Leaking fuel taps

[Ian Grace]

Has anybody come up with a foolproof (or fuelproof!) way of sorting Minor fuel taps? I spent a good deal of time rebuilding one for the B-P recently - new cork, tightened the nut so the lever was just about operable and wire locked it as per the original. Lovely job. But it is alreay leaking like a seive!

[Terry Synnott]

Note this has been out there for 3 years so thought I would resurrect it to see if anyone has any advise as doing mine at the moment. Original cork is time expired. Would 2mm thick fuel resistant rubber sheet be a better replacement?

[Simon]

I made some sometime ago and sent them to people who wanted one. I have so far had no negative feedback so presume that they are still fueltight. My feelings will not be hurt if I am told that they were useless

[Simon]

I made some washers sometime ago and sent them to people who wanted one. I have so far had no negative feedback so presume that they are still fueltight. My feelings will not be hurt if I am told that they were useless

[Terry Synnott]

So Simon, did you use cork or what and how thick? Thanks

[Terry Synnott]

So Simon, did you use cork or what and how thick? Thanks

[Ian Grace]

Good morning Terry,

I had terrible trouble with the tap on the the Semi-sports. I had two seals from Simon and also made several myself before I had the thing acceptibly fuel-proof. Assembly is a fiddly job because of the tiny brass nut and pin that hold the whole thing together - tight enough to stop the fuel weeping, but loose enough to allow it to turn.

When I collected the car from the docks in Southampton, I drove it to Chris Neal's house in Romsey. When I got there, I turned the tap off and the cork disintegrated. I drained the tank, removed the tap, removed all the cork debris, plastered it in sealant and bolted the brass nut up tight with the tap in the ON position. It is still like that today. The carb. was overhauled by Burlen so the fuel bowl doesn't leak.

If you do use cork, find the proper machined sort with smooth faces - not the regular gasket stuff.

Good luck!

[Peter S]

I also had the same problem with my fuel tap on my M type but the advice from Vintage car parts
http://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/en/hel ... s/in+line/ worked. The cork in my tap as well as being dry had also cracked so bought some 1/16th cork gasket from Vintage Cars supplies and made a new seal. I removed the old gasket and cleaned the housing and tap using nothing more abrasive than brasso. I lubricated the cork seal with silicon grease ( you can use spray but I got a tube from Maplins) reassembled and it worked. I was very suprised that it did as petrol leaks can be a swine.

Peter

[lee_rob]

Guys,

I have a completely leak free fuel tap and its also easy to turn.. Its a modified gas ball valve I think you can get hold of them from most plumbers suppliers and they are quite cheap, and have the advantage of being made to a high specification as they cant have gas leaking everywhere so the fuel stays in. They are also resistant to the ethanol in the fuel which is a bonus.

Lee

[Ian Grace]

Lee,

http://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/products/575-fuel-tap

I just bought one of these for the fabric saloon - it is an original ENOTS, not quite the same design and the Minor. It VERY stiff to operate, but should hopefully free up a little after some use.

Interesting re the gas valve - what do they look like?

[lee_rob]

I will take a picture tomorrow and post it

[lee_rob]

Here we go Ian a pic of my leak-proof tap

[Ian Grace]

Very interesting - thanks!

Ian