1962 GMC 305V6 4WD Slow DD Build - Cecilia (Pic Heavy)

[snazzypig]

Fetch, I think we all really enjoy following your build adventures! Slow but steady. Reminds me of me and probably a few others on here!

Sure hope your new gas filler grommet from Steele holds up. They do have an excellent reputation. Like many others, I went to a lot of trouble to put on one of the foreign made grommets, only to see it crack and disintegrate in only a few months. The 58 year old grommet I replaced was still serviceable though showing it's age. Says a lot about genuine American made quality!

I recently ordered two grommets from

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in Olympia Wash. (Click on 60-66 Truck Parts, then Rubber & Weatherstrip). They are made in the USA and were extensively tested before being put on the market. Come with a lifetime warranty and sell for $9.95 each. The pair I ordered cost $23.40 shipped. Just an option to consider. They look good and fit well. Time will tell how well they hold up.

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Originally Posted by jagarra

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I checked out their site. Interesting that less parts were listed for the GMC than for the Chevy even though most of the items they list can be used on the GMC as well.

I agree! I wrote to them about it but didn't hear back.

Originally Posted by James

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The next time I work on my tank I going to install a HydraMat Fuel Pickup.


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I will have to adapt it from 3/8" NPT to a 5/16" line. It will get every drop of fuel out of the tank.

That looks cool! I wonder if it really works? I know some shirts are made like that for sweat, but I never noticed a difference in them. I think for $150 they better work though, right? Let me know how it turns out!

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Originally Posted by snazzypig

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Fetch, I think we all really enjoy following your build adventures! Slow but steady. Reminds me of me and probably a few others on here!

Sure hope your new gas filler grommet from Steele holds up. They do have an excellent reputation. Like many others, I went to a lot of trouble to put on one of the foreign made grommets, only to see it crack and disintegrate in only a few months. The 58 year old grommet I replaced was still serviceable though showing it's age. Says a lot about genuine American made quality!

I recently ordered two grommets from

To view some links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Maybe you should introduce yourself with a new topic?

in Olympia Wash. (Click on 60-66 Truck Parts, then Rubber & Weatherstrip). They are made in the USA and were extensively tested before being put on the market. Come with a lifetime warranty and sell for $9.95 each. The pair I ordered cost $23.40 shipped. Just an option to consider. They look good and fit well. Time will tell how well they hold up.

Thanks Snazzypig! I would work on her a lot more but, to be honest, I had too many dang kids! Love them all, but man I don't remember what a hot meal tastes like at this point. Too much to do, skates and necklaces to fix, booboos to kiss, homework to help with, and so on and so on.

I rest easy in the fact that one day I'll need all the help in the world and they'll be there for me too. At least hopefully one or two will. I had enough that I'm going for the shotgun approach, haha!

Hey, let me know how those filler grommets work out. I know I got the expensive one, but everyone swore that Steele rubber was the only rubber they trusted for weather stripping and such so I wanted to be safe. I hated spending the money so if yours hold up I'll make a note of it when I buy weather stripping and get it there instead.

I got a little surprise in the mail today. I don't know why my camera has so much blur to it. Maybe the Powder Puff has been taking smoochie pics with it again and got the lens chap sticky. Girls can be weird.
Here's the lil' blonde instead. Powder Puff had homework.



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Here it is next to the old rusty one. Note the new coating on the new one that makes it kinda gray looking instead of shiny stainless. I kinda prefer the shiny, but I get the reason for the paint.



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To refresh my memory in the future, I wrote the place I ordered it from and the date on the tank. This way I'll know how long it lasted when it dies. I also went back and wrote "17 gallon" on it as an afterthought.




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My sending unit will be here on Monday. Once it arrives I should be able to fire her up again! She's been sitting just about the entire summer! Watch out, world!



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[FetchMeAPepsi]

I can't leave things alone. I took a sawzall to my old gas tank. (It was fumed out by now, of course). Look inside this thing! This is my fill tube!



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And look at the rust that was knocked loose by me cutting it apart. The grass is because I mowed.




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The rusty made-in-china sending unit....I broke the float arm off and removed the pickup screen so I could see how far the pickup tube went to the bottom now that my tank has a...view port...haha!




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And what do you know? It actually pokes pretty deep into there. There's about an inch of clearance on the bottom! I still think I'll bend mine down an inch so it can get to every drop.




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[FetchMeAPepsi]

I also got my super expensive (possibly unnecessarily so!) fill grommet installed. It's the only thing holding the fill tube in the truck, in case you didn't know!

Here is what it looked like to begin with.



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I just took a pair of pliers (actually channel locks) and a flathead screwdriver and started rip-snorting through the cracked pieces to get it pulled free.




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One of the pieces was still stuck to most of the good rubber and pulled it out like this.




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So I had this in my hand.



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I wire wheeled it to get some of the rust off and shine it up a touch.




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[FetchMeAPepsi]

I never could get it inside the face to get all the rusty color out of it, but it looked a lot better than it did before. So I stuck the new grommet on it.



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And check out the size difference. The old grommet was larger.

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I worked the lip around with the screwdriver until it was seated back in its hole. It wasn't hard. The new rubber was very pliable.




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And this is the final result. Tada! I'll have to do it all again if I ever paint her, I guess.




