[Pilotdave]

Please scroll down to #15 for the update!

Thought I'd won the fight and gotten the gas gauge to seal. Must have been sheer hubris on my part!

Filled the tank the other night and gas started to weep out at the bottom of the sight glass. So gas is not leaking around the outer surface of the nut - somehow it's found a route around the gasket-glass-gasket-plate 'sandwich' - and dissolved some of the 'paint' on the metal plate. I know that I filled the tank right to the top - perhaps fuller than when I 'fixed' the gauge a few days ago. I've pulled the gauge out and inspected it. I'm not seeing any flaws in the surface where the 'sandwich' seats, and there was no debris that might have caused a leak.

I'm hoping you all can help me with a few questions:

1. Is it possible that an extra gallon (maybe) of gas could add enough pressure to force gas around that sandwich?

2. Last time I worked on the gauge, I assembled it with new gaskets and a metal plate that had lost some paint. I saw no leaks, so I re-assembled the gauge with a new metal plate. I MAY have re-used the gaskets (thin cork) rather than using another set of new ones - could that be the issue?

3. I've read some comments on here about the repro inner nuts leaking because the threads differ (chrome plated?) from the originals. What I don't understand is why that matters. Doesn't the seal come from compressing the 'sandwich' against the inner body of the gauge? I'd think that if the seal against that seat is good, the gas would never reach the threads.

4. If that 'sandwich' persists in leaking, I'm thinking of using some non-hardening gasket sealer between the inner gasket and the gauge seat and around the threads. I've been trying to get this to seal the Ford way, but I'm getting close to throwing in the towel!

Thanks much.
Dave