Refueling

Michael M

Michael M

Senior Member
I thought I would offer this for what it's worth.

I always dreaded refueling my Tudor because of gas splashing on the paint and windshield. The pumps at the gas stations deliver at high volume / pressure -with little ability to adjust the nozzle. It seems the nozzle would be either full on or full off, with little middle ground. The spark arrestor could never handle the flow and there was always some gas splashing out. This is aggravated here in New Jersey where it is illegal to pump your own gas.

I recently picked up a wheeled 14 gallon portable fuel container that has a siphon pump with nozzle. The hose provides at-the-nozzle control and two shutoff valves; one at the tank and the other on the hose.

Now I take the container to the gas station in my other vehicle and refuel the Tudor at home. No more splashing of gas on the paint!

I hadn't seen a container like this before (of course, I probably wasn't looking, either). At any rate, I thought I would share this as a possible solution for others with the same concern.
 

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good idea. I usually take some rags with me and when filling up I place them around the cap and it seems to work. I also press very lightly on the trigger.
 
New Jersey (maybe Oregon Too) have always been a challenge for me regarding gas stations.

Although not correct, I have grabbed the gas pump and started the gas into the tank before the attendant got to my car.

For my motorcycle (Harley Dyna Superglide) I would not let the attendant put in the gas...even in NJ.

Marc
 
Michael: Can you provide brand, model # and where you found the 14 gal. rolling tank? I have several uses for such a tank. Others may also.
 
Here in Oregon I have never had a station NOT ask me if I wanted to pump my own gas in the model A. Motorcyclist too. They will hand you the handle and they do the rest. You hand it back when you are done.
I read on forums motorcyclists in N.J routinely pump their own fuel. I think it wouldn't hurt to ask them.
 
ive seen these before but never thought of suggesting for model A use...(usually meant for ATV's or remote equipment etc)

i think our farm and fleet and big R farm stores have them too.
 
I have 3 two gallon plastic gas cans I use. I put with one of those covers that the vendors sell around the opening in the gas tank . I use to put a white plastic hose on the end of the can and pour in the gas until the hose dropped into the gas tank. Now I use a big funnel . The hose will be residing in the tank until I decide to drain the gas and figure out away to get the hose out . I try not to put gas in at the pump as stated the flow rate coming out of the nozzle is hard to regulate and even using a spark arrestor ( screen ) you end up stirring up rust .
 
Oregon will usually ask if you want to pump it yourself. Technically it's illegal, but I don't know of anyone who's ever been prosecuted for it. If the pump jockey won't let me do it, I just remind him or her that they will be liable for a new paint job of they spill any, and that usually ends the discussion. If they're adamant, I move on. There are lots of gas stations, or alcohol stations, as they will soon be called. Remember when they were called service stations, and actually were?
 
When the safety Kleen guy cleans our machine I hit him up for those hazmat pads, used for mopping up spills. I cut a hole in them for the cap and lay it across the tanks for whatever may drip. You can buy them of course but I'm cheap.
The cheap alternative is Depends or look at Wal-Greens for medical pads. I believe they have a plastic outer liner (paint side). :D
 
Last fall we drove our 65 Falcon convertible down to Southern California. Passing through Oregon most gas attendants were courteous and asked if I wanted to pump it myself, which I prefer to do. They may have an alterior motive though. If they have to mess around babying the nozzle to fill an old car, it takes away from the time they have to bounce from car to car, sometimes they have three or four going at once.
I always started the conversation with "it takes it really, really, slow, or it will spill out.". Usually their response was, "would you like to do it?"
At one station near Eugene, I began the conversation with the attendant the way I always did, and to my surprise, he said "Oh yes, I used to fill these back when they were new, this one will be a dog biscuit"
You know when a stranger says something to you and you're not really sure if you heard him right, but don't really want to trouble the guy to say it again?
So, I didn't say anything, just watched him get the pump activated with my credit card, then he reached up into a pail on top of the pump and pulled out a small milk bone dog biscuit which I presume is for customers that have Fido along for the ride.
He puts the nozzle in the car, knows exactly how to angle it to the right and down without me having to say it, then he slowly squeezes the handle and tucks the very corner of the dog biscuit under the handle! He then went to the squee-gee tank and proceeded to clean the windsheild, knew exactly when to come back to remove the biscuit, and put the cap on.
It was a real pleasure to watch that man work. If there was a gas jockey olympics, he would be a gold medal winning hall of famer.
Now I keep a dog biscuit in the car.
 
On a very related note - does anyone use those gas tank extensions that the vendors sell for around $30? (pic below from Snyder's) - I'm just wondering if they actually work (i.e. can you just set the nozzle in there running by itself, and it'll shut itself off when the tank is full, like on a modern car). I also thought about using the 14-gallon portable tank that's in the OP, but a c-note is a bit rich for me...

A9031A9032-10164-xl.jpg
 
On my A,I removed the bottom of the filler screen & it takes gas faster & the rest of the screen still acts as a flame arrestor.I never have a problem with gas spills on the cowl.
 
Gas tank "diaper" (an actual cotton diaper) and gas tank extension (aka 1-1/2" PVC male adapter, $1.89 + tax at OSH). Works. Cheap. Effective.

Gas Tank Protector & FIller Adapter.jpg
 
Those tanks are available from West Marine and cost about $200. I have a gravity fed 300 gallon gas tank on the property and I have no problems fueling my cars as I can set the flow rate with a lever valve.
 
Skip, the diaper is a nice idea, however I would think that the fuel would pass through and saturate the cotton as it lays on the paint. What about "huggies" etc with a layer of plastic. Or, would the plastic rapidly deteriorate when the fuel touches it? I hate those spring loaded vapor "cv joints" that NY and California install on the nozzle. I can't even see if the fuel is overflowing, not to mention muscle strains holding them. Nice idea re. cutting out the bottom of the screen. Hmm
 
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