parttime

i recently aquired a (new to me :) ) '69
when i went to put gas into the car i noticed that
i could look straight down into the gas tank :eek:
is this normal for a '69 or has my baby been Bubbarized :confused:

PatsLs1vette

no its normal the older ones had bigger gas openings till a certain year i think 75 but not sure my 73 is the same way too.

parttime

thanks for the info pats406nitrovette

PRNDL

What did you expect to see?? :) Whatever year it was that they switched over to unleaded gas. When they installed cats, they required unleaded gas or you would ruin your cat. They put slightly smaller tubes (oulet hoses, pump nozzles, spiggots, you know what I'm talkin bout???) on the unleaded gas pumps. Then they required cars to have little tiny fill holes that would only be large enuf for the unleaded pumps. This was the Feds way of forcing you to put unleaded into your unleaded car, and preventing you from (on purpose or by accident) putting LEADED gas into your cat-equipped vehicle. For a while you could buy both leaded and unleaded gas..... remember??? :) So ever since then you had these tiny little fill holes for the gas tanks. My gaping wide fillerup hole is so big the gas station attendents are afraid they (or the pump nozzle) is gonna fall right in!!! :) MJ

PatsLs1vette

i had to clean my tank this morning to get the water out and i was able to put my hand and arm in the tank and cleanit with a rag.. :D thats a big hole. :yesnod:

67HEAVEN

They made 'em that way for us Canucks. It's easier to hide parts in there when crossing the border. :D

ScubaJKD

Partime,

Large gas tank opening is a feature. That way when your gas gauge goes bad all you have to do is look in the tank to see when to filler up, instead of having to cary a dip stick. :lol:

parttime

:eek: :eek: :eek: umm...no, i'm afraid i don't remember...i was
probably still playing with leggos at the time :jester

427V8

It's for those long cruises...it's easier to do in flight refueling that way! :lol: :lol: :lol:

rainman69

I like the big hole... Can see if the gas is clean...

And, I think you should join the regustry if you haven't (shameless plug of the late night last night before major project is due for the site). http://www.1969corvettes.com/

:smash:

ddecart

Yup. What MNJack said. :yesnod:

You don't remember tetra-ethyl lead?!?! OMG! I remember when unleaded was just starting out!!! I'm getting OLD!!! :eek:

SevenT1Shark

Yea, i am getting old also. After the small fill holes came out people would pry them out so they could get the good stuff in, remember? :D

68shark

I've always compared filling up my Vette to filling up a motorcycle or a gas can. You just keep pumping until you look in and see how full it is. One day, my gasket fell off the locking gas cap while I was fumbling with it. Big problem? Not at all.....took a coat hanger and fished it out from the bottom of the tank. While doing this I noticed another one already residing on the bottom....

Have to confess that I've wondered what would happen if I had a full tank and got rearended real hard. Think I know the answer...but I try not to think about it!!

Easy Mike

Takes some getting used to!! ;)
Remember: Shark Drivers WAVE!!! :seeya :seeya :seeya :seeya :seeya

rollavette71

68Shark,

Most "experts" will tell you that you are better off keeping your tank full... in a rearend collision,
an empty tank can explode (e.g. Pintos). Full tanks are no picnics either, because of the ensuing fire,
but at least you might be able to escape the vehicle. You usually don't survive an explosion and the
fire that results. An empty tank approaches the proper fuel-oxygen stoichiometric ratio that is conducive
to an explosion. (Not to mention the condensation that can build up in empty tanks.)

Hank

rambler323

This is kinda funny to me cause I grew up with the phrase Unleaded Gas Only on every car I have ever been in... (except one). Do I remember leaded gas? No, that was probably about a decade (or two?) before I was playing with legos. :lol: :lol:

68shark

Thanks Hank! I didn't know the technical jargon....just was pretty sure my estate would be dealing with the insurance company on the settlement!!

Edzred72

Yeah, leaded at .32 a gallon and up to 106 octane!! :eek: :eek: Fill up for a fin and cruise all night. AHH.. the good ole days :yesnod: :yesnod: :yesnod:

Techno

An important tip.
Don't fill the tank up! Keep the gas down an inch or 2. If you fill almost right to the top the gas will expand and dump out the over flow. It also will dump when you floor it. Don't believe this? Try it then after the cold ground gas has reached the hot summer temperature go to the back plate and sniff around, this is where the dump hose leads to.

You can vacuum your tank out when its almost empty. I read this in an old 'Vette mag.
Put a hose in the tank and start a siphon then start fishing for any bubbles of water or dirt.

If you drop something in your tank you can get it out with your hand.
Cans of Octane booster fit nicely and drop in with a terrible bloop if someone startles you with their horn. Took me 2 months to figure out that I could reach in there and pull it out, my gauge was broke and guess how I checked the level!

Not recommended but possible. If you run out of gas you still have plenty. Reach in and bend the pick up down. It will be in gas again.
Hey I was desperate!