VH Fuel Tank Removal

[PumpkinJunior]

Hi Guys!
The amatuer is at it again. Now it's time to take the fuel tank out of my VH Commy. It's just a basic stock Commodore. 202, trimatic, etc. Anyways the tank has to come out so I can get rid of the 8 month old fuel... So I want to do things right as this is my first project car and I figured it'd be best to ask questions first.

Cheers guys

 

[Sabbath']

Disconnect all the lines at the tank end.
Take the fuel cap off
Undo the two straps holding it in
Lower down slowly

 

[Darren_L]

You could drain most of the tank with either a syphon hose or by removing the sender unit.
But probably not a bad idea to remove the tank on a VH to check the condition of all the vapour hoses on top of the tank

you'll also need to remove the drivers side rear wheel and the cover at the back of the wheel arch, to expose the fuel filler neck.
You should see a hose that runs from the tank to a pipe that runs along the bottom of the wheel arch (behind the shocky). Remove the rubber hose from the metal line.

Drain the majority of the fuel out of the tank, by pulling off the fuel hose from the sender unit and allowing the fuel to run into a bucket (keep sparks, flames etc away!). Plug off the fuel line. Remove the big breather hose from the fuel filler neck.

Put a jack under the tank, undo the straps and slowly lower it down, making sure you watch the fuel neck as it goes down. You will also need to help feed the big fuel tank breather hose through (towards the fuel tank) between the tank and the floor as you lower the tank with the jack. You may also need to either pull out the big rubber insulator around the top of the filler neck (inside the fuel cap) or push the filler neck through the insulator as the tank lowers.

Once the tank is down, make sure you replace all the vapour lines on top of the tank. Chances are most of them will be all rotted away

 

[PumpkinJunior]

Thanks for that guys! That helps heaps! Only got halfway through it this afternoon so I will have to save the rest for the morning

 

[drewVHSS]

I wouldn't reconmend pulling the sender out if you dont have to on vb-vh tanks. They are a twist lock instead of having small bolts around the diameter. The amount of times i've had to put a new sender in due to the owner snapping off an outlet trying to get a sender out.......

 

[cycloneracing]

The amount of times i've had to put a new sender in due to the owner snapping off an outlet trying to get a sender out.......

That's because there is a specific Holden tool to get the sender out, that no one uses because it is a once in 10 year event that you have to remove the sender, so why bother buying the tool!

I put a VN tank in my VC. It was possibly the worst job on a car I have ever done. Drama from go to whoa.

 

[drewVHSS]

That's because there is a specific Holden tool to get the sender out, that no one uses because it is a once in 10 year event that you have to remove the sender, so why bother buying the tool!

I put a VN tank in my VC. It was possibly the worst job on a car I have ever done. Drama from go to whoa.

Same, neighbours complained about my language when i put an 80L tank from a vr into my vh, cutting filler necks, tank straps wouldn't fit. (made temporary ones that lasted 2 years while i finally found 80L vacationer straps)

Now the VL tank in my VB was a piece of cake, 30mins to swap and that included draining and refilling the tank.

 

[cycloneracing]

Same, neighbours complained about my language when i put an 80L tank from a vr into my vh

My biggest problem was the vent hose. It is bigger on the later cars than the early ones. No matter how I tried, I couldn't get the hose through the notch above the chassis rail. I ended up cutting the boot floor, making a 'hump' out of sheetmetal, welded that in, so it had room for the hose to go through. It worked OK.

Basically though, if I ever had to take that tank out again, it is never going back in. I will get a custom in-boot alloy tank before I try putting in a stock tank again. HELL it was.

 

[drewVHSS]

i cheated and used heater hose, it's been ok so far for 3 years.
Every vent hose on every tank i've ever dealt with had been broken and/or perished and unuseable

 

[Darren_L]

i cheated and used heater hose, it's been ok so far for 3 years.
Every vent hose on every tank i've ever dealt with had been broken and/or perished and unuseable

I used PCV hose, which should be oil/fuel resistant
everything else was a straight fit. Just had to cut the filler neck down to size