I need help making a diy fuel tank for my 1960 700 model

[Corvair_man]

It has been a long time since I used this website so bare with me. I was looking at Google trying to figure out the line size and the thread size at the fuel pump. What Google said for the main line thread size is a 1/4-inch NPT while the fuel line is a 5/16 inch OD. Idk if that is correct or not? Also Google won't tell me the thread size back to tank and the pipe size.

I also couldn't find a diagram of the fuel pump to give me the dimensions i needed. I tried looking at our later 500 model that's a parts car it doesn't have the back to tank hose right off the T. I like to git fittings so I can screw them into the original fuel system and temporary delete the original until I git the fuel tank repaired

[jimbrandberg]

Screwing into the pump is 1/8 NPT not 1/4.
The inlet line is 5/16 flare and the carburetor lines are 1/4" flare. I want to say the extra fuel return and gas heater line is 3/16 flare but I'm only 95% sure.
For testing purposes lot of times I'll take an old 5/16 inlet line and cut it off, then put a 5/16 gas hose on it into a gas can in the fenderwell. Maybe put a 3/16 flare plug in the return line. 60s don't really have a fenderwell area so it's a little trickier.
When I took my 60 gas tank out for Tank Renu I rigged up a gas can in the trunk. I only drove it around the neighborhood a bit.

[caraholic4life]

Rather than attempt to repair the original gas tank, consider supporting vendors that support us and produce items like the 1960 only gas tank, the fuel return line and sending unit...

http://ssl.corvair.com/user-cgi/search. ... rch=c12804
Part number C12804: 60 GAS TANK-EXACT REPRO C11239....$ 338.35

http://ssl.corvair.com/user-cgi/search. ... ch=c12552f
Part number C12552F: 1960 HEATER GAS FEED LINE-TO ENG SHROUD- TO GAS HEATER FRONT FEED "T" NEAR GAS TANK...$ 48.10

http://ssl.corvair.com/user-cgi/search.cgi?part=C12801
Part number C12801: 60 GAS TANK SENDER UNIT....$ 72.85

[Corvair_man]

Screwing into the pump is 1/8 NPT not 1/4.
The inlet line is 5/16 flare and the carburetor lines are 1/4" flare. I want to say the extra fuel return and gas heater line is 3/16 flare but I'm only 95% sure.
For testing purposes lot of times I'll take an old 5/16 inlet line and cut it off, then put a 5/16 gas hose on it into a gas can in the fenderwell. Maybe put a 3/16 flare plug in the return line. 60s don't really have a fenderwell area so it's a little trickier.
When I took my 60 gas tank out for Tank Renu I rigged up a gas can in the trunk. I only drove it around the neighborhood a bit.

I'm doing the same thing but in the engine bay. I just realized that small line on the top of the T goes to the heater because how would the heater git fuel if there is no pump to fuel it since it's right on top of the tank. Thanks for the information hope it works and no gas spills onto the engine cover and all the pieces fit

[Frank DuVal]

Be careful taking that T, actually a cross in this case, apart, as there is an orifice in the port that feeds the gasoline heater. This part is often misplaced since it is not on any car except those equipped with the gas heater.

To measure OD of a line/pipe, just put an adjustable wrench on it, remove w/o opening the jaws then measure the jaw opening.

Funny, I just looked at the fuel tank page (69) in the online Clark's catalog and that 60 repro was not there. I thought I had read they were available. Thanks' for the link, Andria.

[Frank DuVal]

Double Post... Erased.

[RexJohnson]

The fuel "cross" used to feed fuel to the gas heater is the same "cross" with the return line on smog engines.

[caraholic4life]

Funny, I just looked at the fuel tank page (69) in the online Clark's catalog and that 60 repro was not there. I thought I had read they were available. Thanks' for the link, Andria.

Frank,
While I genuinely appreciate that Clark's makes the effort and investment to develop and get parts like this into production, they have begun to sometimes fail in other areas.

Now that Cal and Joan are not as involved in the daily operations as they one were, it seems that some areas of the business are not being attended to as well as they had been previously.

When a new item is made available, it gets included in the "New Items" part of the website which is good.
The downside is that it seems that sometimes the catalog does not get revised and the newer items are not easy to search for after a while. The 1960 Gas Tank is just one example.

During my initial search, I was unable to find any mention of the 1960 Gas Tank anywhere.
I did not spend hours going through the website page by page and acknowledge that it may be hidden somewhere.

The reproduction 1960 Gas Tank was not on the New Items page any longer and not listed in any way that I could find.
All that resulted during a word search were references to the other offerings on page 69 as you probably saw for yourself.
I finally found the part number by searching this forum from an older discussion related to these tanks and posted it here with the link.

[jimbrandberg]

I like Tank Renu because they clean the metal, then seal it inside and out, then bake it on. We're fortunate to have new gas tanks available but other kinds of cars are not so lucky. In the same vein of supporting companies that do a good job I like to do what I can to support them so they can stay in business.

Do it yourself gas tank sealers have a nasty habit of coming loose with differing chemicals in todays gas which causes all kinds of problems.

A Tank Renu job costs about the same as a new tank for 61-69 cars and less for a 60 or FC.
Last year I got a quote on shipping a car gas tank from MA by FedEx Ground and it was like $75.
It's 50 miles one way to Tank Renu and it takes two trips so nothing is easy.

I have a car tank from Tank Renu that I've offered folks a few times but they've opted for a new tank. One of these days my stack of tanks that are rusty inside will find their way to the scrapper.

I'll take a NOS or working AC sender over the shiny new Chinese crap any day. Twice I've seen them leak where the wire goes through and there's no way to fix it, not to mention the electrics giving up the ghost or the float sinking. Also be careful the tabs on a new tank are tight enough so the o-ring doesn't leak. When people store their Corvair with a full tank of gas in a heated building and it begins to drip it has the potential for disaster.

I hope someone is telling Clarks about catalog problems, I'm sure they would like to know.

[Frank DuVal]

The fuel "cross" used to feed fuel to the gas heater is the same "cross" with the return line on smog engines.

Yes, brass cross is the same, just don't loose the orifice inside.

[joelsplace]

Clark's has been slow to get new items listed in the catalog online for as long as I can remember.

[joelsplace]

Last year I got a quote on shipping a car gas tank from MA by FedEx Ground and it was like $75.
It's 50 miles one way to Tank Renu and it takes two trips so nothing is easy.

Have you tried Pirateship? They are usually a lot cheaper but they only do USPS and UPS.

Those rusty tanks are a good candidate for electrolysis rust removal. Pretty close to free. A few cents for electricity, some old nails and washing soda will make them like new again assuming you have an old transformer style battery charger and they aren't so rusty that they have holes in them.
I do like to spend a little money on some alcohol to rinse them out for moisture removal when I'm done.
I've heard acetone is excellent for removing varnish but that is expensive.

[Dennis66]

To measure OD of a line/pipe, just put an adjustable wrench on it, remove w/o opening the jaws then measure the jaw opening.

Hence the term "Georgia micrometer"

[Torskdoc423]

I was taught "Tijuana Socket set".

[RexJohnson]

If you just use different sized open end wrenches until one fits good, you don't have to do any measuring, just look at the size.

[Frank DuVal]

True for items of an OD of standard open end wrench size, but keep the adjustable "Georgia Micrometer" for other items a tape measure doesn't work for.