Fuel "Issues"
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 132
Likes: 4
From: Wake Forest, North Carolina
St. Jude Donor '13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23
Fuel "Issues"
I read previous posts on fuel problems, and I really appreciate all of those who posted their comments. So, here is mine.
My 1961 Corvette was purchased last July from a gentleman in South Carolina. He seldom drove the car for his ownership of about ten years. (first clue) It ran very strong, but the replacement carburetor, a Holley, was in bad shape so, I replaced it with an Edelbrock. I ran the lines using the classic look of a glass bowl filter. After a Winter of replacement parts and rebuilds, I was ready for some cruising this Summer.
During my 2,000 miles of local driving since last summer, I used only 93 octane and several Techron treatments. I seldom let the tank get below half full. Then, I added a can of Seafoam. Well, I barely made it home from the gas station. It stopped about eight times. It ran with no power as I took it out to see if I could clear the carburetor of whatever.
As I began troubleshooting the issues - this forum helped tremendously. Suspect was the clogged sock, clogged fuel lines, clogged filter, clogged carburetor and water in the ethanol gas. I took a few pictures as I continued the process.
First, I drained the gas tank. It had about eight gallons in it. I drained it in a new container. The last gallon drained was awful. I have included a 30 second ideo of what the last portion of gas looked like. I have also included a couple of still pics comparing what came out to new gas. By the way the drained gas was only several days old.
Next, I blew out the line; it came out clear. I flushed the tank twice with fresh gas with only a couple visible specks of crap came out. So, I decided to open the gas tank to view the sock. Friends were betting the sock was clogged. I was very surprised that the results. There was no sock. Years ago, restores (?) decided to delete it. However, the tank looked OK.
I replaced the sending unit, float and sock, thanks to Zip Corvette in Mechanicksville, VA. They are great folks to work with. I replaced the tank cover using strip caulk as a sealer.
So, I replaced the fuel filter, built new lines and replaced the carburetor. I flushed the tank again and am nearly ready for a test drive.
Comments are appreciated. Thanks y'all.
click on video
My 1961 Corvette was purchased last July from a gentleman in South Carolina. He seldom drove the car for his ownership of about ten years. (first clue) It ran very strong, but the replacement carburetor, a Holley, was in bad shape so, I replaced it with an Edelbrock. I ran the lines using the classic look of a glass bowl filter. After a Winter of replacement parts and rebuilds, I was ready for some cruising this Summer.
During my 2,000 miles of local driving since last summer, I used only 93 octane and several Techron treatments. I seldom let the tank get below half full. Then, I added a can of Seafoam. Well, I barely made it home from the gas station. It stopped about eight times. It ran with no power as I took it out to see if I could clear the carburetor of whatever.
As I began troubleshooting the issues - this forum helped tremendously. Suspect was the clogged sock, clogged fuel lines, clogged filter, clogged carburetor and water in the ethanol gas. I took a few pictures as I continued the process.
First, I drained the gas tank. It had about eight gallons in it. I drained it in a new container. The last gallon drained was awful. I have included a 30 second ideo of what the last portion of gas looked like. I have also included a couple of still pics comparing what came out to new gas. By the way the drained gas was only several days old.
Next, I blew out the line; it came out clear. I flushed the tank twice with fresh gas with only a couple visible specks of crap came out. So, I decided to open the gas tank to view the sock. Friends were betting the sock was clogged. I was very surprised that the results. There was no sock. Years ago, restores (?) decided to delete it. However, the tank looked OK.
I replaced the sending unit, float and sock, thanks to Zip Corvette in Mechanicksville, VA. They are great folks to work with. I replaced the tank cover using strip caulk as a sealer.
So, I replaced the fuel filter, built new lines and replaced the carburetor. I flushed the tank again and am nearly ready for a test drive.
Comments are appreciated. Thanks y'all.
click on video
Last edited by ottomatic; Jul 23, 2011 at 10:43 AM.
Tech Contributor
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 15,576
Likes: 118
From: Conroe Texas
My first reaction is that the inside of the tank was coated at some point in the past with a gas tank sealer, such as the kit Eastwood products sold. It was like a latex liquid you sloshed around in the tank in order to create an impermeable barrier.
However we are starting to see the Ethanol-based fuels are eating up those old sealers.
However we are starting to see the Ethanol-based fuels are eating up those old sealers.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 19,777
Likes: 4,592
From: Canada's capital
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (appearance mods)
C1 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
Gee, that reminds me, I was in a hurry with my 56 and didn't have a sock, so it's still missing. It's on the list!
Job well done, thanks for sharing.
Job well done, thanks for sharing.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,104
Likes: 1
From: Frederick Md
Call me crazy!
I tried to use original gas tanks only once and learn that that is a huge waste of time and money. Since then I have done three more cars and they all got new tanks and lines, cheap insurance
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 26,118
Likes: 1,874
From: Greenville, Indiana
The only comment I'd have is your gasoline/ethanol mix had more water in it than it could keep in suspension. The rest settled to the bottom of the tank. Your pictures are a classis example of what contaminated E10 looks like.
If you found brown, flakey stuff in the fuel system, that is old gas the ethanol tried to dissolve out of your system and that will plug a filter. Otherwise, the water is probably your problem.
Why did you put the Sea Foam in it?
If you found brown, flakey stuff in the fuel system, that is old gas the ethanol tried to dissolve out of your system and that will plug a filter. Otherwise, the water is probably your problem.
Why did you put the Sea Foam in it?
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 58,061
Likes: 7,146
Army
I try to avoid most additives, original fuel tanks, original radiators and original tires!! Some things ain't worth it. I also bought my seldom-driven '61 in South Carolina in 2007 (Columbia to be exact...ironically right near where I took basic training for the Army). Sometimes in an attempt to prevent or forestall problems with things like additives; we actually exacerbate them...
If you have 9.5:1 compression ratio then 87 octane should work just fine in your '61 BTW. You also might want to be careful where you buy gas...not that many years ago there was a spate of gas stations who had leaking tanks that would let you pump crud right into your car without knowing it....hopefully we are past most of that now.
If you have 9.5:1 compression ratio then 87 octane should work just fine in your '61 BTW. You also might want to be careful where you buy gas...not that many years ago there was a spate of gas stations who had leaking tanks that would let you pump crud right into your car without knowing it....hopefully we are past most of that now.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,921
Likes: 53
From: Philadelphia Pa
Pilot Dan and I had a similar type problem with the gas, fuel lines, filter and carbs. When my car started to act up, I also siphoned some "old" gas to see what it looked like and it looked like yours. I'm beginning to think that if any of the C-1's out there have original or old fuel systems, the alcohol in the new gas is doing a magnificent job of cleaning all the very fine crud out of the lines and depositing it in the fuel pump and carb. This crud is so fine it gets past the filters.
