TR2/3/3A Gas tank does not fit!

[Dr_Mike]

I (we) got this car (TS60014) in the nineties, alleged to run well but obviously did not. Among other disasters was a rusty gas tank, which I had welded up, and recently I cleaned it and gave it a plastic coating.

Two problems: One is that it does not fit! If it sits on the supports as designed the filler is about 3/4 inch too far forward. I have tried tilting it with wooden wedges and can get it lined up, but then the pipe at the bottom tends to bang against the floor of the car. Restorer dod not notice this: (how could he? I had the tank.) Any suggestions?

Two: I read that people are plugging the vent pipe, or its outlet on top of the tan,k to avoid spilling gas on the road . "They" drill the gas cap or buy a predrilled one. Since the tank has to come out this would be a good opportunity to plug the vent. Any experience with this?

BTW! The engine ran for the first time since being rebuilt from scratch, but I discovered that the gas had leaked from the bottom fitting on the tank so it stopped very soon. But it was a wonderful feeling to have got so far. Thank you John, and others who have contributed. Oil pressure was good, and all cylinders firing smoothly while it lasted. Still lots to do!:at

 

[TR3driver]

Any chance its the wrong tank? There were 3 or 4 variations but not everyone is aware of that. I still remember the guy at the parts counter telling me "They're all the same."

FWIW, I used wooden wedges under mine, too; but I was able to get the outlet and inlet lined up at the same time. The hole for the outlet is pretty well hidden, so I might be tempted to enlarge it slightly, if that's all it takes.

I've run with the vent tube blocked for many years, works for me. Two different caps had the hole, maybe I just got lucky there. But they don't appear to seal even without the hole, might be worth trying it without.

 

[CJD]

Congrats on getting it running, Mike!! From here on out it gets exciting.

I had more trouble dealing with the gas tank last year than probably anything else. The PO replaced the floor in my boot, and just like yours, the neck was off about 3/4”. After hearing your story, I have to assume it is a result of the floor panels the vendors were offering at some point in the past?!?

What I wound up doing was “shimming” the tank to tilt it the way needed. I bought an extra set of the felt insulators for under the tank, and used triple thickness of the thicker strips to lean the tank. The opposite edge only got a single thickness of the thinner style strips. In addition, I believe I had to add a few washers under the rear tank mounting straps to allow the tank to lean without overloading the straps.

I’m sure you know, but you do get about 1/4” in the filler neck mounting to help out a bit in centering it all. I had to remount the tank at least a dozen times, adjusting the shims each time, before the neck was close enough to center to make me happy.

Then my tank started leaking...but hopefully you won’t have that problem. I’ll defer to others about the vent...I just don’t top completely off on gas!?!

 

[sp53]

Glad you got it running that always is a high point for me. I thought the tank sat on a felt pad? It looks like your TS number is right at the cut off for the gas tank change. Is the fuel out let in the center or off to the side. I have used either tank before with some minor modification. Perhaps someone did that with yours; do you have the built in back seat?

 

[Dr_Mike]

thank you all.

I think I have the correct gas tank with the outlet on the drivers side ( North America).

I will haul it out tomorrow, block off the vent and then jiggle it into place with wedges/shims of one sort or another, and , yes, maybe enlarge the hole. The parts list does not show a grommet there but I will see if I can do something for that too since the rest of the fuel line has grommets where it runs through holes.

Picture of vent hole very helpful: might just do that , or try without first.

Michael