Ethanol Crap Gas vs Pick Up Sock

[TWChamp]

Has anyone had problems with the crap gas destroying the pickup sock on a 1950 gas tank?
Does it have any effect on the tank or whatever the factory coated the inside of the tank with? Thanks

Last summer I used compressed air (with the gas cap removed) to blow back into the tank to make sure the sock was open. The pressure seemed to build, then all of a sudden it blew free, so I don't know if the sock opened up, or if it could have blown off the end of the line? I have a circulating pump and filter that I will use to clean up the tank once the weather warms up. At that time I'll probe inside with my inspection camera. Last summer just after buying the car I had the sender out to replace the float, and what I could see of the tank inside looked nice.

[StudeRich]

Never saw a Studebaker with a filter screen (sock) on the outlet line. Maybe that was just "junk" in your tank.

[swvalcon]

If you meant that you put compressed air to the gas line and blew back into the tank. I wouldn't worry to much about a pickup sock. If there ever was one odds are you no longer have one.

[rodnutrandy]

That crap gas will also eat up rubber hose if it is not high pressure hose for fuel injection .

[Chris Pile]

Curious..... "crap" gas?
Ya'll realize alcohol is a great cleaner... and it's cleaning the gunk created by gasoline?

I'm not defending ethanol by any means, but a pure understanding of the chemistry of these two fuels is surely helpful.

[Deaf Mute]

Ethanol may be a great cleaner... but it sure messes up things and gasoline would start a car after setting in the tank for years... not any more! You get less power with it, it evaporates faster, and if "Uncle Sam" wasn't subsdizing it with our tax dollars it would be more expensive than plain old unadulterated gasoline. Have you ever smelled your gas can after the stuff has been in it over the winter????

[Corvanti]

I'm not saying there isn't a "sock" in the tank, but i just checked my manuals and couldn't find a pic or mention of one in my 51. perhaps as Rich posted, it was crud in the line that was blown back into the tank. or - if there was a sock - it fell apart and got pulled into the line(?).

here's another link to gas stations that sell ethanol-free gas: http://pure-gas.org/

i noticed there are many more stations listed than there were a few months ago...

[karterfred88]

http://pure-gas.org/[/URL]

i noticed there are many more stations listed than there were a few months ago...

Still none in Delaware, would waste 1/2 tank to get to the nearest one and back

[Corvanti]

Still none in Delaware, would waste 1/2 tank to get to the nearest one and back

yeah, if i counted correctly, there are 3 states that do not have eth-free gas. i think you can blame your state legislators for that!

[Flashback]

I don't think you ever had a sock, BUT, the ethanol is CRAP. I just had the valves stick in my 2000 Ford tractor, after running almost one tank of the CRAP. I just pulled the fuel tank off my 53 and you would not believe what it looks like inside. It was just cleaned and lined about 24 months ago. I was stupid and lazy. I was in Georgia and didn't think one tank would hurt, or I was to lazy to hunt up a location with some real gas. All the fuel lines were replaced with stainless and expensive hose except a short section that went to the fuel tank. This short section of new steel line was so rusted and corroded inside it had maybe a 3/16 opening left. I used two short pieces of hose that came with a fuel filter. It is swollen and ruined. SO, if anybody thinks the ethanol is not CRAP, you didn't get that info from me. My 53 coupe is now getting a new tank, all new hose and some new line. Not to speak of the problem I had with it boiling the fuel.

[bob40]

With all the gas stations selling ethanol free gasoline in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area there is only one reason someone is using ethanol gas in a old car and it isn't because they can't find good gas.

[Dick Steinkamp]

With all the gas stations selling ethanol free gasoline in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area there is only one reason someone is using ethanol gas in a old car and it isn't because they can't find good gas.

So true, Bob...

http://www.buyrealgas.com/Minnesota.html

However, as long as you can hang all your driveabilty problems on the fuel you are buying, it makes life far simpler.

[TWChamp]

Interesting that the 1950 tank may not have a sock. I've worked all my life as a mechanic, and also 10 years in a car junk yard, so I've pulled a lot of tanks and sending units, but I've never had reason to pull one on any of my Studes, so I just assumed it had a sock. Oh well, that's one less thing to worry about them.

BTW I do know that crap gas is bad for certain metals also. The brass float on my antique motorbike turned green, and I've heard it isn't good for some tank platings, maybe the tern plating in the Model A tanks. The crap gas stuck the valve so tight on my motorbike, that I had to remove the head and use a hammer and Kroil to get it to move again. It took the rubber tank hose out on my 1949 Chevy 1 1/2 ton truck, and I lost a full tank of gas. Since that crap was forced on us have you noticed how many cars have burned on the side of the road, especially during the 80's and 90's? I noticed the sudden increase in burn marks, and it took me a few years to realize why it was happening. My brother lost his Nova is the 80's when the rubber fuel line gave out from crap gas. He said the fire spread so quickly he just had time to get out and lost some things in the car.

The University of Minnesota was on the news a few weeks ago and finally admitted that the ethanol crap is more expensive and not worth it. They even said it doesn't make the air cleaner, especailly when you figure all the tractors to grow the corn, trucks to haul it, and refineries to make the junk. When you hear that from a liberal college, you know we've been skunked by the government forcing that crap on us.

I'm lucky that I can buy real gas at home, but this summer I was in Michigan and got stuck with a tank of crap gas. It took out my fuel pump diaphram in two days, so I had to install an electric pump to get home.

[swvalcon]

Same thing for the electric cars. Plus they in the long run make a bigger carbon foot print. So around and around we go.

[Skip Lackie]

yeah, if i counted correctly, there are 3 states that do not have eth-free gas. i think you can blame your state legislators for that!

Unfortunately it not that simple. The requirement to add oxygenates (of which ethanol is only one currently available in quantity) to motor fuel originated in the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act. Originally, the chosen oxygenate was MTBE, but that turned out to be a carcinogen that fouled a lot of water wells. The value of ethanol as a pollution-reducer has never really been objectively evaluated, as one would have to determine which extraneous factors (eg, petroleum used in its production and transport, as well the extra fertilizer used to grow corn that wouldn't be grown otherwise) should be included in the calculation. It is now further complicated by extremely strong lobbying of Congress by both the corn farmers and ethanol distillers.