Karmann Ghia Hood-Mounted Fuel Quickfill

VW underneath a classic Italian body design.
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FJCamper
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Karmann Ghia Hood-Mounted Fuel Quickfill

Post by FJCamper »

Karmann Ghia Hood-Mounted Fuel Quickfill

Image
Above: Quicker pit stops with the same through-the-hood filler as used on the Spyders.

Some people call them LeMans or Monza style fuel fillers. These pop-top devices have been used on race cars since the 1930's.
You can have the same on your Ghia.

Image
Above: Pop-top quickfill was standard on Porsche Spyders, and remains part of the car's charm and mystique.

Once the very epitome of racing, and famous still for its prominent use on kitcar Porsche Spyders and Ford Cobras, this type filler was
eventually outlawed by most racing organizations and replaced by screw or twist caps. The given reason was the cap might pop open in
a crash or rollover.

Our RetroRacing 1965 Ghia uses a 10-gallon JAZ aluminum fuel tank (foam-filled, no bladder) as seen in the image below.
A FuelSafe brand custom fuel cell for a 356 Porsche is also shown here. Very adaptable to an external cap.

Image

Equipped with a MOCAL Aston-style filler (as in Aston Martin), and a 4 1/8" bi-metal hole saw, we cut an access hole in the hood
just above the tank's filler, and adapted the Aston filler device to the fuel tank's neck by the simple expedient of a hose collar and
clamps as seen in the kit Spyder's image below.

Image
Above: Hose and clamps

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Above: Here's our results. The nice thing about this is it's quickly reversible. Remove the quick-fill and the stock (legal)
twist-on cap goes right back into place, and can still be removed through the hole without opening the hood.


Image
Above: The Aston cap we used from the MOCAL catalog

Sources

http://www.batinc.net/mocal-central.htm

http://www.jazproducts.com/all_products.html
carmangary
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Re: Karmann Ghia Hood-Mounted Fuel Quickfill

Post by carmangary »

LOL.
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FJCamper
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Re: Karmann Ghia Hood-Mounted Fuel Quickfill

Post by FJCamper »

Hi Carmangary,

Do you like or don't like?

FJC
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Fiatdude
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Re: Karmann Ghia Hood-Mounted Fuel Quickfill

Post by Fiatdude »

What's there not to like
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RHough
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Re: Karmann Ghia Hood-Mounted Fuel Quickfill

Post by RHough »

FJCamper wrote:Karmann Ghia Hood-Mounted Fuel Quickfill

Image
Above: Quicker pit stops with the same through-the-hood filler as used on the Spyders.

Some people call them LeMans or Monza style fuel fillers. These pop-top devices have been used on race cars since the 1930's.
You can have the same on your Ghia.
Why not put the fill on the rear deck between the glass and the engine cover? Just needs a firewall between the tank and driver no?

:-)
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ALYKAT III
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Re: Karmann Ghia Hood-Mounted Fuel Quickfill

Post by ALYKAT III »

Ummmm...because the fuel tank is in front ?
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FJCamper
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Re: Karmann Ghia Hood-Mounted Fuel Quickfill

Post by FJCamper »

Hi Randy,

A filler can stick out wherever you want it.

In our case, I'm using the traditional Porsche filler location in the hood above the fuel tank.

Actually, there are two practical considerations to such a filler. The first is safe drainage in case of overfill, the other is damage to the body work in case someone misses the filler hole with a metal funnel or tube!

FJC
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Piledriver
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Re: Karmann Ghia Hood-Mounted Fuel Quickfill

Post by Piledriver »

RHough wrote:
Why not put the fill on the rear deck between the glass and the engine cover? Just needs a firewall between the tank and driver no?

:-)

That's exactly where it would go if you have relocated the tank to the back seat area
...and there are good reasons to do that, safety and weight/balance related.

Many modern cars, perhaps even most FWD cars carry the fuel tank there.(usually underneath)

Weight distribution
--- Putting the fuel tank at or closer to center of mass means the handling ~doesn't change much as you burn off fuel.

Safety
--- If you hit/get hit by something hard enough to mangle a fuel cell in the middle of the back seat, you probably don't care anymore.
Addendum to Newtons first law:
zero vehicles on jackstands, square gets a fresh 090 and 1911, cabby gets a blower.
EZ3.6 Vanagon after that.(mounted, needs everything finished) then Creamsicle.
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