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Last time on "As the Tank Turns"... I have three fuel tanks that I'm restoring currently. Two 1970 tanks from two FI squarebacks (one manual, one auto) and one 1970 Type 1 ghia - manual. All three rusty and I am looking to restore all three. The one from the auto was not leting fuel through which sparked the tank restoration craze at my shop. I have used POR15 tank sealant on a 50's type 1 tank with great success, so I wanted to try it on these. Investigation after cleaning the first T3 tank discovered that T3 tanks are different that Type 1 tanks. They have a "cup" around the supply port with the return port acting as a pump to bring more fuel into the cup. (at least this is true for FI, we're still trying to confirm or deny if earlier carb models have this same cup set-up.) Some in the T3 consortium say don't use the sealant, the others say go for it with precaution. On this weekend's episode: I finished cleaning out (Marine Clean) and de-rustifying the tanks (Metal Ready) and they are drying now. The Type 1 tank developed a few pin holes in the very bottom of the tank near the supply port. I will let it finish drying then see how to proceed. The Type 3 tanks lead to another discovery. One which explains the problem in the first place... The first tank was from a squareback that I drove for many years (FI model that was converted to dual carbs before I bought it.). It was very clean to begin with with only light surface rust, but it was clogged around the return port. Additional rounds of marine Clean and Metal Ready cleared that up and everything looks OK. However, the second tank from the automatic that was not supplying fuel, was much more rusty. After this weekend's round of cleaning and prepping showed what I believe was a problem from the factory! Looking from the fuel sender mounting hole, only about a quarter of the return port can be seen through the return hole in the cup. Therefore, the cup inside the tank was not aligned with the return port! I highly doubt that it could have been knocked out of alignment, so original manufacture defect is the only logical answer. :( (I doubt that this is under warrantee any longer...) ;) I'm sure that the years of rust and debris didn't help the matter, but now I have another decision to make. Try to fix this one by drilling via through the return port and into the cup, or ditch it for another tank. I've got a couple 1969 and earlier tanks... I might go see if those look any better. Assuming they will fit and work with the shark-nose T3 body. More later. Big.Al Houston ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~