GAS TANK

[FREE BIRD]

I JUST PURCHASED A 76 AMERICAN CLIPPER 440 AND I AM STILL TRYING TO FIND OUT IF THERE ARE TWO GAS TANKS OR NOT. I FILLED THE TANK BUT THE GAUGE READS HALF FULL IT TOOK A LITTLE OVER 19 GALLONS. WHEN I FILLED IT THE GAUGE READ EMPTY. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

[tproacher]

 Most gages no longer work in your Clippers.  The standard tanks were about 36 gals but don't plan on getting 36 gals in them.  Others have put 50 gal tanks on later.  Your best bet is to rely on your odometer and fill up after a certain number of miles.  My gage would read well below 'E' before I had to fill up again but I did read somewhere there is a way to correct this but it wasn't worth it for me.

[Mark Smith]

Free Bird,  You may have a 50 gal tank that was not empty. If your Clipper was sold with a generator in the side compartment, the gen. was fueled from the main gas tank and therefore you would have a 50 gal tank.  When the 50 gal tank is full, the guage reads a little over half.  The original Dodge chassis was delivered with a 20 gal tank and the RV builder removed that tank and replaced it with either a 36 gal or a 50 gal tank. The 50 Gal tank was a custom made steel weldment, but there were no senders available for it so they kept the sender they had.  If you calculate your mileage, you will have an idea how much gas you have left  in the tank after the guage reads zero. Quite a lot.
Mark,  ACOC# 1077

[Brendan]

Right, I have the 50 gallon tank in my '78. When totally, overflowingly full, the gauge reads a hair under 3/4. When the gauge reads 'E', it takes 30 gallons to fill it back up. I calculate the mpg on the way down to 'E' and then extrapolate the mileage for 10-15 of the remaining 20 gallons. It's good to leave a little margin for error.

Brendan #2959

[CanadianClipper]

The gas gauges floats are very accessible as I was inspecting my 1976 AC and it is right out in the open at the back ogf the tank. You don't even need to take the tank down. You could almost drive an American clipper in there. A word of caution remove the ring carefully with a rag or some form of cover over the screwdriver or tool you use to remove it. You don't want to have a spark. I suppose not smoking while performing this little thing would be a no brainer.

http://cndclipper.topcities.com/

[Fred404]

[Fred404]

Originally posted by Fred404:

Originally posted by tproacher:
[qb]      Most gages no longer work in your Clippers.  The standard tanks were about 36 gals but don't plan on getting 36 gals in them.  Others have put 50 gal tanks on later.  Your best bet is to rely on your odometer and fill up after a certain number of miles.  My gage would read well below 'E' before I had to fill up again but I did read somewhere there is a way to correct this but it wasn't worth it for me.

"I have a 36 gallon tank, I was 83 miles past empty and I ran it empty, added 2 gallons, drove it less than one mile to the gas station and it only took 29 gallons. I only get 180 miles safely on one fill up, 440 CID.    "

[Mark Smith]

They say that you can only put about 30 gals in the 36 gal tank, because the filler tube enters the upper side of the tank allowing about a 5 gal air space on top of the gasoline for expansion on a hot day.
Mark ACOC#1077