1986 360 GLEi SE restoration and turboing

[360beast]

I feel the pain, my fuel tank in the GLS was a right mess - had to replace it

I hope I don't have to go that far!

[Ride_on]

Probably worth having a look in from the fuel sender area. You can see the cream swirl pot, which would be spotless, and the outlet pipe to the pump. Mine was rusty up round the top corners, but I welded it (after sitting empty for about 10 yrs) and used rust bullet which is moisture curing.
You just need to tap the clamp round until it releases.

Fuel comes in from the right side, along with the return pipe, leading to a concentric canal that leads to the left side of the swirl pot. It does run out of fuel on long hard right handers.

[360beast]

I finally got around to fixing the 360!

Drained the tank using the old pump to suck it out in to a drain tray. I then used a gauze filter and filtered the petrol into a couple of Jerry cans.

I removed the fuel level sender unit and found it was very crusty! So I sanded as much rust off as I could and soaked it in wd40 then worked it constantly for a couple of minutes and it freed off nicely, so now I have a working fuel gauge.

I then hoovered all the rust I could out of the fuel tank, blew the air line up the fuel outlet and it cleared out. Put the petrol in and put it all back together and now it runs better than it ever has done!


IMG-20210419-WA0002 by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE


IMG-20210419-WA0004 by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE


IMG-20210419-WA0009 by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE


20210419_125340 by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE


20210419_125347 by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE


20210419_125403 by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE

I then went for a 20 mile drive to check it was all working as it should and I'm happy to report it is working perfectly.


20210419_191739 by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE

[TasMan]

Great work, very interesting to see your process.
Would this be the same type of tank as in my 360 GLT i.e saddles over the gearbox ?
When up on the MOT ramp last week I noticed the original pre-filter on mine is showing silt/debris and needs changed. Makes me wonder what lurks beyond inside the tank... Would be good to see pics of your Baldwin filter set up if possible ?
I assume you drained the tank with the old pump once the sender was removed ? Certainly avoids messing about with hoses and a lot of fuel dumping out from below.
Hope thats your problems cured...!
On the basis of new tanks not being available, worse case if the tank is sound it might be possible to remove it, steam clean and then treat with some sort of fuel tank sealer....it would be a bugger of a job though !

[SteveP]

Nicely done, that tank wasn't *that* bad in the end... my GLS one was much worse!

It would be possible to remove the tank and coat the internals but I can't imagine this is particularly easy going due to the shape of the 360 tank and the fact the injection tank has a swirl pot built in.

[360beast]

Great work, very interesting to see your process.
Would this be the same type of tank as in my 360 GLT i.e saddles over the gearbox ?
When up on the MOT ramp last week I noticed the original pre-filter on mine is showing silt/debris and needs changed. Makes me wonder what lurks beyond inside the tank... Would be good to see pics of your Baldwin filter set up if possible ?
I assume you drained the tank with the old pump once the sender was removed ? Certainly avoids messing about with hoses and a lot of fuel dumping out from below.
Hope thats your problems cured...!
On the basis of new tanks not being available, worse case if the tank is sound it might be possible to remove it, steam clean and then treat with some sort of fuel tank sealer....it would be a bugger of a job though !

Yep it will be the same as mine, I could only see a small section of the fuel tank so it is probably still rusty the other side but now I know what to do I have no problems with doing it again if I need to.

Here is the filter in place, I know there is a jubilee missing, I ran out of them but luckily it doesn't leak so I will get some more today and fit one. I also need to put some wax over the filter and the jubilees to stop them rusting.


2021-04-20_10-39-42 by Luke Ryland - Flickr2BBcode LITE

This is what you will need

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... F703737747

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250462123366

I did indeed use the old pump to drain it through the sender hole in to a drain tray next to the car.

Yeah to get the fuel tank out you have to drop the gearbox so definitely a summer job if you are doing it on the driveway.

Thanks Steve, I was very surprised at how little rust there was compared to what I was thinking!

[TasMan]

Yep it will be the same as mine, I could only see a small section of the fuel tank so it is probably still rusty the other side but now I know what to do I have no problems with doing it again if I need to.

Thanks for the info and photo, the Baldwin filter looks a decent fit, thanks for the links..
I will need to check out accessing the sender and tank, seems straightforward enough. Any idea on the method of sealing the sender to the tank ? After disturbing a seal thats been in situ for many years I would imagine it will need to be replaced or you will get fumes/leaks within the car.

Yeah forgetting the saddle tank internal access will be limited, but what you have done will make a big difference for sure. Probably worth an annual change of the pre-filter to keep things clear ?

I have a spare pump on the shelf so I might rig up a pickup hose with inline filter to drain the tank into cans. This will keep any risk of fuel spillage to a minimum when changing the filter and hoses below. My tank is pretty full just now, I filled it before sorn and stuck in fuel stabiliser. After 5 - 6 months off the road with a brief startup every so often it still starts well, think the stabiliser is a good option. A full tank will reduce condensation/rusting over a lay up period.

Steve - Yep removal of the tank for internal coating won't be easy and the swirl pot would be an issue. I have used POR-15 in the past for small tanks but to do a 360 or similar tank will be a fair undertaking.

Cheers Dave