Cover for hole under Gas Tank and Seal around Steering column?, Wondering what fills the hole and gap Options

[bbrock]

Made you a "grommet" with the option to use the grill section I provided or your own. Love to see how this works for you.

Great, once I get it I’ll fit it up and get some pics and thoughts up.

@Mikey914 - The OD of the grommet aims the diameter of the hole unfortunately so it drops right through. Doesn’t seem to be a quick solution. Have any other ideas?

@sixnotfour - I may try to source one of those screens. Looks pretty good.

Thanks for sharing. That grommet was certainly worth a try. I'm also liking @sixnotfour 's solution. I think an important feature is that the cover be easily removable for reasons that Jeff said.

I took a year of my college at wwsc now wwsu in Bellingham and took a great field biology class. They had us simply bury cans up to the rim across campus in late afternoon. In the morning they were full of mice sitting happily under the cotton with the apple slice left to tide them over. The point I learned was the density of mice! My wife had a Honda that was so quickly replenished with seeds and bedding underthe hood that i can only conclude that the mice were running errands with her. Not sure what they must have thought of the rides. Squirrels on the other hand simply leave walnuts stacked on the exhaust. Lots of walnuts.

Yup. The population density of rodents is immense as is their reproductive rate that allows them to maintain that density. We get a lot of deer mice in the house because they get in the cars and then hitchhike into the house when we pull the car into the garage. The most practical solution we've found is to just have a wind-up live catch trap inside the house to gather up the mice for deportation. It's not because I'm opposed to killing mice. It's just much more efficient than snap traps because it can catch a dozen mice in one night without resetting. It's also a lot easier to just dump the live mice outside where they belong than dealing with carcasses. People often question my decision to release live mice unharmed but statistically, there is absolutely no difference. Even if I killed every mouse I caught, it would have no impact whatsoever on the local population or the number that wind up in the house. It would only add unnecessary work for me.

BTW, it isn't uncommon to have a mouse run across my feet while I'm driving my work truck down the road. They seem to run errands with me too.

[Steve]

I welded up the hole for access to the fuel tank lines. Not needed if an extra 3 feet of hose is added to loop under the tank. Now no need to drain the tank to pull it out.

You will regret that.

Obviously the access hole is there to connect the fuel lines. Folks here who have thought they were clever by adding 3 feet to the fuel lines quickly discover that the extra length easily kinks and cuts off fuel flow. Then they pull out the tank...again...and go back to short lines as originally designed.

And trying to lift a tank with fuel in it is much harder than when its empty.

Harbor Freight sells a battery operated pump that is priceless to drain the tank into an external Gas can. I did need to remove my 75 gas cap assembly to use it, but night and day easier than trying to lift a tank with gas in it or remove a line and make a mess.
https://www.harborfreight.com/battery-opera...pump-63847.html

[Literati914]

So, if not running a splash shield, isn't this hole also an access point for water and rust (tho I can not remember this being a common rusty area, now that I think of it..) ?

[Mikey914]

Try putting a screen (another if the one I sent you is not suitable) to the back of the grommet. This will give it rigidity and should solve the issue.

[bbrock]

So, if not running a splash shield, isn't this hole also an access point for water and rust (tho I can not remember this being a common rusty area, now that I think of it..) ?

I had to patch quite a few rust holes in that area even with the gravel shield always being on the car. I would worry about my steering rack bellows getting torn up running without the shield, but I agree that hole would be a good mud collector too.

[sketchc13]

Try putting a screen (another if the one I sent you is not suitable) to the back of the grommet. This will give it rigidity and should solve the issue.

Just laying flat on a table by measurement the OD is just about equal to the diameter of the body hole (99.5). It would have to be 5-6 mm greater in diameter to have the grommet flaps stay on either side of the hole and get into the grommet groove.

[jcd914]

I welded up the hole for access to the fuel tank lines. Not needed if an extra 3 feet of hose is added to loop under the tank. Now no need to drain the tank to pull it out.

You will regret that.

Obviously the access hole is there to connect the fuel lines. Folks here who have thought they were clever by adding 3 feet to the fuel lines quickly discover that the extra length easily kinks and cuts off fuel flow. Then they pull out the tank...again...and go back to short lines as originally designed.

And trying to lift a tank with fuel in it is much harder than when its empty.

Not that I am recommending welding the hole up, the premise that the longer hose does not work is incorrect. It a trick I've been using for many many years.
You have to put a twist into the hoses when installing and then with a little guidance as the tank is lowered in, the hoses lay in a nice kink free loop below the tank.
It took me a couple tries to get it right a few weeks ago but it had been a long time since I had done it last.

Jim

[PCH]

Rather than steel wool, try brass wool. It won't rust.

Also the space above the plate was known as the smuggler's box-until the Polizei figured it out.

[bbrock]

Rather than steel wool, try brass wool. It won't rust.

Also the space above the plate was known as the smuggler's box-until the Polizi figured it out.

Good idea re: brass wool. I'd recommend getting the wire fiber type textured like steel wool rather than the stuff that is wads of coiled ribbons of brass. Rodents are likely to pull the ribbon type out of the hole. You want those wire strands stabbing the little buggers in the mouth so they neither chew or tug on it. I'd still want some kind of welting or other protection around the hole opening to prevent the brass from abrading the paint over time.

Love the smugglers box story. We got our Nissan Pathfinder searched on New Year's Eve once because those were a preferred vehicle for drug smugglers in the late 90s. The speaker boxes were popular stashes. The Polizi came up empty that night though.

[aharder]

here is what I did to 4 914s, today, vents $2 a piece, shipping was $8, but the local store only had louvered ones , and I wanted screen.. So here it is modified with pliers, then some body dumdum, press against body,bend tabs over,,, (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) I live out by farm land , so I get all kinds of little vistors looking for a good place to hide...

found these at Ventmyhouse.com

[sketchc13]

I went ahead and got the 4" round vents with screens and I'm happy with the results with a removable cover that will keep furry critters out that inviting den space below the tank.

It went really easily just by bending the tabs back using a bent pick tool.

Here are some pictures for reference...

https://www.ventmyhouse.com/4-round-open-sc...item-4-rst-100/