Day 1...

Day 1...

Monday, September 29, 2014

Cleaning the Fuel Tank and Components Part II

I was able to use the siphon pump to get out the remaining old fuel Friday night. I also used an old turkey baster to get the final little bit out. 

I picked up some acetone, shop towels, and a $1 grill brush at the hardware store today. I was able to make some headway on the fuel tank cleaning. Here's the last video I shot from inside the tank. I still plan on scrubbing it out one more time and getting the shop towel remnants out of the tank.


Over the weekend I also put together the cleaned fuel pump, hoses, replacement rubber boot (DMCH made it right and sent me a replacement within a couple of days), and so on. I also installed new wire leads for the pump as the old ones were in poor shape.





Finally I cleaned the baffle assembly and fuel basket. I realized it would behoove me to go ahead and replace the fuel pickup line (connects to the bottom of the pump), seeing as this is the only rubber line I haven't replaced on the fuel system since I bought the car! If I recall it's $18 at DMCH.

At this point it looks like a Part III to this part of the project is inevitable. I plan on having this wrapped-up in the next 2-3 weeks. 

Friday, September 19, 2014

Cleaning the Fuel Tank and Components Part I

This is going to be a brief post followed by a more lengthy post in Part II. Hopefully there will be no Part III.

As of now, I have started my initial attempts to drain the tank. I couldn't get a good vacuum to pull the fuel out of the tank so today I ordered a siphon pump, a new 5 gallon gas can, and a box of rubber gloves. I'll pick up some acetone this weekend.

Once the old gas comes out I'll scrub the tank several times over and take a few pics along the way. My goal is to get some internal pics as well. The tank is synthetic so hopefully it will scrub up nicely without any surprises.

Here is a pic of the original pickup screen that sits in the bottom of the baffle at the bottom of the tank. Next to it is a new replacement part from DMCH. I think this speaks for itself.


Sunday, September 7, 2014

Replacement parts arrived

I ordered replacement parts for the fuel pump/tank area. The new fuel pump boot arrived with a large crack in the ring. I'll be sending this back for an exchange this week.






Yesterday was also the Italian Car Fest in Grapevine. I had the 308 GTSi at the house this weekend and snapped a pic of it in the garage next to the DeLorean.


Monday, September 1, 2014

Fuel Pump Surprise

I decided to drain the fuel tank of the old gas by jumping the RPM relay (like I did during my previous fuel flow tests). I took loose the rubber lines from the metal barbs on the metal lines next to the pump. The return line was a real pain justifying the need to get out the razor knife to get it free.

Before jumping the relay I decided to inspect the fuel pump inner rubber boot, knowing I had a faint fuel smell in this area prior. This is the little surprise I found.









What fun! The return line rubber hose in the tank ripped like a piece of bread when I tried to pull it off. The main line at the bottom of the pump seemed OK though. I am now in the process of putting together a parts list for these rubber parts that have become perished. 

I put the rubber external boot back over the tank lid with a piece of duct tape over the two hose inlets to keep the fumes from escaping. 

One step forward, two steps back. That first drive since the engine fire seems a little more distant after this find. We'll get there though.