Gas filler neck Q, don't blow me off

[gforbess at attglobal.net (Gordon Forbess)]

On Sat, 15 May 2004 14:53:49 +0000, "C Boyko" <roccit_53@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>Okay. My 16V is drizzling gas around the bottom of the filler neck clamp. It 
>was suggested (and rightly so) that it is most likely the rubber hose that's 
>at fault, since this area is full of fuel and is an unlikely corrosion 
>candidate. SO off I go to find the rubber hose, which nobody on God's green 
>earth seems to have, so I order it from VW at $50 I might add. Needless to 
>say when I was IN Hagersville the dealer couldn't find where they had put 
>it, so off I go for a special trip to get it this morning, and ...
>
>Yep, a full four inches too short.
>
>1. Could somebody crawl under their 16V and tell me how long the hose is on 
>theirs to see if it's 7" or more like 10-11"?

I checked the hose on my 75.  It's 7 inches.  So you seem to have one
that would fit my car.  Strange.. I tried to buy one when I went
through my fuel system and the VW parts guy said it wasn't available
anymore. 

>2. How close to the tank should this join in? I'm wondering if part of one 
>of the metal hoses that the rubber goes onto has been deleted, and if so, is 
>it the tank or filler end neck that's short. The gap between the metal parts 
>is well in excess of the 7" that I have hose for. Or is this identical to 
>the Mk1s, in which case I can check for myself.
>
>3. How much trouble am I asking for if I cut the hose in half and add in a 
>4-5" length of exhaust pipe? It shouldn't leak, right?

The filler and tank connections have bell ends, so it could be a
problem.  

>Anyway, I can't think of any other way to fix it, suggestions are more than 
>welcome. Matches are not an option, but tempting. Why the hell doesn't 
>anything go normally on this car? (I'm honestly afraid of what I'll find 
>when I do pull that hose off, but I guess I gotta bite the bullet eh?)
>Cathy

After what I read when chasing my rust problem, I still think your
filler pipe may be the source of your leak.  The hose on my car looked
good enough to reinstall (I was told I had no choice, of course) and
it's working fine.

Gordon

75 Mk I/Drake 1.9
http://pws.prserv.net/gforbess/scirocco/scirocco.htm