early tank, you have two sources 
of fuel which can both be plumbed in parallel and connected with a T-fitting 
to feed a hungry carburetor, which is a nice bonus if you need it.   Few 
people would ever need such a thing though.

When I was asking my engine builder if my Dash-6 fuel line would be 
sufficient to feed my 408 stroker, he actually told me he found it advantageous to 
use the smallest possible line that had the required flow capacity.   One of 
his racer customers fitted a much bigger fuel line to his street car, with 
the idea that 'more is better'.   He got stood in a traffic jam, and the 
underhood temperatures were sufficient to cause vapor lock and the car died.   
Going to a smaller fuel line increased the rate of fuel flow through the 
line, and it was therefore exposed to less heat and that fixed the problem.

Things that make you say, "Hmmm..."

Mike