Fuel tank in

Well, I'm still waiting for the new rear main seal from our friend in Utah. Its unfortunate that it hasn't arrived yet, but I was able to get something done. I'd rather be moving forward on getting the engine and transaxle mated, but the fuel tank needs to be in before the engine goes in anyway. There's not a whole lot to putting the tank back in. Make sure the small square-ish foam seal is in place over the hole. Then, just push the hold-down straps out of the way and muscle the tank in. Connect the signal wire from the right side of the tank bay to the top of the tank. Connect the ground wire to the top of the body/frame. Push the bolts at the ends of the hold-down straps through the holes, and tighten them with a deep socket 13mm rachet.

I've cleaned up the threaded fuel line attachment, but I haven't put it on yet. I've heard that a Honda petcock fits these fuel tanks. I thought it might be interesting to put one of those on there instead of the old pass-through. The most obvious question would be "when would you want to shut it off?". Well, when you change the fuel lines, for one. It could be used for security, but who wants to roll under the bus to turn off / on the fuel flow? There are new petcocks that are vacuum operated that shut off the fuel flow when the engine cuts out. Sounds neat... for a gas engine. Diesel isn't flamable like gasoline, so the threat of pouring fuel onto a fire isn't quite as threatening. Then there's the question if diesel would destroy the fancy new petcock. Possible... in the end, it seems like one more thing that would be a hassle. I can always add one later. So, I'm going to take the "attachment" with me to a friend's house that has Honda's and see if this thing would thread onto a Honda. Logically, this would tell me if a Honda petcock would fit on the early bay fuel tank. Then, "the attachment" willll go on the tank, and all that I'll have left for the fuel tank is getting the supply and vent lines hooked up.

The vent lines should be quick, unless they need replacing. Routing the lines from the tank to the hard lines will be easy. The thing I need to figure out is what to do about the other end (routing into the air intake) and the thick vent line that connects to the fuel filler. That vent is supposed to vent fuel fumes back into the pump when you're filling up, but I think I may use that topside access for the fuel return line instead. Not sure on that yet. Regardless, next, I'll be hooking up the fuel filler line and the 2 side-vent lines. I'll leave the rest for later.

Hopefully, my next post will be about getting the rear main seal on, followed by posts about the fitting of the transaxle and engine together. I still need a permanent clutch/pressure plate and a starter solution, so there's lots still up in the air. Time is getting tight, too. Figure the rainy season starts by mid-October here in the Pacific NorthWest. If I want to be working in a dry location, I need the engine in the bus and the bus in the garage before then. Its gonna be tight.