79 spider fuel tank removal

[tk421]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone knew how to remove the fuel tank from a '79 spider; My tank is really dirty and i want to remove it to flush it; I just put a new fuel fliter in but it's already clogged. After about 30 minutes of driving, the fuel filter gets so clogged I would have to pull over and let the car sit for about 30 seconds before starting it up. Any suggestions?

[Bill77]

Here's my $0.02 worth:

1. Siphon out as much fuel as possible.
2. Unhook the hoses underneath and the return hose on top.
Be prepared to catch fuel in a pan underneath. Unhook the
wire to the fuel sender (fuel level sensor).
3. Disassemble the fuel filler neck hardware (I don't recall all
of the details for doing this, but it is straight-forward. Just
take enough jpegs and label things so you know how to
reassemble.
4. The tank is held in by screws around the perimeter. These
are unscrewed from the top side (inside the trunk).
5. Lift the tank out. It helps to have someone underneath
pushing the tank up while you lift from above, but it can be
done alone. If your car is anything like mine, the tank will
get hung up between the wheel housing wall and the sheet
metal surrounding the tail lamp. You will have to jocky the
tank around to find the path of least resistance.
6. Remove the fuel sender from the tank. Take note of the
installation orientation.
7. Your car might have an internal fuel pump to remove. My '77 didn't.
8. I used the POR-15 tank cleaning/sealing kit. Eastwood makes
a kit as well. The POR-15 kit works very, very well but you
need to follow the instructions to the letter.

Hope this helps! Overall, it is pretty easy to do.

[MyVeloce]

If it is like my 1982 spider then it's not too bad.

First you need to remove all of the carpeting in the trunk.

Then remove all of the gas from the tank. There is a bolt in the bottom of the tank. You will have to get under the car to see it.

Remove the fuel pump in tank if you have one.

Then basically unscrew everything you can find. In my trunk there is a large metal plate than is screwed in on top of the tank.

You will also have to remove the filler tubing,etc.

Then there are about 6-12 bolts that hold the tank to the car. Remove these and you can take the tank out the trunk. It will be "glued" into the trunk so it may take some elbow grease to pry it out.

Good luck. I took my tank to a garage and they clreaned the inside and coated it to prevent future rust. Look for a place in the yellow pages that resurfaces radiators. Less than 1/2 the cost of a new tank.

[PMMessina]

Don't forget to disconnect the battery first!!! I had trouble lifting the tank out. I took a floor jack, laid a piece of two by four across the jacking point and very carefully jacked the board against the tank from the under side of the tank. Then slowly jacked the tank up and out. Mine was held in by some kind of goo around the flange. I replaced with an adhesive, but don't remember what it was. Took the tank to a radiator shop and they cleaned it out good as new. Maybe better. Remember : Slowly and carefully