New Fuel Tank Install Issue: 72 Plymouth Scamp

Guys -

I've been collecting a lot of rusty stuff in the carb float bowl. And had another issue just recently of the AFR going lean after about a 10 second full-throttle acceleration. I thought I might pull the tank and have it cleaned. But in checking around, cleaning the tank was pretty close to the same cost as a new one from Summit.

So I bought a new one. The neck moved out of the way rather easily. The new tank fit in place rather nicely. I'm really only having one issue.

Issue: The original filler neck does not fit to the new tank in the same way as the original.

The original condition: The filler neck and tank were probably 0.002" to 0.005 difference. I say that because the filler neck slid backward out of the tank rather easily after detaching the seal from the trunk floor. And since the filler neck and gas tank were not likely in perfect alignment (but certainly aligned well), there had to be some gap to make the neck fit into the tank. I would guess, if I checked side to side slop neck to tank, it would have been little to nearly none.

The new condition: The hole opening in the new tank is larger than the old. Based on this, I would think that the neck may rattle in the hole and maybe gas might spill out.

Questions:

• Is gap normal?
• Would there be rattling noise and/or spillage?
• Is there not a gasket that should be installed around the filler neck and protrude into the tank to seal and stop the rattling?

Thanks!


7milesout