Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi I have just descovered a small fuel filter in my fuel tank, does anyone know if this can be taken out/cleaned etc.? I'm in the process of sealing the tank so I'd like to know if I can remove it before I seal it!

thanks

Rupert

Not seen this - is it at the outlet ? My SU pump has a little filter - and my SU carb also has a small filter at the inlet - but I have not opened up the tank !!

hello and yes there is.
I've opened up a scrap fuel tank out of curiousity and there is indeed a fuel filter on the end of the suction pipe at the bottom of the tank to stop gunge being sucked up to the pump. This internal pipe is connected to the boss on the side of the tank and clipped inside to one of the baffle plates and its all done before the 2 halves of the tank are joined together. In other words, once its in there, thats it. There's no taking it out to clean it. I assume that if it does get so bad inside the tank that it blocks the filter, you'll have to disconnect the external pipe to the pump and 'reverse' blow into the tank with an airline or something to clear it.
A good swill of the tank with some petrol and then turn it upside down so it all comes out the filler neck is probably best if you want to clean out any crud that in there.
Digressing slightly as i am prone to do, I must admit thinking these liquid tank sealers that you can buy to seal perforated tanks would be the worst thing possible for a Morris tank. You put these inside the tank and then slosh them around to seal any pin holes but i cant see how it wont block up this tank filter.
Hope this helps. Cheers, Colin.

Well - learn something new every day ! Thanks Colin.

Pleased to be of service.
Cheers, Colin.

Colin - is there any chance you could take pictures of the fuel tank insides? I've always been puzzled by these since my 4- door's tank will only allow fuel pick-up when it's half full. Even ESM were unfamiliar with the gubbins inside!

Cheers,

Chris

Hello again,
I'm sorry but the tank has long gone to be made into new whatever they make old tanks into now. The best I can do is describe it from memory and add to the previous post. Its pretty basic stuff. The boss on the side of the tank where the pipe to the petrol pump screws in, has the pickup pipe welded in the other end of it so it points inside the tank. The pipe is then bent through 90 degrees so its pointing downwards and on the end of it it this gauze filter. It looks like a slim cotton reel bobbin in shape and is perhaps about 2" long and maybe 1/2" in diameter. The one I had was like a tube of gauze with plain plastic ends. The filter just pushes over the end of the pipe so its a snuggish fit and the pipe is of such a length to go almost to the bottom of the tank so the filter cant come off when its all in position. The pipe sits against one of the tank baffles and there's a tag pressed out which is bent around the pipe to stop the whole lot waving about. That's it basically. I presume they press out the bottom of the tank, spot weld the baffles in place, weld in the boss complete with pick up pipe and filter, clip the pipe to the baffle and then put the top on. Hope this helps?
I too had a similar problem with only being able to collect petrol until the level was so far down so I changed the tank and then opened this one up to see what was going on. It turned out to be a split in this internal pipe so once the level dropped, the pump would suck air instead of petrol. I cant see an easy way to repair a damaged pipe tough without doing a bit of damage to the tank. Another tank seems the easiest way to go
Cheers, Colin.