Re: Fuel door lock.

["Adam Lindsay" <adam@mindex.com>]

While on the topic of fuel doors, is there any companies that make those
solid steel ones, like the ones you find on Race Cars? I saw one on a BMW
once and its pretty cool.

DON'T FLAME FOR THE RICE BURNER QUESTION. =}

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Adam Lindsay
adam@mindex.com

- -----Original Message-----
From: Khan M. Klatt <kmk@pacificrim.net>
To: Adam Liss <Adalis@worldnet.att.net>; jettaglx@igtc.COM
<jettaglx@igtc.COM>
Date: Wednesday, May 06, 1998 6:03 PM
Subject: Re: Fuel door lock.


>
>Adam, I'm cc'ing this message to the GLX list to see if anyone had any
>comments...
>
>Adam Liss wrote:
>> Khan - Have just completed retrofitting a gas tank lock onto my '97 Jetta
>>GLX.
>>I was inspired
>> by the instructions you posted.  I had to buy the valve from VW as there
are
>>no good salvage yards
>>in the NYC (Brooklyn) area.  I removed the old plastic tee and replaced it
>>with
>>a rubber one;
>>no need for heating the tubing this way.  My question is: does your fuel
door
>>lock tightly, or
>>is there some play.  Mine opens approximately 1/4 inch, because the
>>position of
>>the valve
>>mount causes the lock rod to enter the grommet at an angle.  This is okay,
>>but
>>I was wondering
>>if you had this same situation or if you had done something to change it.
>>Thanks for reading this
>>long message, and thanks in advance for your advice.   Adam
>
>Yes, there is a quarter inch or so of 'give' when the door is locked. I
>think this is the behavior even in cars that had the pin built-in to the
>vacuum lock mechanism, although you can ask on the list to make sure.
>
>This give exists because of the large diameter in the hole on the door or
>because the thin diameter on the pin. If they were closer in size, there
>would be less give. There must be some leeway, as the locking mechanism is
>not a precision engineered piece (as say the cylinders in your engine that
>are machined to be within hundredths of an inch away from touching the bore

>of the engine).
>
>So, yes, you can expect a little give. If the system had been designed with
>less 'give' the mechanism may have been less reliable.
>
>You may be able to jimmy or bend the pin so that it points back further
>towards the car to try to get a snugger fit, but again, any of this type of
>work may make the mechanism less reliable, and may misfire the pin into the
>locking brace on the door as opposed to cleanly into the hole. This would
>be seen by me, and I'm sure Dr. Ruth, to be "a bad thing". In general,
>while some people complain about how loose the hole is, they don't try to
>bend their pins one way or the other for a tighter fit. The size of your
>pin is average, don't feel self-conscious about it. Making the hole smaller
>isn't really easily doable, and may end up damaging it. :)
>
>Sorry, couldn't resist the sexual innuendo.
>
>-Khan