NO3 question

[Mike M.]

lea and i drove the 63 ZO6 to gettysburg and within 100 yards of pulling into the host hotel, the old 327 died. no fuel in fuel meter. needle and seat not stuck. original fuel filter not blocked. didn't have a fuel pressure guage with me but there was fuel spitting out of the pump to fuel filter on cranking the engine. i narrowed the starvation problem to a weak fuel pump or a clog in the 36 gal tank. trailered the vette back to cumberland. just pulled the fuel pump and there are multiple chips of an unknown material in the pump. they appear to be small pieces of resin. anybody experienced a smilar problem of the fiberglass tanks sending resin debris downstream? mike

[Jim T.]

Re: NO3 question

Mike I believe I read a post this year where a comment was made about the gas we buy at the pump now could give problems for the optionial tanks.

[Timothy B.]

Re: NO3 question

Mike,

I can't answer your question but keep in mind the sender should have a sock at the discharge which is probably tore.

[Keith B.]

Re: NO3 question

I have heard on other boards were the modern fuels are eating up marine gas tanks that are made of fiberglass just like your N03.

[Dick W.]

Re: NO3 question

Ethanol is disolving the resin in the tank. Quit buying that cheap bargain fuel and find you some without ethanol

[Harmon C.]

Re: NO3 question

I have heard on other boards were the modern fuels are eating up marine gas tanks that are made of fiberglass just like your N03.

Lots of tank problems if you use pump gas in old marine tanks. I see the results in FL. and eveyone has to put in new tanks.

[Alan D.]

Re: NO3 question

Run into the problem in boats with fiberglass tanks several times. Even if the problem turns out to be something else its just not worth the chance of damaging a NO3 tank, they're not cheep.

[Mike M.]

Re: NO3 question

Mike,

I can't answer your question but keep in mind the sender should have a sock at the discharge which is probably tore.

tim: unlike the metal midyear tanks that have a sock on the sending unit, the NO3 tanks have no socks. there are a pair of fittings on the bottom of the tank that feed into the main line going to the pump with rubber hoses connecting the whole affair. the sending unit on a tanker lacks the pickup and hence has no socks. regards,mike

[Wayne M.]

Re: NO3 question

This is not good, Mike. I've heard rumors about this problem, caused, as others have said, by the ethanol now added to gasolines. My '65 tanker has been in Canada since 1980, and I'm hoping that even with the half dozen or so stateside tankfulls (burned mostly in the '80s), that I'm safe (touch fiberglass ). It's been about 6 months since I last fired her up, and I was thinking of installing one of those translucent in-line filters for the first few gallons, just to see if I'm picking up resin. I usually keep about 1/8 tank level, so that damage would be limited to the sumps, if it occurs.

I'll check my old emails; got one from an owner who had massive resin softening. Opened up his tank along the horizontal seam to inspect. The pics are pure N03 pornography.

Talked to a local Corvette friend who just retired from Shell Oil. Says I should have nothing to worry about (maybe no ethanol used, YET -- no farmers' lobby in these parts), and that all service stations have underground fiberglass tanks.

[Clem Z.]

Re: NO3 question

unless you want to burn 100LL or racing gas you can use this product to seal the inside of the tank if you can get it out of the corvette. they say it can be used on fiberglass. http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=us

[Wayne W.]

Re: NO3 question

unless you want to burn 100LL or racing gas you can use this product to seal the inside of the tank if you can get it out of the corvette. they say it can be used on fiberglass. http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=us

May be fine stuff, but I have always used a good cleaning and an epoxy coating on my old cars.

[Loren L.]

Re: NO3 question

Missile, I think Mike Ernst went through this with one of his tanker cars, but it might have just been him using some sort of "miracle clear that went south.

[Clem Z.]

Re: NO3 question

Lots of tank problems if you use pump gas in old marine tanks. I see the results in FL. and eveyone has to put in new tanks.

i have seen my share of this problem with boat carbs that i have worked on. the ethanol in the gasoline is dissolving something in the fiberglass tanks.

[Mike M.]

Re: NO3 question

May be fine stuff, but I have always used a good cleaning and an epoxy coating on my old cars.

wayne: hate to remove the 36 gal tank for a good cleaning. i just this am drained the tank and there were a couple more resin-like chips(about 1/4" by 1/4" and about .20thousands thick) . the dasoline itself wasn't cluody and no micro-particles to be seen. are you thinking of something like featherfill to coat the tank inards? i'd still have to pull the tank to coat all 360 degrees with the featherfill. think i'll install a shut-off valve and an inspectible fuel filter just foreward of the tank outlet. regards,mike

[Patrick H.]

Re: NO3 question

I think you'll need a good product made specifically for gas tanks.
Eastwood sells one (though I suspect there is a commercial one that is better)

http://www.eastwood.com/gas-tank-sealer-kits.html

Featherfill just isn't made for this and won't last.