To fill or not to fill that is the Question!

Unknown

Last week I installed the gas tank I got back from having cleaned and sealed. Before I had a chance to fill the tank with gas, A friend of my fathers, who drove and repaired Hudson for 20 years up till the mid 70's, told me that since I was not going to have my Hudson on the road for another couple of years I should not put any gas in the tank. He believes I should put about a quart of Kerosene in the tank to forestall any rust and run the hudson off a small can of gas. I know this guy is very knowlegable about cars, but since I had the tank sealed is rust a concern. Since I am only going to use a couple of gallons of gas over the next year or so, should I:



A. Fill the tank and don't worry about stale gas or rust?



B. Only put in a couple of gallons and run it dry every month?



C. Rehook up the 5 gallon gas can in the trunk and leave the gas tank dry until it is ready for the road?

Nevada Hudson

I would say number C.Leave the gas tank dry until you are ready to use the vehicle. The new gas goes bad in about 3 months.You can connect a small gas line where the the fuel filter goes, and feed the gas by gravity.Hook container under the hood with rubber fuel line . Works for me.

Club Coupe

I would leave the tank dry. The longer the sealer sets up, the better, in my opinion.

EssexAdv

Stale gas in the tank is just that; stale gas in the tank. The real problem comes from burning the stale gas in the motor. It will gum up the carb, fuel pump and valves. So no matter if you temporarily install a small tank or use the original tank, put some Stabil in the gas. That way when you start it up to move it around it will have good gas to burn and no varnish to deal with. Don’t be fooled into thinking running it dry every now and then will eliminate this problem, it wont!. That method works OK for lawn mowers and the like because they will sit all winter and get run hard again when they are returned to service. However a car in restoration will not get run hard until it goes out for a drive. The varnish will just accumulate in the carb, etc and clog everything up

Park_W

Also be aware that another dose of Sta-bil can be added after a year, and it will protect for another year. This info direct from the manufacturer.

Unknown

Leave the tank dry and use the can in the trunk, even then I would recommend using the Sta-bil product. Bad gas is bad gas no matter where it comes from. If you're not going to use the Sta-bil and run the gas out, I would take the carb top off and completely dry out the fuel bowl so you don't get any varnish build up. It's not difficult to do with the carbs Hudson uses and then you're sure to have gotten it all.

TwinH

Guess I'd go for the can in the trunk, preferrably a small outboard motor type tank.

[easy enough to move in and out and store properly] Is it just me or is this gas that

they're selling us now go stale in a very short time? Like 3 months and its stinkin....

Club Coupe

Sta-bil is good stuff and I have used it for quite a few years, but last year a buddy of mine turned me on to a stabilizer that Harley-Davidson sells under their own label and so far I like it better that Sta-bil. To me the Harley brand doesn't seem as "oily". Has anybody else used the Harley stabilizer? I agree with TwinH; this new gas has no life to it and to me even smells bad coming out of the pump and gets worse as time goes on. It also seems to eat the old style neoprene gas lines, at least I have replaced a bunch of them with the advent of this new blend gas.

Unknown

We had that issue in Reno as well as California with the MBTE additives for air quality. I don't know if you're getting the MBTE but it really eats through the neoprene fuel lines as well as fuel pump diaphragms and the seat in your carburetor. It works fine in fuel injection though...

Club Coupe

We must be getting the MBTE in Tennessee too. I had a Quadrajet that had never been rebuilt fail on me last year and when it was torn down every gasket, diaphram and seat had failed. They all looked like they had been run through a food processor. The new kit was expensive and came out of California but the problem seems to have been solved. BTW the car that the Quadrajet came off of (not a Hudson, if you have not already guessed) had the neoprene hoses fail at the tank outlet and fuel pump. Thanks for the information. It makes me feel a tad bit more sane.

Unknown

We started getting that garbage in the late 70's. You guys may also be getting an ethanol mix. In either case, if the fuel station has a leak of any kind, this stuff gets into the drinking water and creates an unbelievable mess. It's a strong carcinogen and kills off all kinds of things on the way through. I remember a few years ago, they found MTBE in Lake Tahoe and it was traced to a gas station some 3 miles from the lake! California has filed suit against the federal govenment but I don't know the status.



I hope you guys are getting an ethanol mix and not MBTE, although it is still really hard on the neoprene components. All old car owners need to be aware of what is in the current crop of gasoline just for the preservation of their cars. Of course, I'm not sure that TetraEthyl Lead was any better healthwise in the long run...

Unknown

I put my Hudson into storage about a year ago (I'm in another city for a while).

Before doing so I ran the tank down to maybe 1/8-1/16 capacity and put Sta-bil into what was left. I started her up again last X-mas and emissions didn't seem any worse

than normal.



In about a month, I'm going to temp-license it for a weekend and give it some much-needed road time, which will also burn off the old gas. I'll run down the tank and add stabiliser again before putting it back in storage.



One thing about stabiliser... Make sure to run the engine for a few minutes after adding it, to make sure that the gas in the fuel lines and carbs also has the stuff in it.

Unknown

Thanks for the info. Here is what I hae decided to do. 1. Leave the main tank dry until I am ready to put the car on the road. 2. Reattach the temporary line running from the gas line fitting at the tank to the trunk, and use the lawn tractor 5 gal gas can in the spare tire well. 3. I bought some Sta-Bil and mixed it with fresh gas to run through the fuel pump and carb. By using the lawn tractor 5 gallon can, I can keep fresh Sta-bil in the car and it won't hurt the lawn tractor(probably will help).



Next Question! While looking for the Sta-bil I read the the Directions on Marvel Mystery Oil, Marvel and Lucas gas treatment seem to do similar things for gas as Sta-Bil. I know some of you use the Marvel Mystery Oil in your gas.



What are your opinions between Marvel and Sta-Bil and Lucas? I have used Lucas oil treatment for years and have been well satisfied.