Reproduction Parts for 1916-1964 Chevrolet Passenger Cars & 1918-1987 Chevrolet & GMC Trucks


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Poppy48 Offline OP
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Hey all!

Hoping to find some obscure knowledge on the 48 Business Coupe. I believe this matches the sedan delivery as far as what I am after.
Briefly: Does the 48 Stylemaster business coupe's filler neck really just unbolt from the gas tank as it appears to?

More details: due to my car going through fuel filters like their coffee filters, I am having a new stainless steel tank made this winter for my 48 Stylemaster Business Coupe. Luckily someone (Rock Valley Auto - RVA) knows how to make a tank for the business coupes. Unfortunately, they don't have schematics on the filler neck, which I would also like to have replaced as it too is looking a little worse for wear on the inside. And unfortunately, nobody sells a replacement neck for the business coupe.

RVA offered to make a new filler neck though, they just need me to send them mine. Well, I have gone down to the neck before and indeed just got the wood back up so I could look at it again, and unlike what I can find of other 48 Chevy models, it seems the business masters neck is bolted on? There are two nuts on two bolts that appear to hold it in place. I can see the separation between the base plate of the neck and the tank, and I know for semi-fact that the neck is held in place by its connection to the tank, and nothing else. So, it would certainly appear at first glance I can undo these two nuts, and ta-da, the neck is off.

Well, I tried, and they don't have an interest in budging so far. I think someone coated the outside of the tank in something which has effectively blocked the threads as well as frozen the nuts in place, so I still think this is doable with some cleaning. But, I thought it worth asking to make sure this is indeed supposed to be removable before I try anything drastic. None of the manuals really clarify if this is possible from what I have seen - some of them mention removing the neck but it's not clear what exactly they mean by that.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1942_47/4247csm801.htm

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I assume that you are using a 6 point socket to remove those nuts. Have you tired the “tighten first” trick?


Rusty

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There is a filler neck seal listed in the parts book for the business coupe so the neck is designed to be removed.

You could fill the tank with water and grind off the muts without harming the threads on the studs.


Gene Schneider
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Poppy48 Offline OP
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Cool - I ended up putting a bit more gentle force into one of the nuts and it did indeed begin to back off. They seem to be made out of a very soft metal though, and the coating on them makes it tricky to get a socket wrench on.

Just wanted to be safe and ask for some opinions before I damaged something. I'll be removing it entirely likely in the next week or so and will update how it goes. if I forget to come back and update, no news is good news.

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Poppy48 Offline OP
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Follow up on this. I removed the tank entirely and have undone the second bolt, but the neck is still firmly attached.

I think the neck seal referenced in a previous post was just the seal for the outside of the car visible in one of the photos I posted. The base of the neck is a plate that is flat to the tank, and it feels like those two surfaces have been bound together.

That said, it occurred to me that the neck is probably the same exact dimensions/shape as any other 48 chevy neck, given it fits the same fuel cap. It's just the shape of the tube that changes, and it seems more and more like I will need to make that up with some tubing. Otherwise, trying to match the exact distances/mounting-angle/curves/bends of the existing neck would be extremely difficult.

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I dont know the exact shape or length of the neck above the joint but if the lower part of the joint is even slightly off angle it will make refitting difficult.
Tony


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Keep soaking that area with rust penetrant. Every day tap it lightly in different directions.

I completely agree with Tony that even a slight difference in bend angle will put the filler out of place. On the last tank I helped replace we had to cut and re-weld the fill pipe because it was bent at the wrong angle.


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I still feel the neck should come out.


Gene Schneider
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Poppy48 Offline OP
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See attached, I figured out how to attach images on a reply cool

Well, I will certainly try to loosen it up and see if it wants to come off, but it really looks and feels like the flat base of the neck is bound to the surface of the tank. I can grab the neck and lift the tank by it, and if I try to wiggle the neck while holding the tank, the surface of the tank itself flexes. I went after the base of that flat plate where it meets the tank with a razor, and I was able to scrape off whatever this black coating is, but I was not able to get the blade into any sort of gap at all. Things don't look rusted together from the outside at least, it just seems like the two surfaces are now one.

Originally, the hope was that I could detach the neck, ship it to RVA, and they could make a new one that is exactly the same, and match the mounting angle on the tank. Obviously, this would be hard to perfectly line up, but we were at least entertaining the idea. Worse case if it didn't line up, I could cut the new neck and use a hose as needed.

