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

[foggyjames]

Hi Team. Question for Luke and Tony, mainly...

I'm working on cleaning up a pretty gummed up tank / fuel pump / pipes situation on my 84 GLT. I have two questions relating to hoses:
1) I have the tank outlet as 11.25mm. 12mm hose will seal up OK to this, right?
2) Some sellers seem to list "12mm" hose as 12.7mm (1/2"). Are those listing actual "12mm" hose lying, and if so, I assume it still seals up OK (given the tank outlet seems to be sub-12mm)...?

BTW...I have nightmares about the fabric-braided hose linked to earlier...don't do it! Proper injection (preferably NBR) hose only!

cheers

James

[foggyjames]

The other thing I meant to say is that (if you want a clear filter, which I do, at least until I'm confident that my tank is clear), I found Facet's 43176 filter. It's designed to fit on the front of one of their pumps (ironically, I think the same sort of pump that Tony is using for his swirl circuit!), but you can use adaptors to get the outlet to 12mm (and outside of the housing. I'm going to see how I get on with it.

Also...ever get the feeling you've been spied on...?
https://www.volvo340onderdelen.nl/en/vo ... o-360.html

cheers

James

[360beast]

Hi Team. Question for Luke and Tony, mainly...

I'm working on cleaning up a pretty gummed up tank / fuel pump / pipes situation on my 84 GLT. I have two questions relating to hoses:
1) I have the tank outlet as 11.25mm. 12mm hose will seal up OK to this, right?
2) Some sellers seem to list "12mm" hose as 12.7mm (1/2"). Are those listing actual "12mm" hose lying, and if so, I assume it still seals up OK (given the tank outlet seems to be sub-12mm)...?

BTW...I have nightmares about the fabric-braided hose linked to earlier...don't do it! Proper injection (preferably NBR) hose only!

cheers

James

Oops I didn't link to the correct fuel line, this is the one I used...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333311599271

I ordered 12mm ID and had no issues sealing to the tank outlet pipe.

[foggyjames]

Cool, thanks! That's 12.7, so I can rest easy if it worked for you.

Next question (again, one for yourself and Tony)...how stupid is the internal plumbing of the tank? As far as I can see the swirl pot and connecting hoses must have been assembled prior to the two halves of the tank being welded together. My internal link hoses look grim (although so do various others I've seen!), but I'm not sure how (or even if) they are replaceable. I can't get anything pushed through the feed pipe into the swirl pot, and I am fairly confident it's blocked. I have managed to make two holes in it though trying...so something will flow! The car isn't doing any more than being moved in and out of storage for now, so I can cope with reduced flow, if needs be. I'm now planning to add proper access hatch to a spare tank...!

Am I missing something, or is surgery required to replace those hoses?

cheers

James

[360beast]

Right I'll try again...

This is the one I bought, I should have just gone on to purchase history to start with! 12mm ID is what I got.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RUBBER-REINF ... 890.l49286

You probably won't get anything through as there is a sharp bend in the pipe inside the tank, if yiu have an air compressor with air blower put some of the 12mm pipe on the tank outlet and blow up it so you know it is clear.

I belive they assembled the internals before welding the tank as I can't see a way for them to assemble it once the tank is in place or even on the floor! My internal hoses didn't look very pretty but tbh even if they weren't there the tank outlet is slightly lower than the swirl pot so I couldn't see it causing any issues other than when you get low on fuel and start cornering.

[foggyjames]

Yeah, I think it'll be fine as long as there's plenty of fuel in the tank.

I was trying a coathanger bent at various angles yesterday. I poked it through both sides of the transfer pipe (i.e. radius both too wide and tight, at various times), but it's like it hit a brick wall in the middle. The pump and pre-filter were both clogged up with really thick nasty stuff, so it's very plausible that it's clogged. I'm half tempted to just remove that link pipe (to the swirl pot) and make sure there's plenty of fuel in the tank.

It's a pretty interesting subject, that swirl pot - what's it there for, and how does it work? I know Tony was pondering that a while back. The weird thing is that neither component is particularly low in the tank. I reckon there's somewhere around 10mm of clearance under the pipes as they enter the tank. I had assumed that the swirl pot was lower, but I've not measured it! It doesn't appear to be on the absolute bottom of the tank, though - maybe they did that on purpose, to help avoid sucking up crap in the bottom of the tank?

I am very tempted to re-engineer a carb tank for my turbo project, with a more modern 'cartridge' style unit which contains both an in-tank pump and the level float (mounted through a larger hole in the standard location). Exit could be through the top of the cartridge (like most modern tanks), or piped to the standard outlet. I'd keep the GLT tank more or less as-is, but add an access hatch for servicing (even if it's in a location such that it requires a tank-drop).

cheers

James

[360beast]

I forgot to add the link so I've edited my previous post there is a 12mm option on that auction.

Yep mine was the same when poking stuff up it, it would go so far up then just stop and I couldn't get anything through it, but petrol flows freely and an air blower up it didn't blow anything out so it must be the curve in the pipe.

The swirl pot appears to have a return line and the tank outlet inside of it so when the fuel comes back from the fuel rail it fills the swirl pot first before the tank. It is there just for when the fuel level gets low so it stops the fuel getting away from the tank outlet instantly while cornering. Instead it holds the fuel there so the pump can constantly suck fuel during cornering.

[foggyjames]

OK, that's good to know. I may have made holes in my transfer pipes without good reason then, but I'm not too upset, as they were plainly very tired, and I don't imagine there will be any harm done (at least in the short term). I couldn't get anything softer through the pipes, BTW (tried various things including some stranded wire, for example, and really worked it about), and I could barely get the coat hanger into the outlet in the swirl pot. It'll be interesting to see what it's like when I (one day) take the tank out, cut my service hatch, and have a proper look at it!

Yeah, I saw that listing, but the starting point is about twice as much, as minimum is 1m (and I only need about 15cm!). I'd be interested to know if it's actually a different product, or if they've just rounded-down.

Yeah, that makes sense. Just a shame that they didn't provide an access hatch for servicing!

I have an original pre-pump filter in stock, so I think I will fit that first, so I have some idea of whether or not it's filling up, then use either a Baldwin or the clear Facet filter (if I can make the adaptors work) longer-term. I'll run a decent amount of fuel through the tank before reinstalling the filter and pump, too, just in case that flushes anything out.

cheers

James