Tanks for the Memory

Thanks to everyone who voted in our online poll. We will be revealing the new colour of our Corvette as soon as possible.......stay tuned!

Well, this project of restoring our 1975 Corvette Stingray is starting to progress quite well. All the paint has been stripped from the body and what a mammoth task that was!!! There are just a few more things to do before it can go to the paint shop.

It looks like the rubber hoses that connect the fuel tank to the steel lines are close to being the original items. That means they’re about 33 years old! Think I’ll take this opportunity to replace them with new hose. Hmmmm but what’s this? The hoses go to the top of the fuel tank, just underneath the body ……. How the hell do you get at them?

Just two choices here: either remove the body of the Corvette or remove the fuel tank. No prizes for guessing which option I took.

I read somewhere that it’s best to have a buddy help you when removing the tank. But I knew better…. so I tackled it myself.

After removing the main fuel line, I undid the bolts on the steel straps that hold the tank to the Corvette chassis. I was at the point of no return now!! As I was gently prizing the tank from its resting position I noticed that it was a bit heavy. Had to lie on my back with one knee hard up against the tank to support my sagging arms.Next, and to my dismay, I realized that the fuel gauge wire was still connected, as was another rubber hose. This thing was getting heavier by the minute and I was running out of arms & legs.

How do I proceed from here? Well, there was a knife on the floor, just out of reach. I managed to spin around a bit and kick the knife toward myself with the so far unused leg. At this point in time, I thought I was playing Twister, just didn’t have a friend playing with me. Anyway, with some difficulty, I managed to cut the other rubber hose and disconnect the wire. Now all I had to do was lower the tank to the ground.

If you’re looking forward to seeing a photo of this, all I can say is “You’ve got to be joking!!!! I didn’t have enough arms as it was.” However, Dayle has added a good tank link, just to satisfy you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9LLvGgRvQI Thanks Youtube!

Well, I reckon that the Corvette’s fuel tank, which I thought would be just about empty because I certainly haven’t put any fuel in it, must have been about ¾ full. That’s about 40 litres at about 1 kg per litre. Put that together with the weight of the tank….No bloody wonder it was heavy!!!

As the fuel tank was nearing the ground, it was closely followed by a 33 year build up of dirt that was sitting on top of and around the tank. You guessed it….I got the dirt all over me, on my face, in my ears, even up my nose. Gee,that was great fun. Now I know what I’m doing this Spring……… top dressing the lawn with the dirt from under the car.

Another day done, another drama solved in the restoration of the ‘vette.

Think I should have listened to the guy who said …….it should only be done when there is a buddy to help.

PS from Dayle.... He never asked me to help!