Gas gauge gaskets

After reading lots of older posts and getting current advise, I used a little bit of Maple Syrup on mine and it worked fine. The consensus seems to be that the maple syrup reacts with gasoline to form a leak-proof seal. Your experience may vary!
 
Interesting. I put mine together a year ago and it leaked IIRC. I vaguely remember talking to Ken Ehrenhofer who said to put some of the black sealant on. I could be mistaken but pretty sure it was him. I did and it worked great.
 
I prefer to use a fuel resistant non-hardening sealant such as Permatex High Temp Thread Sealant.
 
fundytides said:
After reading lots of older posts and getting current advise, I used a little bit of Maple Syrup on mine and it worked fine. The consensus seems to be that the maple syrup reacts with gasoline to form a leak-proof seal. Your experience may vary!
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I have heard to use molasses; I did and no leaks. I guess the same idea as with maple syrup, the sugar is not soluble in gasoline. may be why the nasty trick of "sugar in the fuel tank" disabled a car.
Also , thinking ... Maple syrup if you live up north and molasses for the folks down south.
A suspect that any sealant that is hydrocarbon based will eventually fail after long time emersion in gasoline.

Joe B
 
JoeCB said:
A suspect that any sealant that is hydrocarbon based will eventually fail after long time emersion in gasoline.

Joe B
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For years, Car makers used plastic fuel tanks. Neoprene is hydrocarbon based, yet it is fuel safe and yes, cork is hydrogen and carbon based - it is organic. These are just a few that popped into my head and there will be other examples of gasoline proof hydrocarbons.
I think your suspicions are unfounded, fortunately.
 
I changed it out and will fill it up tonight to check for leaks. And yes I don't trust neoprene gaskets to save my life.

Mike
 
Nitrile rubber also know as Buna-N or Butadiene was developed before WWII for use in seals and o-rings for petroleum products and aeromatic hydrocarbons or fuels. It is still used for some applications in aviation but has been slowly replaced by fluorocarbon and fluorosilicone elastomers with the latter being most common for fuels. These types have over 20-year shelf life capability so the change over in aviation was for that reason. Fluorocarbon elastomer is also known as Viton as a trade name but patents expired years ago.

Cork gaskets are generally granulated pieces of cork bonded together by some form of elastomer so not all cork gaskets are good fuel gaskets. Neoprene or polychloroprene is an elastomer that is very hard and durable after it has been vulcanized. It's good for oils, alcohols, and a few other mild solvents but not so good with modern gasolene. If the cork is bonded with neoprene then it may not last long. If it's bonded with nitrile rubber then it should be OK. The problem is that it is difficult to tell what the bond material is since they both look alike.
 
rotorwrench said:
Nitrile rubber also know as Buna-N or Butadiene was developed before WWII for use in seals and o-rings for petroleum products and aeromatic hydrocarbons or fuels. It is still used for some applications in aviation but has been slowly replaced by fluorocarbon and fluorosilicone elastomers with the latter being most common for fuels. These types have over 20-year shelf life capability so the change over in aviation was for that reason. Fluorocarbon elastomer is also known as Viton as a trade name but patents expired years ago.

Cork gaskets are generally granulated pieces of cork bonded together by some form of elastomer so not all cork gaskets are good fuel gaskets. Neoprene or polychloroprene is an elastomer that is very hard and durable after it has been vulcanized. It's good for oils, alcohols, and a few other mild solvents but not so good with modern gasolene. If the cork is bonded with neoprene then it may not last long. If it's bonded with nitrile rubber then it should be OK. The problem is that it is difficult to tell what the bond material is since they both look alike.
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I'm not a scientist, all I know is that I tried the neoprene gaskets sold by Snyders and others. A year later they started leaking. I replaced them with cork, don't know what the composition was. Probably lucked out and got good ones. That was several years ago. They haven't leaked. Just my experience.
 
I use cork gaskets with a thin coating of Hylomar Universal Blue on each side. I also use (as Tom E suggests) two brass rings to allow slippage between them as the ring is tightened. 100% success.

It's also important to get the back (sealing) side of the glass thoroughly clean and smooth. Putting it in with even the slightest amount of residue (like from the last guy that put it together with Permatex ;-) ) is tempting fate.

JayJay
 
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