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MGVWfan wrote:If you don't mind me asking, where in Louisiana did that car come from? That style of LA inspection sticker hasn't been used in 15 years or more...and I remember a 2-door 412 like that in Ruston when I went to La. Tech many moons ago...

Given the rarity, I bet it's actually a possiblity it is the same one. I don't know about the accuracy, but look at the sales numbers for '73 on the samba- 3500 total. And how many were 2 door sedans? Even 500 would would have given an average of 10 per state.

Probably is! Glad DB got it and not the crusher monster.

The reason it is rusted right at the top is,

those holes are right above the vent pipe, the vent pipe drew condensation through it from all the years of sitting, first it rusted away the top of the vent pipe, then moved on to the top of the tank.

Sorry to see that man. Mine was rusted at the top, as well as on the sides. You thinking about puttin a shiney sausage in yours . I debated doing mine for a while and finally decided that a few small holes was a small price to pay, and an easy fix if it means putting it back on the road sooner.

Ah, that makes sense now DB, thanks for the follow-up.

ecdez wrote:Sorry to see that man. Mine was rusted at the top, as well as on the sides. You thinking about puttin a shiney sausage in yours . I debated doing mine for a while and finally decided that a few small holes was a small price to pay, and an easy fix if it means putting it back on the road sooner.

Getting it dipped now, if it comes back more than 60% it will be welded. I think it will come back good, it seemed pretty solid except for the 4 places.

MGVWfan wrote:Ah, that makes sense now DB, thanks for the follow-up.

Hey no prob!!!

Hope it works out for you. Mine looked good in all but one place untill I kept cleaning it . Maybe I cleaned a layer of metal away .

Got the tank welded up and sent out to be sealed and painted. Put a bus fuel pump on the car stuck a line into the gas can and a line on the feed rail, the a line from the return back into the gas can, new points cap and rotor, fresh oil, after sitting up for 15 years the car fired right up!!! Of coarse EVERY SINGLE FUEL AND VACUUM line is dry rotted! So I am going to replace those, my tank and front suspension, redo all my brakes, change the tranny oil, take her down off the jack stands and do a drive around the block to see how everything does. If my suspicions are correct I wont even make it out of the driveway due to the tranny.

Congrats, at least you're one step closer than I am!

DeathBus wrote:Got the tank welded up and sent out to be sealed and painted. Put a bus fuel pump on the car stuck a line into the gas can and a line on the feed rail, the a line from the return back into the gas can, new points cap and rotor, fresh oil, after sitting up for 15 years the car fired right up!!! Of coarse EVERY SINGLE FUEL AND VACUUM line is dry rotted! So I am going to replace those, my tank and front suspension, redo all my brakes, change the tranny oil, take her down off the jack stands and do a drive around the block to see how everything does. If my suspicions are correct I wont even make it out of the driveway due to the tranny.

You lucky bastard, hehehe...

What do you think is wrong? You know there is a trans. for sale on the samba. Also, I just happen to have a parts trans... or are you talking about the clutch master/slave?

ubercrap wrote:

DeathBus wrote:Got the tank welded up and sent out to be sealed and painted. Put a bus fuel pump on the car stuck a line into the gas can and a line on the feed rail, the a line from the return back into the gas can, new points cap and rotor, fresh oil, after sitting up for 15 years the car fired right up!!! Of coarse EVERY SINGLE FUEL AND VACUUM line is dry rotted! So I am going to replace those, my tank and front suspension, redo all my brakes, change the tranny oil, take her down off the jack stands and do a drive around the block to see how everything does. If my suspicions are correct I wont even make it out of the driveway due to the tranny.

You lucky bastard, hehehe...

What do you think is wrong? You know there is a trans. for sale on the samba. Also, I just happen to have a parts trans... or are you talking about the clutch master/slave?

Had the buddy who welded the tank come over and practically cussed me for getting the car to crank, says he has never been able to do that.

I dont know for sure, but from what all Ray says, I will be lucky if any of it is any good. With the starter the tranny seems ok, the rear wheels are on the ground, so I dont know how the tranny sounds running. I have no clutch pedal at all, the whole hydraulic system is dry, so I really cant do anything until I put the brakes back together.

She Started!! The Ray setup got it up and running? Sounds like you have the gas tank going great! Those hydralics have to be total done along with the front end! Have to go over like Ray says.! Great news on the running! bill

OK got the tank back from the radiator shop.

Here are some pics


A good shot of the whole treated tank




A shot of some of the welding work, we found that if we ground off the welds it was eating to far into the surrounding metal and causing the thin good places to swiss cheese, so we made the decision to not grind it away and just patch the pin holes.



A good shot of the very top of the tank, the vent tube inside the tank had rusted away and let moisture collect on top of the tank, rusting it away, the only way to fix it was to weld in this long patch.


this is normally where the drivers side vent pipe would have gone, since the inner tube was rusted away anyway and this tube was rusted out completly around it we made the decision to remove it. If the inner tube was still intact we would have replaced this tube but since the inner tube has alot of holes in it I am just going to T off it's line to the charcoal canister.

$50 to have it cleaned
$40 I threw to my friend for the welding
$75 to have it SEALED ( to get any of the pinholes we missed) and painted.

$165 for a practically new tank isnt bad I dont think.

Wow, it looks bigger then I thought! Hey why grind away the welds when all you want it to do is be whole and not leak! Hey it's a 31year old car and who is looking at the top of the tank! So what is the other tube for that you had to patch up? Is that the overflow from the cap area? You must be happy to have that job outta way! bill