Just the !*!#%! gas tank

As you might guess from the title of this post, sometimes things are not always as easy as they seem :-) Even the best planning sometimes leaves you "improvising".

Prior to starting the conversion I ran the gas tank to pretty near empty. (When I eventually finished draining the tank it had less than a half gallon left.) This makes the gas tank lighter and easier to remove. Easier is a relative term because the only thing easy about the removal was taking off the gas cap.

The gas tank on this vehicle is located in front of the rear axle, straddling the exhaust system, tucked up as tight to the rear cargo floor as possible. The tank is only held up by a few straps. The bolts to these are pretty easy to get to. But before removing these straps there are a few hoses attached to the gas tank. Fuel line from engine to fuel filter, two fuel lines from fuel filter to tank, three hoses from tank to pollution emission control, three lines from gas tank to fuel filler tube, electrical connections to fuel pumps, etc.

Step one. Disconnect fuel tank from emissions vapor control. Well since I won't be using the emission control I'll just remove the whole thing and leave it attached to the tank. No problem.

Step two. Remove hose from fuel filter. OK. There's the fuel filter... little tight under here, but plenty of room for a wrench. Turn.. hmmm...turn...hmm...inspect....turn...repeat this over and over for ten minutes. Why won't this come off. Oh, even though the connection is shaped like it should screw on it is not a screw on. Inspect closer. How the hell is this thing attached. Bend...bend more...squeeze... twist...inspect..bend harder...bend harder..bend to just break off. Why won't this come off!

Thirty minutes later I just said WTF. I'm removing the fuel line and filter anyway so I'll just cut the fuel line. Big scissors, cut fuel line, yes! Wait. Gas coming out. Not good. Why is gas coming out of a non-pressurized line from the tank side of the line with no fuel pump running. (Luckily I did have a container to catch the gas just in case.)

Step three. Unhook other lines from gas tank. Find lines, trace to connectors. Huh...how am I supposed to get to that let alone fit a tool in there. OK. I'll just skip to the step where I unstrap the tank. It will fall lower and then I can get to the connectors.

Step four. Unstrap tank. Tank unstrapped. Why isn't it falling down? What's holding you up? Inspect. Fifteen minutes later...oh its the hoses I haven't disconnected because I can't get to, so I'm pulling down the tank to get to them, but the tank won't come down because its connected to the hoses I can't get to.............agh!

Step four, part two. Pull on tank as hard as you can. Well at least something worked. That managed to get me enough slack to see where to disconnect the hoses. Now lets look at the connection...hmm...ok...hmm...how the hell am I supposed to disconnect this? Who designed these connectors? Couldn't they at least put in the manual the instructions for disconnecting the connectors? Plan B. Trusty scissors :-) Snip, snip, snip, snip. Finally! Success. Gas tank coming down.

So after about 2-3 hours I finally have the gas tank on the ground. Still under the car, mind you. Still straddling the exhaust system. But at least free from the vehicle.

Now all I have to do is detach the exhaust system and slide out the tank. No problem. I've already lowered the exhaust onto the ground. Only three nuts holding it. Three very rusty nuts!
Let's see 14mm. No. 13mm. No. 12 mm. Yes. Get out 12mm socket. Screws too long to use closed socket wrench. That's OK. I'll just get out an open box wrench. Let's see. 14mm, 13mm, 11mm. Wait. No 12mm! OK. I'll just use an adjustable wrench. OK turn..come on turn..come on...adjustable wrench won't hold on this rusty nut!

That's OK. I'm getting rid of the exhaust so I'll just cut the pipe. An angle grinder will rip right through it...with lots of sparks...and an garage full of gas fumes (see above). Maybe I'll skip using the angle grinder.

OK. I'll just jack up the car higher. Then I can lift it over the exhaust and under the frame. Hope my jack stands go high enough. Jack right higher, left higher. Lift tank. Not enough room. Repeat jacking and trying to lift tank over and over and over for another fifteen minutes.

Finally I get the !#*%^ tank out. Three to four hours later. Covered in grease. Smelling like gas. But it was out!