A gas tank plug is a mixed blessing.
I confess that I have not treated my '53k well in recent years. It hasn't been on the road for a few years and sometimes I don't even get around to starting it every year. Last fall I had to move my cars out of the barn to start cleaning it in preparation to selling the place. So, the '53, the Wagonaire (also abused), and both Avantis got started and moved. The '53 actually started fairly easily for having set so long. Anyhow, before I could get the cars back to their berths, winter happened. Now, I'm ready to take 53k back to its usual place, but, since I had no idea how old the gasoline was in the car, I decided to drain the tank and give her a few gallons of brand new fresh 100% gasoline (no ethanol). It seemed like the tank was very near empty because I couldn't get my hand-held pump to suck up any when I ran the tube down her filler. So, I decided to just loosen the tank plug and let the gas run in to an empty 2 1/2 gallon can that was flat enough to fit under the drain. So, I use my 1/4" drive ratchet to loosen the plug. Too slow, let's loosen it some more. Still too slow, let's go one more turn. Kerplunk! The plug got away from me and went right in to that can and the can kept filling vigorously. Can't yell for help. The wife won't hear me from the house. So, with the gas flowing I run around looking for another container that will fit under the tank. No Joy. I did find a two-gallon "safety can" but it's too tall. About then the first can starts overflowing so I dragged it away and jammed the new can under the drain at an angle and then had to hold it under the flow. About then it started to rain and even though I was under the edge of the roof... Finally the gas stopped flowing just before that can was filled too. So now, I have to figure out a way to retrieve that plug from the first can and reinstall the plug then treat her to some new gas. Ironically, the gas that I drained didn't smell stale and it looked good. Maybe that's because it was pre-unleaded gas and definitely pre-ethanol polluted gas.
I confess that I have not treated my '53k well in recent years. It hasn't been on the road for a few years and sometimes I don't even get around to starting it every year. Last fall I had to move my cars out of the barn to start cleaning it in preparation to selling the place. So, the '53, the Wagonaire (also abused), and both Avantis got started and moved. The '53 actually started fairly easily for having set so long. Anyhow, before I could get the cars back to their berths, winter happened. Now, I'm ready to take 53k back to its usual place, but, since I had no idea how old the gasoline was in the car, I decided to drain the tank and give her a few gallons of brand new fresh 100% gasoline (no ethanol). It seemed like the tank was very near empty because I couldn't get my hand-held pump to suck up any when I ran the tube down her filler. So, I decided to just loosen the tank plug and let the gas run in to an empty 2 1/2 gallon can that was flat enough to fit under the drain. So, I use my 1/4" drive ratchet to loosen the plug. Too slow, let's loosen it some more. Still too slow, let's go one more turn. Kerplunk! The plug got away from me and went right in to that can and the can kept filling vigorously. Can't yell for help. The wife won't hear me from the house. So, with the gas flowing I run around looking for another container that will fit under the tank. No Joy. I did find a two-gallon "safety can" but it's too tall. About then the first can starts overflowing so I dragged it away and jammed the new can under the drain at an angle and then had to hold it under the flow. About then it started to rain and even though I was under the edge of the roof... Finally the gas stopped flowing just before that can was filled too. So now, I have to figure out a way to retrieve that plug from the first can and reinstall the plug then treat her to some new gas. Ironically, the gas that I drained didn't smell stale and it looked good. Maybe that's because it was pre-unleaded gas and definitely pre-ethanol polluted gas.
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