Series 3 Fuel Tank Fitting problems

landy afliction · Feb 10, 2019

Hi all, new to this site but hoping I can tap into a font of knowledge from those with a deeper Land Rover affliction in the hope of solving a bit of a head scratcher.
I am in the process of restoring a 1982 Diesel Series 3 with my son. We are making great progress and yesterday we offered up the rear body tub which has come back from the sprayers for a dry fit and to keep it off the dirt. It didn't fit!! To be more precise the tub fits the chassis but the fuel filler and breather pipe on the tank (which was fitted in place) do not line up with the holes in the base of the tub bulkhead. The pipes on the tank seem to be about 25mm too far forward for the holes in the tub. We dropped the tank out and fitted the tub and loosely fixed it in place and then tried to offer the tank up but still no joy. I have looked at the parts book thinking I might have got the wrong tank but there seems to be only one tank. Any thoughts on this conundrum please ??

Blackburn · Feb 10, 2019

Common problem with after market tanks filler is in wrong place ended up enlarging hole in tub to make mine fit but still prevents seat going all the way back.

Rodeo Joe · Feb 10, 2019

Yes the filler is in a slightly different position on replacement tanks, I had to chop a slot into the tub to get mine on........

landy afliction · Feb 11, 2019

landy afliction said:
Hi all, new to this site but hoping I can tap into a font of knowledge from those with a deeper Land Rover affliction in the hope of solving a bit of a head scratcher.
I am in the process of restoring a 1982 Diesel Series 3 with my son. We are making great progress and yesterday we offered up the rear body tub which has come back from the sprayers for a dry fit and to keep it off the dirt. It didn't fit!! To be more precise the tub fits the chassis but the fuel filler and breather pipe on the tank (which was fitted in place) do not line up with the holes in the base of the tub bulkhead. The pipes on the tank seem to be about 25mm too far forward for the holes in the tub. We dropped the tank out and fitted the tub and loosely fixed it in place and then tried to offer the tank up but still no joy. I have looked at the parts book thinking I might have got the wrong tank but there seems to be only one tank. Any thoughts on this conundrum please ??

Thanks guys. Glad its not just me but annoying none the less. Latitude seems spot on but longitude is a good way out. One would have thought they could have nailed it by now. Its not like anything has changed in the last 70 years!!!
Having offered both up again I would have to cut a fair chunk of the bulkhead base out indeed almost cutting a slot out of the base rather than just enlarging the whole which is not ideal so i'm going to take the tank down the road to a metal fabs guy and see if he can cut the pipes off, plate the area and re position the pipes. Thanks again. Thought it was me!!

rob1miles · Feb 12, 2019

Sadly so long as we keep buying them they will keep making them. They get away with it because its such a faff to take it back and odds on you've either bought it a year ago and lost the receipt or its 5 pm sunday and you need it for work first thing monday.

Land Raver · Feb 13, 2019

Same issue with my replacement tank 6 years ago. Needed to elongate the tank fitting holes to move it towards the rear of the vehicle by an extra half inch and also straighten the flange where the filler neck pokes through behind the seats. You can buy an aluminium tank but it's a few hundred pounds. I believe that one fits correctly though.

LordOWar · Feb 17, 2019

Makes me glad I managed to find a good second hand one to replace the colander I had on mine.

scottonthefen · Feb 17, 2019

Same issue here with a repro tank I bought. I was also replacing both fuel tank outriggers at the time so I positioned those 1/2" back and didn't need to chop my tub. If we had the option to return them and ask for a refund we would and maybe then they'd fix the issue - but as it is, what else are we going to fit? Good second hand ones like LordOfWar found must be rare? I'd be interested to know how you get on with having the tank modified so let us know.

Series 3 Fuel Tank Fitting problems

landy afliction

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Blackburn

Well-Known Member

Rodeo Joe

Well-Known Member

landy afliction

Member

rob1miles

Well-Known Member

Land Raver

Well-Known Member

LordOWar

Well-Known Member

scottonthefen

Well-Known Member

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