<VV> Gas tank/Moving battery to the trunk

[Tony Underwood]

At 05:59 AM 10/22/2006, HallGrenn at aol.com wrote:
>
>In a message dated 10/22/2006 12:44:09 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
>mygroups at frontiernet.net writes:
>
>I have  not liked having the gas tank up front
>
>
>Actually it is closer to the middle and better protected than any car of  the
>sixties and similar to the protection of modern FWD cars that place the tank
>in front of the rear axle and under the rear shelf.


I'll second this motion.   You never ever hear of a Corvair that 
suffered a tank fire because of a collision, or much of any other 
accident one way or another.    I saw a photo of a '60 sedan that had 
been crash tested early on in the 'Vair program, impacted hard enough 
against a wall that the entire front end of the car was crushed up 
against the firewall.    There was no fire.

A while back, a couple of us picked up a '66 parts car that had 
impacted a bridge abutment some years before, and had been left 
sitting behind a commercial garage after someone had already relieved 
it of the driveline, was told that the accident had killed the 
driver, not hard to believe judging from the collapsed steering wheel 
and bent column, plus the head sized hole in the windshield.    The 
front of the car had tried to wrap itself around whatever it had 
impacted, and was V-notched up to the crossmember which was bent as 
well, tank was badly dented (and obviously unserviceable) but still 
intact and still contained some very sour gasoline.   Several of us 
cut the car up in Bill Burleson's back yard.   The only really useful 
parts of the car was the sheet metal pieces aft of the doors which I 
cut off and stashed in the storage building.   Deck lid and cove 
panel as well.    It's all still there.


  'Vair fuel tanks are very well protected.



tony..