'Bolters helping 'Bolters is a beautiful thing!

           Don't "settle" for sediment clogging your fuel tank outlet. With $3 worth of stuff from your local hardware store, here's Tyler to show you how to make...

A filter for your gas tank outlets

October 2007

By Tyler Watts

Bolter # 3480
1953 Chevrolet 3/4-Ton 3600 Pickup
Harper's Ferry, West Virginia

           Here is a little trick I just found for fixing ever-clogging gas tank outlets. If your gas tank is rusty or has a lot of sediment inside, you may experience the problem (as I did) of the fuel line constantly clogging as little particles fill up the gas tank outlet pipe.

           An easy way to fix this problem, without pulling the tank out of the vehicle, is to make a strainer, and plug it into the outlet pipe. Any fine wire mesh will do -- I used a stainless steel kitchen sink strainer, with a very fine mesh, which sells for under $3 at Home Depot.

           Remove the rim from the strainer and flattened out the wire mesh. Roll up the mesh as tightly as possible, until you have a very dense "tube" of mesh, with a diameter about equal to the i.d. of the fuel outlet pipe.

           Cut off the excess wire mesh (the kitchen sink strainer has enough mesh to make at least two of these). It is important to roll the mesh along its longest axis, so your strainer will stick up as far as possible into the tank.

           With the strainer prepared, take out the plug on the bottom of the gas tank and push the strainer in far enough to clear the plug threads. (Don't close the drain cock -- it must be fully open to allow the strainer to pass. The strainer will make the drain cock inoperable unless you manage to push it far enough up so as to clear the cock as well.)

           Re-install the plug.

           Now you have an effective strainer to keep all that debris from clogging up the tank outlet!

           I did this on a 1952 Stovebolt that kept stalling out on me due to fuel line clogs. So far, it's working great, and I'm not seeing any new sediment in my under-tank fuel filter. You may want to drain the tank first, because if you don't, you will lose some fuel and need to take a shower afterwards! I opted for not draining the tank -- I probably lost a gallon of fuel, but I figured it would be a major pain to drain out the whole tank.

           Hoping this helps someone else!

Tyler Watts

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