Bought 86 Camaro with 350 after market engine installed. It has a manual fuel pump, Holley carb., headers, after market distributor, no vacuum line. ect. The gas gauge does not. The lines going to the charcoal filter have been removed. If it had computer, its gone. When I changed the Carb the fuel ran out the line like the engine was running, I guest the the tank was pressurized?
I put a vented cap on, I hope it corrected the problem.
I have to replace the sending unit for the gas gauge, have read the threads about dropping the tank vs. cutting a access hole. Any new thoughts on this?
This car had a 305 when new, did it have an electric fuel pump? I want to get rid of the pump in the tank, if its there, what do I replace it with or is the pump and sending unit one and the same. I have restored the car for the past 2 years, wish i would have fixed this a long time ago, have ran out of fuel 2 times, DUH. Thanks

 

305, as in TPI or LG4 carb?
I believe the LG4 only had in-tank fuel pump in '87.

As far as dropping the tank, be sure to have a very large breaker bar on hand. It's a very time-consuming project. Don't hack the car up by cutting an access door. You'll regret in years from now.

 

Put a V8 in an S10 years ago, took the pump out and just put a piece of 3/8" tubing down to the bottom. And I'd check wiring and fuel gauge connections etc. before suspecting the sending unit. Real bear of a job to drop that tank.

 

What's the 8th digit of the VIN?

The difficulty of removing the tank is highly overstated. It's hard to remove if you don't know what you're doing. If you remove the exhaust, can unbolt the panhard bar, remove the panhard brace, and unbolt the shocks, it's really simple. It's only a problem if you can't get the stuff apart. Once the stupid stuff is out of the way the tank drops right out.

 

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REPLIED, THE 8TH IN VIN IS (H). WHAT DAT MEAN??

 

It means it was a 305 4bbl originally. That tells us the factory config was a mechanical pump on the engine block, and nothing in the tank but a pickup and sending unit. If it were me, I'd get a charcoal canister and run the vent from the tank to the canister. Then it wouldn't matter what you've got for a gas cap, and it wouldn't smell like a gas station in the garage. For the gas gauge sending unit, you just need one from a carbed car. I'd probably look at www.rockauto.com they should have a couple foreign made cheapo replacements, and might also have ACDelco. I'd drop the tank the normal way. Cutting holes is hillbilly regardless how you do it. If the car isn't rusted to death the bolts should come apart easily enough.

You might want to troubleshoot the issue first to make sure the sending unit is the problem and not wiring, or the gauge itself. It'd suck to spend the money and then a weekend under the car just to find out it's not the sending unit at all.

 

Thanks for the reply Drew, the cannister drivers side front is still there, just no loines connected, Could I run the vent from tank to this cannister. I think the wires for the tank are located inside the car. I had the inside out to replace the carpet. Remember seeing the wires behind the rear seat??, that was well over a year ago,.
Thanks again for your help

 

Originally the fuel bowl in the carb, and the tank vent were all routed to the canister, and there was a canister purge feature to burn off the vapor. Since 90% of the original system is gone, all you need to do is run a vacuum hose from the tank vent to the canister, that'll filter the fuel vapors through the charcoal and kill the smell. It'll also keep the tank from pressurizing. The vent line should be a small (apprx 1/4") steel line on the frame rail.

The wiring from the tank comes through the rear bulkhead behind the rear seatback, then cuts over to the drivers side rocker, then forward to the dash harness. If you can get ahold of a Service Manual for an 86 Camaro it'll give you all the test procedures to troubleshoot the gauge.