Not sure about Vansauto

[MoPar~Man]

I bought probably the same gas tank from Van's a couple months ago when they were on sale. The box seemed sturdy enough, there was extra cardboard pieces along the sides to give added protection. I haven't done anything with it yet, I guess I'll have to put a few gallons of gas in it and rotate the tank on it's sides and see if the seams leak? Or maybe seal it up and put some air pressure in it and see if it holds.

I have a previously acquired sending unit that I'll be putting in there, I didn't buy one from VANs, but I would expect to have to adjust the pickup tube and maybe even float arm to fine tune their position and motion range. I don't see that as a fault that you need to do that. I'm also going to install (solder) in a ground bolt to the sending unit round mounting plate because the factory way they had setup to give a ground connection to the sending unit is hokey.

It was mentioned earlier in the thread that these are Spectra tanks? I don't think they are. These are made in Taiwan, I thought Spectra tanks were made in US or Canada. ?

 

[noah300g]

I bought probably the same gas tank from Van's a couple months ago when they were on sale. The box seemed sturdy enough, there was extra cardboard pieces along the sides to give added protection. I haven't done anything with it yet, I guess I'll have to put a few gallons of gas in it and rotate the tank on it's sides and see if the seams leak? Or maybe seal it up and put some air pressure in it and see if it holds.

I have a previously acquired sending unit that I'll be putting in there, I didn't buy one from VANs, but I would expect to have to adjust the pickup tube and maybe even float arm to fine tune their position and motion range. I don't see that as a fault that you need to do that. I'm also going to install (solder) in a ground bolt to the sending unit round mounting plate because the factory way they had setup to give a ground connection to the sending unit is hokey.

It was mentioned earlier in the thread that these are Spectra tanks? I don't think they are. These are made in Taiwan, I thought Spectra tanks were made in US or Canada. ?

Since I'm not a metal fabricator (nor do I want to become one), I'm thankful I can even get something 'close' to then work with so I can keep my car operational. As I said in another post, the alternative is to drive something like a 57 Chevy, a Mustang, or Corvette if you want a huge inventory of parts available for your ride. If these folks decide to just stick with B and E body stuff, or just Ford and GM products where the volume is, we're really screwed.

 

[Omni]

Good Morning All
I just replaced (this week) the tank/sending unit/filler neck grommet with ones purchased from Vans.
Products arrived on time and in great condition. I matched up the parts before installing. the only tweaking was to the float arm. Install was easy (one person). Very happy with the products. Called Vans and thanked them.
Omni

 

[Big_John]

IMHO, I see the blame being aimed at the vendors all the time and this is no exception.

Almost none of these vendors make any of these products. But when the product doesn't meet expectations, the vendor gets the angry phone call rather than the manufacturer.

And what are our expectations? It seems to vary from person to person in our hobby. Some are expecting perfection and for it to perfectly match the OEM part. The truth is that it often doesn't. Gas sender/pickups seem to be a common product that often needs some tweaking to make it right. It's either too high or too low, or the gauge doesn't read correctly. The realistic hobbyist should understand that anything you buy that has been built in the last 10-20 years probably came from overseas and might need some finesse to make it work.

What is happening is there is one product, one part number, that fits a multitude of vehicles. So that sender/pickup might fit a '70 Newport perfectly will need a little tweaking to fit that '65 Polara. If you look at any aftermarket parts, they are built to fit as many vehicles as possible. That's been like that even when these cars were new... and now, as the market has changed from offering parts for repair, and doing that as cheap as possible, to offering parts to a much smaller, restoration market.

Yes, there is junk out there... And there are hobbyists that don't understand or want to understand that the OEM part was probably better and that used part can be refurbished to work better than a replacement.

None of this excuses poor customer service, but place the blame for bad product correctly.... and understand that chances are really good that vendor X is probably selling the exact same product as vendor Y.

That is my 2 cents, now adjusted for inflation to 8 bucks, on the matter.

BTW, my experiences with Vans has been just fine... I price shop and have often found that Vans had the better deal on eBay especially once I figure in shipping. I've never had to call or return though.

 

[HOT FURY]

My tank for the 68 fit like a glove.

There are two guys at Vans from what I understand. One is very nice and helpful. The other has been spoke of above.

Clearly from my rant about them last week, my recent experience gone from bad to worse was dealing with the guy that they should put a colored tape line around the phone area and tell him NEVER to cross the line!!

 

[BuckeyeBarracuda]

I have bought parts from Vans quite a few times without any problem, and would recommend them. Nice that they continue to come out with the little things that the big boys won't touch...

 

[ynst]

I wont buy from them any more myself

Rock Auto

 

[OKDart]

Clearly from my rant about them last week, my recent experience gone from bad to worse was dealing with the guy that they should put a colored tape line around the phone area and tell him NEVER to cross the line!!

It's been going on for a long time. About 10-12 years ago I ordered 3 parts from them on eBay (before they had a website), and 2 of the 3 items were completely wrong, not even close to what I ordered. I checked their feedback and discovered it was a common occurrence. I sent them a message frustrated because my car was down until I got the parts, and they responded with something along the lines of "Well if you know it's a common occurrence, then you know to send them back, or did you just send an email to *****?"
Why yes, I did send the email to *****, GET YOUR **** TOGETHER!! They did get me the right parts quickly after that though. And I have ordered from their website since then with quick service and nice parts for the $$$.

 

[fury fan]

Or maybe seal it up and put some air pressure in it and see if it holds.

Be very cautious pressurizing something that large with air. It's designed to hold a liquid, and against head pressure only - not against uniform pressure.
That's a lot of surface area, so even a few psi creates a lot of force on the seams. If it fails it also could be catastrophic when done with air.

Best to install the sender, filler tube, and fill it with water and let it sit on the driveway or other convenient place where you can monitor it.