Oh, sometimes itıs such a joy to be alive. This weekend I was transporting
some steel wheels in my Spitfire trunk, and I must have stopped suddenly
(though I donıt remember doing so), because now I see a rather large
indentation in the back of my gas tank. I discovered it when I removed the
pressboard cover to investigate the source of the leak from my
newly-Eastwoodıs-sealed-tank, which now wonıt hold gasoline, presumably because
of the distortion of the metal around the sender hole (which, incidentally,
caused the sender arm to abbreviate its downward travel and indicate that there
was 1/4 tank of gas left when there actually was NONE). I was lucky to make it
home!
Anyway, I guess the lesson Iıve learned the hard way is to be careful what you
stow in the trunk/boot! Or stay off the brakes!
The tank is now empty. My first intention is to open the filler cap and sender
hole, turn on a fan to vent any fumes, and try pulling out the dent from the
back. Hopefully, it will snap back into place, and the sender hole will return
its original form, or close enough to hold water, so to speak.
Which brings up a side issue -- without using any tools that could cause a
spark, am I taking enough safety precautions?
--
Martin Secrest
74 Spitfire 1500, a little misshapen ...
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