15 Feb 09 05:34, Roger Nelson wrote to Bob Ackley:


 BA>> When Dodge went with the 'saddle tanks' they put them between the
 BA>> frame and the drive shaft rather than outside the frame. The tanks
 BA>> were standard on Dodge pickups beginning in 1973 or 1974 and the
 BA>> in-cab tank was gone.  I also added a 60 gallon tank in the front of
 BA>> the pickup bed (with a separate filler, and it's a 3-way selector
 BA>> valve) for a total capacity of 112 gallons.  And no, I can't afford
 BA>> to fill it up, in fact I haven't been able to afford to drive it for
 BA>> over 20 years; the thing hasn't even been started for probably 20
 BA>> years now.  Dry and empty it weighs 6,600 pounds and gets 8.5 mpg.

 RN> Dodge had some very good ideas and so did you.  Around 1978, I think,
 RN> when Lee Iacoca was fired by Ford and was responsible for the car I'm
 RN> now driving and its baby brother, the Mustang, he was hired by
 RN> Chrysler and their star began to rise.  They were on the verge of
 RN> going out of business at that time.

 RN> My boss back then had invested heavily in Chrysler stock and so he
 RN> had to discontinue our profit sharing plan because he didn't wait for
 RN> Iacoca to get there.  Had he waited, we all would have been a lot
 RN> better off.  The one blemish Iacoca had on his record at Ford was the
 RN> Pinto.  Anyway, I'm rambling again.  Did you ever fill up those
 RN> tanks?  Roy will probably tell you that if you ever want to start
 RN> that truck of yours again, a lot of prep work will need to be done
 RN> and you probably know that already.

About six months after you don't drive it, the gas in the tank goes sour
and begins to change into varnish, which probably takes another 6 months
to clog the system. When the tank, fuel lines and carburator are full of
varnish, fresh gas can't get past it. Dropping the tank and cleaning it
out, not just draining it, is required. Then there's the job of cleaning
the gas lines, fuel pump and carburator. I'd replace the lines and pump,
rebuild the carb and give it a try with a half a tank of fresh gas. If it
won't start, then try pouring some gas down the carburator. If it then
attempts to run but just won't do it, then you've got more cleaning to do.

                R\%/itt


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