Gas tank gremlin
 

My car would with no problem, took it on a shakedown run, pulled back in driveway, would not restart. Choke it, it would catch and die, checked fuel flo, not good. So checked filter at carb, ok. Checked cast iron filter, no flow. Thinking RUST and all sorts of horror repairs. Unscrewed shut off, drained off five gallons of gas. Poke screwdriver up thru drain hole, flow picks up then lessens. Something is really bad up there. Tank drained, poke flashlite in filler and found the problem. Remains of an old gasket someone failed to remove. I was p.o'd but relieved.

Re: Gas tank gremlin
 

Re: Gas tank gremlin
 

Found a foil gum wrapper in a tank!
That proves you CAN gas up & CHEW GUM, at the same TIME--LOL
Bill Barelyawake

Re: Gas tank gremlin
 

Hey Bill, that gum wrapper means one thing to me. A jealous kid pumping gas into the tank years ago. I’ll never understand why some people want to damage or destroy something they can’t or are too lazy to have.

Re: Gas tank gremlin
 

Years ago I had an oiler, night time service mechanic, fueling equipment that really liked sunflower seeds. I had a piece of equipment that was starving for fuel and wouldn't run. Same diagnosis as Vern, checked everything from engine to tank and found the fitting at the tank plugged with seeds he was spitting out everywhere some ending up in the tank. We took his seeds away from him and told him no more.

Re: Gas tank gremlin
 

Back in the early '60s I purchased a '47 Mercury pickup. The truck had been sitting for a couple of years in the POs back yard. The gas cap was missing but there was a rag stuffed in the filler hole to cap it. After getting the truck on the road I started having trouble with the gas line plugging up. I would disconnect the inlet line at the fuel pump and blow it back to the tank, truck would start and run. After repeating this numerous times I decided to pull the gas tank and clean it out. Got about 2 cupfulls of gravel, a 1" paint brush and a piece of weatherstripping about 12" long out of that tank. No more problems with plugged gas line after that cleanout.
YMMV

Re: Gas tank gremlin
 

I bought a 51 or 52 (I forget which I have had both at different times) but after a while I noticed the gas in the fuel pump bowl was black. Checked things out and found a Black Walnut with the husk still on was coming apart in the gas tank.