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Rudimentary Fuel Gage

I am in the process of cleaning out my big old shed in my back yard because it is in bad shape and I am going to tear it down and build a new one.I found a long lenght of 1/4'' clear plastic flexible tubing.I tried out the tubing to see if it will go down the gas tank neck and on down into the tank of my 1978 Dodge van.The tubing does go on down to about 31 inches when I can feel the tubing stop.

I guess if I cut the tubing to about 36'' that would give me a fair idea of how much gas is in the tank if I hold my thumb on the outer end of the tubing or bend/kind that end of the tubing and then quickly withdraw the tubing out of the tank?

The old gas tank is rusty and over the years since I have owned the van since 1989, I repaired numerous little pin holes on the bottom of the with fiberglass epoxy resin and fiberglass cloth.

When I get my back yard fixed up, I am going to see if the van will run ok if I sit a small plastic gas container on the floor of the van and I will hook up a regular flexible gas line to the fuel pump.If it will work ok, I will fix it up more permantly and I will remove the old tank.The longest distance I ever drive anymore is less than 20 miles round trip, I don't need a big gas tank.I own several small plastic gas containers, one of them is translucent, I can see the fuel level in there.

I always keep a small red plastic gas container in my van mostly full for lawn mower gas, if the other little plastic gas container starts running too low, I can pour some gas in there from the other little gas container and that would be enough to get me to a gas station.The fuel gage in that old tank quit working long ago and I don't think it is worth installing a new sending unit inside of the tank.That old tank needs to go! cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin
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just get another tank. There has to be one you can at a salavage yard that will be in better condition. Why create such a hazard? It's going to cost you the same or more and it's going to be as much effort if not more than doing it correctly.

When the fuel tank on the torqueless wonder car was leaking I just got another one at the u-pull and swapped it in.

Reply to
Brent P

Won't work reliably because the hose will inevitably bend and make you think it has more gas than it really does.

Here's another idea.

  1. Straighten a large wire coathanger and attach a small float to the lower end.
  2. Drill a small hole in the middle of a large cork stopper. Insert the wire coathanger assembly in the hole and attach a small red ball to the top end.
  3. Drill a hole slightly smaller than the cork in the gas tank. Jam the cork assembly into the new hole.
  4. Presto - a non-electronic fuel gauge.
  5. You may need to remove a few seats and extra body metal to make it visible through the rear view mirror.

Or just get the real gauge fixed.

Reply to
John S.

Need I say anything... Muck around too much like this and one day you will be a statistic...

Reply to
HLS

If you insist on a small removable fuel tank for your van in place of the normal one approved for such use, at least get a fuel tank for an outboard motor. They have approved fuel ports with quick disconnects and build in fuel gauges and are at least designed and approved for a reasonably similar use to your intended use.

Reply to
Pete C.

Rather than using the clear tubing, you could use a regular rubber fuel hose and see how much gets wet. Or use a stick. Or a weight on the end of a string.

Or use the clear tubing to T into the fuel line at the bottom of the tank, then run it someplace convient before looping back to the top of the tank. . Mark the full and empty levels with a sharpie, and gallons in between. Safety valves would be good. You can rig it up good.

Harry

Reply to
"Harry Smith"

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