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Coming, coming, coming and ..... | ..... it is out! Note that normally on a three tube assembly there would be a long tube for engine fuel, a slightly shorter one for the generator and then a very short one for the vapor recovery system. My third one is also long and turned at the end because I was running an Edelbrock fuel injection system that required a third tube for fuel to return to the tank. | That done it was back out and under the coach to start the tank removal process. Here Larry is loosening the four bolts that hold the tank up. We then removed two of them diagonally to prepare for lowering the tank. | A floor jack was slipped under the tank to accept the weight and the remaining bolts were removed. Then the tank was wiggled and jiggled and lowered as low as the jack would allow. |
And here is the tank! The tank is 20.5 inches tall/deep so it will not just slide out from under the coach (FMC's are low to the ground!). Even with the coach on jack stands, we still had to remove the rivets holding the fiberglass side panel and bend it out of the way to slip the tank out - just barely!! | Here is where the fuel pickup assembly was installed into the tank. The tank can be removed with the pickup assembly intact, but one will have to be careful with the fuel lines, sender electical wire and the ground wire. | The tank is loaded and ready to be transported to a metal fabrication shop where a new replacement tank will be built. This tank was slightly damaged by a loose tire tread a number of years ago so now is the time to replace it. | (1 Comments) At last the new fuel tank is done. I was going to have it made with carbon steel, but in the end, after much encouragement (harassment?!!) by other FMC owners, I had it made with stainless steel. You will just have to crawl under the coach to see the bling! It is a match in size, 60 gallons, with the original. |
In this closer view, you can see the size of the opening for the fuel pickup assembly that will be transfered from the donor unit's tank. There is double thickness around the opening and around the fill spout. | To install the fuel pickup assembly, I needed to prepare the gasket that will prevent leakage between the top of the tank and the piece of the donor vehicle's tank that will hold that assembly. I ran into a little problem in that I don't have a tool that would punch a clean, correctly sized hole in the nitrile gasket material. I searched my memory bank for where I might fine some kind of tool that would do the job and the name Harry Day, seen here, came up. Conveniently, I would be passing by his place in a different state in a few days. | Harry was available and very helpful! After I presented my problem, he thought about it and started opening toolbox drawers until he came up with the tool you see here. It is a hole punch that is designed for punching holes in sheet metal. It has several different sized punch and die sets that adapted it to the sizes needed. We mic'd the 10/32 machine screws that will be used and picked a punch size that gave us a hole big enough for the screw to easily pass through, but small enough to stop fuel travel up the screw. | We used a Sharpie pen to mark the material with the hold down ring's outline and the spots for the holes. The punch was then placed into a vise and secured. The holes were then punched into the nitrile material as you see here. You can also see the tool used in this photo. It pays to attend rallies over the years and get to know other FMC owners. One never knows when you may need to draw on a fellow FMC owner's expertise. Thank you Harry. |
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