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Oh yeah, and my new sending unit came in. I plugged one end and blew the other to check for leaks. Seemed pretty tight! Also, this one is labeled as STAINLESS STEEL, whereas the other one was just labeled POOP, I mean, CHINA.

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I'll try to get the tank in this weekend if it doesn't get nasty or I don't get covered up in Honey-dos. Vroom vroom!

[James]

[QUOTE=FetchMeAPepsi;69575]I never could get it inside the face to get all the rusty color out of it, but it looked a lot better than it did before. So I stuck the new grommet on it.

And check out the size difference. The old grommet was larger.

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I worked the lip around with the screwdriver until it was seated back in its hole. It wasn't hard. The new rubber was very pliable.




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And this is the final result. Tada! I'll have to do it all again if I ever paint her, I guess.




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QUOTE]

The trick to install the filler neck grommet is to installed it first in the truck. Then put a light coat of Vaseline on the grommet and the filler tube. Then it slide in easily. The same go for the interconnecting hose.

[snazzypig]

Another fine adventure there Fetch! If you can afford to keep non ethanol gas in your new tank it won't rust out so quickly.

To add to James' tip, I first slide the filler hose over the filler neck and tighten the upper clamp securely. Then insert the neck up through the grommet. I like to spray rubbing alcohol on the parts which makes things slide in place easily and it leaves no residue. Vaseline or grease works too. Next, hang the lower clamp over the gas tank neck. Then block up or have someone raise the passenger side of the tank, and slide the tank over to meet the lower end of the hose. Lower the other end of the tank so that the neck rises to meet the lower hose. The hose should be as low as possible so you can access and tighten the lower clamp. If your spacing is good at the top, the filler neck will protrude the right amount.
I'm sure there are other good ways to do this job, this is just what works for me.

With all your little helpers ready to help Daddy, it should be a fun project!

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Originally Posted by James

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The trick to install the filler neck grommet is to installed it first in the truck. Then put a light coat of Vaseline on the grommet and the filler tube. Then it slide in easily. The same go for the interconnecting hose.

Originally Posted by snazzypig

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Another fine adventure there Fetch! If you can afford to keep non ethanol gas in your new tank it won't rust out so quickly.

To add to James' tip, I first slide the filler hose over the filler neck and tighten the upper clamp securely. Then insert the neck up through the grommet. I like to spray rubbing alcohol on the parts which makes things slide in place easily and it leaves no residue. Vaseline or grease works too. Next, hang the lower clamp over the gas tank neck. Then block up or have someone raise the passenger side of the tank, and slide the tank over to meet the lower end of the hose. Lower the other end of the tank so that the neck rises to meet the lower hose. The hose should be as low as possible so you can access and tighten the lower clamp. If your spacing is good at the top, the filler neck will protrude the right amount.
I'm sure there are other good ways to do this job, this is just what works for me.

With all your little helpers ready to help Daddy, it should be a fun project!

Great tips guys! The rubber Steele uses is very pliable so it slips in easily ungreased, but I did tie the filler neck to it before putting it back together this time.



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I started with taking the dang thing off again (figures!)




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Then I shoved it into the rubber hose that connects it to the tank.




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Then I went and stuck the anti-squeakers back in place under the tank. These feel like they were once gasket material just cut to fit. I bet you could make some new ones real easy, but I didn't have any gasket material so they went back on.



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The tank fit right back up the hole area like it should. Now I pushed the filler neck on and it slid on very easily.




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[FetchMeAPepsi]

At this point I needed a helper and had none. So I made one. This is Board. He's my new best friend. I think next time the kids say "Daddy, I'm bored" I'm going to say, "That's great! I needed a board. Come hold this for me."




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Board held the end of the gas tank up so that I could walk around and maneuver the hose on the end of it. He's a good boy.




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This is where it left me on placement. Whoops!




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So I slid the rubber hose connector up a bit to the end of where the tank neck changes from round to a flattened shape and tightened it down. This gave me very easy access to the...well it's not a worm clamp. I don't know what you'd call this thing, but it held nicely when I tightened it up.




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Then I held the end of it while Board slowly lowered the other end. Ok, I stuck a hammer handle in this end and moved ol' Board. He was tired anyway.



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And see how nicely it came through?



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Stupidly, I went ahead and tightened the straps now. I should have put the grommet on the filler neck outside and got everything lined up. But I didn't.




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I went ahead and put the sending unit in now too. I bent it about 1 1/4 inches down and put it in there. Of course it didn't fit, and I had to bend it back. I took it in and out about three times. Fun!




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After getting all the wires and stuff connected I checked the gauge, and it still read just under 1/4 tank. I guess I'll need a resister in there somewhere. A project for another day.



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So I put the grommet outside back on (after re-doing it a few times for uh...practice)...




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And put a couple of gallons of gas in her. No pic of the fillup because I needed two hands and Board was resting after all his hard work.




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[FetchMeAPepsi]

Oh, here's one of the gauge. I missed it earlier.



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Anyway I was ready to start. And I'm not a complete idiot, I primed the carb. Then I turned the engine over. And over. And over. And she never even tried to run aside from the priming. Not a lick!

I crawled under to check the under cab filter so see if gas was going through the tubes and guess what?




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Yep, a cracked gasket. I had to buy a whole new filter because nobody sells just the rubber gasket.


And you'd think that was the end of it, but no. (more when I get a free minute tomorrow or the next day!)