So while I wait for my S14 flywheel to return from the machinist, (I dropped it off at the IE booth during the SoCal Vintage).  I figured I would finish off the trunk by completing the installation of the gas tank.  All that was remaining was to simply install the rubber fill pipe and figure out how I was going to vent it.  Well, things are never simple with this car.

First off, the rubber fill pipe is the longer one for the early car and the original one I removed from the car was in great shape, but unfortunately, hard as a rock.  I did want to shell out $80 for a new one because I was afraid the new ones were equally hard as rocks from sitting on a shelf all these years.  So I did some research on refreshing rubber parts and went down the wintergreen path.  Maybe I didn't use the correct wintergreen to water ratio, but after 45 minutes of cooking the rubber fill pipe on my barbeque there was some softening, but not enough to install the part on the flange and the mouth of the gas tank.  Disgusted, I left the rubber fill pipe in the wintergreen solution for a week while I worked on other projects, (more on that later).  I finally decided that this task needed to be completed eventually, so I pulled the rubber fill pipe out of the wintergreen solution and rubbed it down with brake fluid, (also suppose to soften rubber), put it in a plastic bag and left it in the sun for an hour.  When I pulled it out, it was marginally better, but not really pliable.  I finally got it installed by installing the gas tank side first, then heating the lip of the fill pipe with a heat gun until it was pliable enough to slip over the flange.  Installed the two clamps and this chore was done.

So, originally I was going to just run a line from the rubber fill pipe to the floor of the trunk and out to the atmosphere, but I decided not to drill another hole in the trunk.  This 1970 1600 came equipped with a vapor canister and carbon filter.  I decided to vent the tank fumes to the original vapor canister under the hat tray in the trunk, but instead of running the blue plastic line up to the engine compartment, I would run it through an existing hole under the back seat and out to the atmosphere.  This way, it could be easily retrofitted to the original stock configuration if I decided to go back to stock, (yeah right).

Other Projects

So, I have a 18 year old son, Dylan,  that has been saving his nickels and dimes for his own project.  While I was dropping off my flywheel at the SoCal Vintage, he spotted a 1991 BMW 318IS for sale at the show.  I must admit, it was very well presented, enthusiast owned and tastefully modified with all appropriate upgrades.  The owner, Paul M.  was super nice, answered all our questions and we eventually shook hands on a price everyone was happy about.  The next weekend, Dylan and I had a campus tour scheduled at LMU and after the tour was over, we drove to Studio City and picked up the car.  Now I have another project to work on, but this one comes with a dedicated helper.

Thanks for reading.

Mark92131