1971 240Z gas tank

[astrohog]

Not sure where to post this, so it ended up here.

I have done numerous searches on gas tank removal, and not found the answer to my question.

I did see the link to the fuel tank removal guide somewhere here, but it did not mention if any other components of the car need to be removed to get the tank out.

If no other parts have to be removed, then I can follow the instructions on that link.

I have limited tools where the car is stored, so I would like to know in advance of me planning the removal as to how involved, how much time it may take or if I need to bring any additional tools.

Thanks for any light you may be able to shed on this for me!

Regards,

Astrohog

[240ZX]

Jeff,

As a suggestion, purchase a service manual. It will provide you with most of the answers you are looking for.

Tom

[rtaylor]

Astrohog. If you are not replacing any of the vent lines you should be ok. Since you will have the tank out you may want to consider replacing the vent lines to the canister and the fuel neck. But be advised, the hoses are not cheap. And if you do replace them, all you will need to do is remove the right rear trim panel and the rear trim panel. They are only secured by the plastic rivets. Buy an extra bag of plastic rivets in case you lose some of the pieces, like I did.

[ktm]

I have limited tools where the car is stored, so I would like to know in advance of me planning the removal as to how involved, how much time it may take or if I need to bring any additional tools.

Astrohog

Since no one actually answered your question yet, here is how you remove the tank.

It is very easy to drop the gas tank. Hell, I did it without any instructions whatsoever. It is very intuitive.

Drain the gas tank first, even before you jack it up.

Loosen the lug nuts on the passenger side rear wheel. You are going to need to remove the wheel to access the little panel that covers the filler neck.

Then, you are going to want to jack up the rear of your car and support it on jack stands. This will give you the clearance you need to remove a few of the harder to reach lines near the top of the tank.

Once it's on stands, position your floor jack under the drain plug. As with jacking on the oil pan, put a piece of plywood (or similar) between the jack and the tank. You want to apply just a litttttttle bit of pressure against the tank to hold it in place while you loosen the two nuts on the J-bolts.

Remove the wheel and then attack the panel. The panel is held in place by 4 or 5 small sheet metal screws. You can see the filler neck now.

Disconnect the fuel feed and return lines. This is very easy to do. Simply loosen the two band clamps and pull the hoses off. You may need to brake the bond between the hoses and the hardlines on the tank. Do this with a small, thin flat screwdriver.

Loosen the J-bolt nuts but do not remove them yet.

Slowly release the jack and allow the tank to drop. The straps will keep it in position while the tank drops.

Loosen the filler neck clamp as well as all the vent line clamps and remove the hoses if you can. There are two vent lines on the rear of the tank, one up high and one down low (I keep thinking there is a third, but can not recall).

The filler neck may give you some fits. It really helps to lower the tank as much as you can without overstressing the filler neck. This will give you some room to push the neck back and off the tank.

Once all the hoses are disconnected, lower the tank to the ground.

You can do this in about an hour if you take your time. You only really need basic tools (screw drivers, ratchet and sockets, wrenches), floor jack and stands.

[ktm]

Edit to my post above. There is a third vent right above the fuel feed and return lines. The other two vents are on the 'backside' of the tank.

[astrohog]

Thanks KTM! Not having much "mechanic" background, I don't like to get in over my head, it is very frustrating to me! Sounds like this is a job for me to go ahead and tackle! THanks again for the support!

Regards,

Astrohog