I finished up on the tank yesterday. I decided to go with some chassis black spray paint over the POR. THe original tank only had spray paint on it and it lasted 41 years with little to no rust. I used VHT high temp Chassis black. I have good luck with VHT on things that I want more durable than just plain spray paint.

I found out that latex glove fingers make for great fuel line plugs.

Next step is to find some rubber for my straps. AND some rubber for my tank pads. AND some 3/4" fuel line.

IS THAT A SPILL on the floor by the compressor! For Shame!!

For the rubber, make your own by going to a tire shop and ask for a non-useable truck tire inner tube, you cut to fit, straps & pads, glue down with weatherstrip adhesive. I've made lots of things out of that free tube. I also found the 3/4 & 5/8 fuel line at my local John Deere dealership.

Bonzi Lon

IS THAT A SPILL on the floor by the compressor! For Shame!!

GASP!!!! Your right' it has been taken care of. We shall not speak of it again.

Well this is where we are at. What you do not see are the straps that have been sanded smooth and repainted black. Also missing is some 1/4" fuel line which I totally forfot to pick up. That is on the agenda for tomorrow. Also had to source some bolts for the evap tank. M5-.8 I think is what I got. They fit wonderfully. Since it was a welded in place nutplate in the wheel well, no need for any nuts.

Hoping this will all go together okay. I will spend some cleaning up the OEM hose clamps as best I can. They tend to be much happier after a spray with some WD-40.

More to come as I get this thing assembled. I am thinking I may put in my RT diff mount while I am here though. I just PORed that and bought a bump stop for the install.

Edited October 2, 201113 yr by Zedyone_kenobi

Zedyone, if you like to re-use the old clamps, pour some EvapoRust into a jar, throw in the clamps, and let them de-rust. Remove your bright/shiny clamps somewhere between an hour and a day later, depending on degree of rust. Rinse very well, dry, and spray down with WD-40. It's a nice product for small bits and pieces.

That is FANTASTIC advice! Thanks so much! I have two that are pretty darn cruddy!

Okay, what the hell was Datsun thinking making me try to track down EVERY single size fuel line in existence!!! GEEEZE!

Trying to find a 3/4" fuel line is darn near impossible. I finally found some at an ACE hardware supply store, it was fuel transfer hose

and I had to buy 10 FEET of the stuff, so if anybody wants some let me know!

Also, fitting the grommets in firewall trunk wall is a pain in arse! HA HA, but it is finally sealed up tight. The things we do for orignality!

UPDATE:

Well I spent an hour or two fighting with installing my fuel vapor lines to the evap tank. The one that is just killing me is the half inch cloth braided one that needs to fit through a grommet near where the crankcase vent line comes in near the fuel filler neck. It is just crazy hard to get that grommet in!! And worse is when you try to put the braided line through it it forces the grommet out. I have lacerated and bruised hands from fighting with that dumb grommet! But it must go in. Some buy in Japan in 1971 installed that grommet, so by God I can too!

All other MSA fittings worked like a charm. Everything on this car is amazingly well thought out. I love how all the hoses just happen to have clamps right where you need them!

I should be able to wrap this up this weekend if all goes well!

Try inserting something smooth (a thin piece of sheet aluminum or plastic?) between the grommet and the hose. Slide the grommet into place, and then remove your improvised tool.

not much room, the grommet and hose are so darned tight. I did wrap the braided hose with electrical tape and smeared some oil on it and it went in like a charm. I only wrapped the first 3 inches, so maybe I need to wrape more of it, or ALL of it to get it to work. Still almost done. Hopefully when my 3/4" fuel line gets here I can make it fit the vent tube from the filler neck to the evap tank.

I did get the gas tank back in the car though! Looks really good in there! Rubber bumpers worked like a charm!

Just curious -- are you sure 3/4 is the right size? On my '78, the vent hose is 5/8. Hopefully yours is the right size. In the future, you can find large fuel hoses of various sizes at tractor supply companies or from www.hamptonrubber.com (who will ship to you if you ask them nicely).