The other thought was to remanufacture only the first few inches of the neck, and then use a flexible tube to connect it to the tank. That way, exact angles aren't as much of a concern. The tubing would be held in place by the neck guide on the inside of the car, and the metal end of the neck held in place by the inner/outer seals on the end of the neck. I am waiting to talk to RVA about this because in order to do this I might have to saw off my neck, which I really REALLY do not want to do. I would hate to do that and then find out it does detach or destroy one of the few remaining original samples of such a tank.

That said, the actual end of the neck and seemingly the first few inches are seemingly identical to any other chevy of the era. They all fit the same gas caps, and the first few inches are just straight tube.
Lo and behold...
https://store.fillingstation.com/detail/TK-25/Chevrolet_UNIVERSAL_FILLER_NECK_2932.html
...there is a universal neck, which both appears and measures effectively the exact same. I might just buy this and use a hose or, ask RVA if they know how to make one of these out of stainless steel (not sure what the filling stations is made of). I think RVA makes other necks, so I would think making something like this would be trivial to them.

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Thanks for the pictures. They really help understand the situation.

My impression is that you are already working with a replacement tank and filler neck. That whole area looks way too clean to be original. While I realize that the tank in a coupe is inside the car, there should still be some surface rust and more dirt/dust.

Based upon that assessment, I have to wonder if whoever did that work bonded the neck to the tank with some type of adhesive/epoxy or maybe JB Weld.

Have you tried using a heat gun to heat that area?


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Poppy48 Offline OP
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Bit of background:
It's tricky to say if the tank is new honestly, this car is extremely original as it sat in a private collection for around the last 20 years and had been entirely restored prior to that. Take a look at the underside of the car for peats sake lol! It's cleaner than the tank is.

That said, it might be an original tank because the inside of the tank does not look so nice. Someone coated the inside with a red material, which after sitting for 20 years basically turned into a loosely held-together dust. I know this because I was in the tank repeatedly, viewing it through the sending unit hole to see what on earth was going on inside it. The moment gas hit that old coating, it started to literally melt off the walls and it turned into a fine particle soup of red that looks like rust. Most of that gunk has drained out but, since it's heavier than the gasoline and the intake on the bottom of the tank is actually an inch or so raised from the bottom, there is now a perpetual pool of the stuff that gets stirred up whenever I get gas. The fuel filter was catching it all, but my lord it was making fuel filter swaps an every 25 miles deal. There are also some extremely odd/concerning solid-looking items in the tank. I hope to have this tank restored, hence I don't want to chop off my neck. But, given how hard the business coupe is to get a tank for, and how it seems this tank already had one or two or three liners done, I thought it best to get a new one while I still can. That's how I got here.

However, I did find a tag on the tank itself pointing to a "Seattle Radiator WK(works?)" company? I wasn't able to find any suggestions that this company ever made tanks, but I know this car came from out west so who knows.


To answer your question:
I have not tried a heat gun, mostly because I am sure there is still some vapor and/or liquid residue which has yet to evaporate due to the cold weather.


I spoke with RVA today and, as it turns out, they most likely supply the universal neck to The Filling Station. My filling neck is really just a longer version of the universal one. So, the current idea right now is to basically make a longer version of their universal neck, and try to do the first bend (first from the entrance). Worst case if the bend isn't right, I chop it off and use more tube. Either way, I am going to have to use some tubing. This really isn't the end of the world though as the inner/outer grommets on the end of the neck can hold it in place, and there is a metal rounded shute/guide on the inside of the car for the fill neck which the tubing can safely press up against.

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If you do need to cut the fill tube I suggest you cut at the base of the straight section above the lower bend allowing room to fit a hose clamp, then when your new tank arrives trim the upper fill tube to allow correct positioning and put a piece of fuel resistant hose between the 2 pieces.
Tony


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If you are going to have the tank possibly restored I would check with the shop you plan on using for suggestions.


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If the interior of the tank is as bad as you describe I would not waster any more time and effort saving it. Unless the shop cuts the tank apart they will never be able to remove all the sealer that someone put into it. My guess is that there is some sealer still adhering to the walls but it will keep flaking off after you start driving the car.

I kept trying to “save” the original tank on my ‘37. Every 2 or 3 years I would have to remove it and have it cleaned. I also had a Fram G5 filter at the tank outlet that I had to change every 750 miles. The tank kept shedding a very fine rust.

If I had kept the car much longer I was going to replace the tank. I had way more money in it than the cost of the new tank.


Rusty

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