68 corvette gas tank questions, L@@K!

[Jim T.]

Re: 68 corvette gas tank questions, L@@K!

Terry I will look at my tank tonight when I get home in a few hours. Did you find the information in the archives on the gasket composition for the gas cap?

[Terry F.]

Re: 68 corvette gas tank questions, L@@K!

I will search the archives now. I suspect you will not find a date on the flange next to the tank sending you unit. I looked at the material that was used under the tank straps and it actually is the same as the anti-squeek pads that go to the underside of the tank. I will measure there length and width. I think I will be buying a new tank from quanta. I was going to use this used one but it has some issues that I don't like and don't want to work around. Oh well. I grabbed the filler neck and screws off it and took the sending unit out for practice. Thanks for taking the time to look at your car. I appreciate it. Terry

[Jim T.]

Re: 68 corvette gas tank questions, L@@K!

Terry just looked at the flange area for the sending unit on my original owner 68 and did not find a date. I did not scrub the area or disturb the area when viewing. I think a new gas tank is a good investment. Noticed looking at the fuel nipple coming from the tank on mine has surface rust. Plan on cleaning it up good when I put the new hose on.

[Terry F.]

Re: 68 corvette gas tank questions, L@@K!

The gas tanks that had dates are hard to miss. You would have to have a lot of dirt on the flange to not see it. I was looking into the repros and for 68 and early 69, they are perfect from what I can see. The only difference I can tell is that a fresh original would have the sheet metal manufactures name inked onto the sheetmetal. If not the name it was the treatment the sheetmetal was subjected to to make it rust protected. It is mentioned in an earlier thread. I also saw a picture of a original tank in the restorer that still had the markings on it.

I measured the padding on the tank staps that I have. The padding was glued with yellow rubber adheisive and the straps were 2 inches wide and somewhere between 19 1/4 and 19 1/2 inches in length. I don't think the assembly manual shows them becuase they were probably part of the strap itself. I could be totally wrong on that. But, I am confident they are suposed to be there and I will put new one's back on because mine are close to being trashed.

Major thanks for sharing your observations on your car. I can't wait to finish my car. I have been doing body work slowly. I go rather slowly. Lately, I have been trying to bring my right front fender back to life. Trying to make strong repairs that are next to undetectable is tough. I really want to save the fender.

All for now, Terry

[John H.]

Re: 68 corvette gas tank questions, L@@K!

Terry -

I don't have a '68 A.I.M., but the wording on the fuel tank sheet will provide a clue about whether or not there were insulators between the straps and the tank if the insulators don't show separately in the illustration. If the straps are called out as just "strap", that's just the steel part; if they're called out as "strap asm.", that means they're composed of more than one part, which may be a supplier-installed insulator.

[Terry F.]

Re: 68 corvette gas tank questions, L@@K!

I will check on that. When I took my tank out years ago it had the padding on the straps. I could not find it in the picture of the AIM so I didn't put them back on. I recently received some tanks straps out of a 68 and there they were again, padding on the tank straps. Now it sounds like others have the same observations on their own cars. It sort of make sense considering how they function. I will go look at my AIM and see how it's described. Thanks for the bit of knowledge. I would really like to get this car done. I thought it would be this summer but I will probably be next summer. Once I am done cleaning up the boo-boo's in the fiberglass, I am home free. The mechanical is all done but there are some areas I need to pull back apart to improve on. Then it will be off to the painter. I will sweat blood when I do that. Thanks, Terry

[Terry F.]

Re: 68 corvette gas tank questions, L@@K!

John, your were right. The AIM refered to it as a "strap assembly." Interesting. The picture does not show it. I don't think the after market people are selling such an item either. I will have to check the catalogs. Thanks for the info, Terry