Not sure about Vansauto

Rusty Muffler

Rusty Muffler

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Petaluma, Ca.
I recently purchased a new tank from Vans and the fuel pickup was a good 1.5" off the tank floor which seemed excessive. I contacted Vans and asked him if that was normal. He said it was but with no explanation of why it was ok. When I asked about running low on fuel much sooner he got nasty with me! Don't know if it's a coincidence but I can't get the tank straps to reach the J bolts so I can spin the nuts on like the tank was slightly too big. I have longer j bolts on order to fix this. Just a heads up.
 
You'll have that. They are just a reseller. Just a warehouse. THey don't design and manufacture the parts. Dry fit the sender and bend the pick up tube so it fits closer to the bottom of the tank. Most parts now days aren't plug and play.
 
I had a leaky tank from them a few years ago. When I contacted them about it they made me send photos and would only send a replacement tank if I removed and cut up the defective tank and send them photos of that too. That was kind of a biotch. Also, the new sending units aren't accurate - rheostat winding is nothing like the mopar version.

Cutting up a gas tank with a long sawzall blade sure made a racket....
 
Ridiculous....

IMG_7179.jpg


IMG_7182.jpg
 
The pickup being 1-1/2" away has nothing to do with the tank. I can understand the Vans guy getting a little annoyed.
Like what was said above, you need to adjust it yourself. Perfectly normal.
And it won't read correctly regardless.
 
To me, doesn't take much sleuthing around to see that anybody who sells a fuel tank using the Spectra part numbers is only re-selling the Spectra parts. Which means the Spectra Premium website is a good source of information from "the seller" of the tanks. Shopping for the best price and shipping costs (yes, they are variable, as charged, if charged) is always best.

In looking at the sending units on the Spectra website, many are "will-fit" or "universal" in nature. They might have the same resistor value as the OEM unit, but the swing arm the float is on is NOT the same. Only an OEM/NOS tank unit will be like the one you have, so "adjustments" are needed for accuracy. Might be quicker to swap out the resistors and wiring into the existing sending unit?

Seems like YearONE was doing rebuilds on tank units years ago? Only wear part, other than the pivot for the swing arm is the resistor and "wiper" on the swing arm.

The tank pickup and "sock" will need to be close to the fuel tank bottom, but NOT touching it. If it touches, it can be an origination point for mysterious noises back then, I suspect.

As to verification for the cut-up of the damaged tank? Would you send out a $300.00 part just because a customer said they wanted one? Without seeing evidence of it being destroyed beforehand? Plus pay freight on getting the damaged item back? BTAIM

Thanks for the interesting pictures. Now we know what is really inside!
CBODY67
 
CBODY67 said:
To me, doesn't take much sleuthing around to see that anybody who sells a fuel tank using the Spectra part numbers is only re-selling the Spectra parts. Which means the Spectra Premium website is a good source of information from "the seller" of the tanks. Shopping for the best price and shipping costs (yes, they are variable, as charged, if charged) is always best.

In looking at the sending units on the Spectra website, many are "will-fit" or "universal" in nature. They might have the same resistor value as the OEM unit, but the swing arm the float is on is NOT the same. Only an OEM/NOS tank unit will be like the one you have, so "adjustments" are needed for accuracy. Might be quicker to swap out the resistors and wiring into the existing sending unit?

Seems like YearONE was doing rebuilds on tank units years ago? Only wear part, other than the pivot for the swing arm is the resistor and "wiper" on the swing arm.

The tank pickup and "sock" will need to be close to the fuel tank bottom, but NOT touching it. If it touches, it can be an origination point for mysterious noises back then, I suspect.

As to verification for the cut-up of the damaged tank? Would you send out a $300.00 part just because a customer said they wanted one? Without seeing evidence of it being destroyed beforehand? Plus pay freight on getting the damaged item back? BTAIM

Thanks for the interesting pictures. Now we know what is really inside!
CBODY67
Click to expand...

I'm fortunate that I had the means to cut the tank up. Some people would have been up the creek, or if they had to have their mechanic do this they would have been charged for that too.

More pics.... which remind me the soldered joint where the vents exited leaked too (on the tank that replaced this one). Fixed that with epoxy.

IMG_7177.jpg


IMG_7178.jpg
 
commando1 said:
The pickup being 1-1/2" away has nothing to do with the tank. I can understand the Vans guy getting a little annoyed.
Like what was said above, you need to adjust it yourself. Perfectly normal.
And it won't read correctly regardless.
Click to expand...
But he recommended it would be fine, was against adjusting anything.
 
For all of the damage, how was the tank packaged?

Thanks for the extra pictures,
CBODY67
 
I bought my tank from them the first year they offered it; picked it up at Carlisle Chrysler Nationals. The sending unit was very poorly positioned and the gauge could never reach full height. (but it did read correctly from E to F) I did my best to bend the gauge to work but ended up disforming the gauge to where it wouldn't move freely anymore. I ended up buying another gauge from them that did work, but sadly had to pay full price. One other thing, my original lock ring just would not seal correctly on the new tank so I had to use their thinner lock ring (but used a thicker replacement rubber gasket).
 
My straight from Vans 64 full-size car tank was just peachy.
Ordered the tank, paid the bill, got the tank shortly thereafter, tank looks good, tank fits good.
The install, fitment and adjustment of the economy sender and pickup I sourced elsewhere? That's on me.
Parts are rarely factory parts anymore. They are often parts "kits".
 
The original, 6 volt minimalist sender with cork float in my '53 dodge truck works perfectly. I've never had to touch it.

Somewhere along the way, technology has been lost. Humph.
 
Hmmmm I think I remember someone else on here ranting about Van's less than personable customer service recently!:rofl:
 
live4theking said:
There are two guys at Vans from what I understand. One is very nice and helpful. The other has been spoke of above.
Click to expand...
I got a little grin about this... Anyone that's ever worked anywhere dealing with customers knows there's someone that does their job great, but you have to try to keep them off the phone. In a small place, that becomes tough to do...
 
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