Re: alfa-digest V7 #810

[jack@domain.elided (Jack Hagerty)]

From: "Stefano Iachella" <iachella@domain.elided>

>This may be a California only problem, but what do
>you 74 GTVers do for filling up the tank? Do you have
>a problem getting the nozzle into the filler? Is there
>a trick to turning the nozzle or some fix for the filler?

I got my car about a year before those nozzles were introduced. When they 
came out, there was a list of cars that they did not work well (or at all)
on. Guess which was first on the list? Well, OK, it was an alphabetic list
but still, I've been wrestling with this problem for some 24 years now. 
The best I can say is that they're getting better. The latest generation
of these things use some sort of vapor sucking system that doesn't require
a mechanical seal (i.e. a bellows of some sort) and looks like a regular
nozzle from years past. The newer bellows are better, too, with their 
longer throw/softer springs. 

>I have a heck of a time with it and have bent up the
>filler flap door a couple of times. I only go to stations
>that don't have that accordian-type nozzle, but am
>hoping someone has a better way.

Not really. Even with the newer nozzles, I still wind up scraping the 
plastic liner on the top of the gas door area. The only way I've found
to do a decent job of filling is to go most of the way with the nozzle
in the pipe like normal, then take it out and collapse the bellows against
the bodywork above the filler door. This activates whatever switch is in
the bellows to allow it to dispense even with the boot not engaging the
filler neck. It leaves a nasty black semicircle on the paint that does
not come off (w/o some serious rubbing compound).

- - Jack

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| Jack Hagerty                |    "If this rocket stuff is so important    |
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| Livermore, CA		      |    don't blow yourself up. I suppose there  |
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