Spare wheel fuel tank

familyman

Volvo made a spare fuel tank that fitted on the opposite side to the spare wheel in a 140. Don't think it fits 240s. I live in a rural area and keep forgetting the garage closes at 10pm. One day I'm going to get stuck without fuel. Anyway, I stumbled on these:

From a Mercedes:

From a BMW:

From a VW Thing:

Did Australian cars come with tanks like these?

In that first photo there seems to be some kind of plastic surround to stop the tank rattling... anyone know what model car has that type?

Philia_Bear

I want the bmw one for my bmw

familyman

I've never seen them before. There's also one on tradera http://www.tradera.com/item/343571/261826356/original-reservdunk-till-volvo he claims is from a Volvo. Too difficult to tell, but I don't think it has a brand where the mercedes and bmw symbols are on the pictures above. Would like to find one and see if it fits in a Virgo - if they were available here. Would like to find one even more if it had that plastic insert.

Major Ledfoot

familyman wroteVolvo made a spare fuel tank that fitted on the opposite side to the spare wheel in a 140.

The 140 jerry cans looked like this, and they sat in the unoccupied spare wheel well. They were an accessory.

ingabinga

I've never seen any of these before, love the Volvo accessory tank for wheel well.

egads (she/her)

They fit in the 240 well too. Did you want me to confirm and buy my spare?

volvodriverman

I had one in a 122 that was a big red round tin which sat inside the spare, the handle on the back clipped into the hole through the centre of the wheel. no photos sadly. Was well cool.

familyman

I think I've read on other forums the red one pictured above doesn't fit late 240s... That the shape of that space changed!?

Found a round one on page 16 here:
http://www.volvotips.com/brochures/240-260/1979/Volvo-240-260-series-1979-accessories-brochure-Dutch-NL.pdf

And this - from an earlier model maybe!?

@egads (she/her) - I'm leaning towards one that fits inside the spare, but who knows, I might consider it. Any photos? Is it complete? Even if I decide no, sounds like there's other interest here.

familyman

Anyone not seen these kinds of things (accessories) before may like to look here:

http://www.volvotips.com/index.php/240-260/volvo-240-260-brochures/
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=60227

VolvoHordz

You mean one like this? Looks good with a special spare from a 242 in my lounge room. No idea what it was originally out of.

familyman

I think that's the type where I said above: "And this - from an earlier model maybe!?" - but it didn't display for some reason. Gee it sticks out doesn't it.

I'm liking the grey ones more and more. Particularly how they fit completely inside the wheel. If I could work out what make/model that Tradera one comes from - but it isn't available here - I might be able to buy one new. (That way it could be shipped from overseas.)

lasercowboy

A vigorous jaunt through google suggests that the same model as that tradera item was sold for various marques (BMW, Saab, Volvo) although nobody seems to know which volvo.

Here is one for very cheap, if you can convince the seller to ship it to you:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-vehicles/volvo-7-litre-fuel-can-3447411-4-/1177389424

And here is an old listing with the dimensions noted, so you can measure your spare wheel!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301860339180

egads (she/her)

3447411-4 is the part number from this http://www.ebay.fr/itm/RARE-VOLVO-Reserve-Spare-Fuel-Tank-7L-Amazon-121-144-S-164-262-544-850-Jerry-Can-/262107170434 which has the most information

lasercowboy

Good find @egads ! If the hype is to believed, that 15 quid one in Yorkshire is the bargain of the century!

@familyman If he will only ship locally, let me know - I can get it shipped to family and then to Oz. If you don't plan to buy it, I might!

Angus242164

I don't think the shape of the bum cheeks on 240's changed at any stage, but in the late '70's they added a rubber surround to the fuel filler opening to catch spilt fuel, and it had a drain tube that ran down into the bum cheek and out the grommet at the bottom.

I wonder if they say they aren't compatible with later cars simply because of that tube interfering with the tank a bit? If so, it shouldn't be hard to overcome the problem.

egads (she/her)

You did the heavy lifting @lasercowboy , I just dug deeper into what you already found

familyman

Great, thanks for that part number... I tried putting a photo into google image search but didn't find much. Mind you, I have other things I'm dealing with atm too.

@lasercowboy - go ahead and grab it. I want to research it more first. Because I really like that plastic insert above. I'd like to find out what the centre knurled knob screwed into originally. That's the first pic I've seen with that included. Maybe then I can fabricate something on the other side of the plastic insert, and cover it with the Volvo carpet - so it all looks original.

Using that part number brought up some badly rusted ones. Even the pouring tubes. I wonder if there's a way to prevent that.

@Angus242164 - Thought I read a few times on other Volvo forums - years ago - the 140 tank doesn't fit 240s. I tried to find the threads again but couldn't. Mind you I didn't spend a lot of time on it either. I think I recall someone saying he purchased one from overseas only to find it didn't fit. I thought there were a few threads after that where those tanks were mentioned, and others would say the same thing. No mention of the drain tube. Something about the shape of the rear cheek. That the tank doesn't sit down in there like it should - I think.

familyman

@VolvoHordz - is that one in your pic above sitting inside a Virgo? Is it pushed in as far as it can go?

VolvoHordz

No, early style steel wheel, looks like the below from memory. That is it pictured in all the way.

Angus242164

The bum cheeks on earlier 140's were a bit different, I think they changed in '74 when the back half of the cars became the same as the upcoming 240, so perhaps '73 and earlier tanks don't fit 240's.