wow you all, thanks for the warm welcomes.

i went down a rabbit hole yesterday for a solid few hours, checking out websites from your various sig lines. my oh my, i've been pretty hands off with my own Vanna (ack! six other Vanna White's!), though i have tricked out her interior and am told, she's quite comfy. 

but you all made me wish i had one of those fancy garages where i can get all greasy and such. but alas i'm a city dweller with a rented carport and don't know jack about any of it. 

short of fixing my GAS problem myself for fun, i might ask my mechanic if he'd allow me the opportunity to get under the van with him and see where all these gas lines are. (he might consider this a customer nightmare, nice as i am. we'll see. i'm open.)

so that's my main problem right now. gas lines. 

i couldn't find anything on leaky gas lines though my review of these websites though. all i know is that there's apparently a bunch of gas hoses (two off each reservoir x2, from the main tank to the engine). all in all, i hear there's about 12 or so. 

this might explain why i keep driving off in Vanna only to find her leaking gas from different hoses. eek! i want this remedied already!

i (perhaps erroneously) figure that if all these hoses are about due to leak, then why not replace them ALL at once. isn't that somehow cheaper (certainly less of a headache) than one by one they begin a'leaking? cuz i've already had 4 leaks and it blows.

fwiw, i've already had done the fuel tank reseal (april 2009)

so the other concern i have is that i need to get Vanna out of a basement garage, where no tow (or fire engine for that matter) can fit in. so i'm about to get in there myself, and per a friend's instruction: 

1/ bring flash light, eye protection, hand protection. 

2/ start engine, find leak. tshirts or rags to wrap gas leak, duct tape the rag, or direct duct tape if possible. 

3/ roll it to the hill inside garage with the engine off.

4/ drive it up the hill with friend standing by with a fire extinguisher while i drive up the hill. (gas hopefully held in by rags and duct tape. gawd, i love duct tape)

5/ cut engine at top of hill. then roll it out of garage to a tow-able place. (tow trucks don't fit in this garage)

6/ disconnect battery so engine won't start. remove gas rags. 

7/ call tow. tell them engine won't start. tow to mechanic.

ALTERNATIVELY

1/ i've heard it's actually not hard at all to replace a gas line myself and have at it. 

SOOOOOOOO

the reason why i'm posting all this is that i'm afraid that the engine will catch on fire. i suppose i might be too paranoid about this, but a little personal detail about me is that i'm one of those kids that managed to start a big ol' kitchen fire (boiling oil) so now i'm ahem, weary of fire. ha! 

so anyways, does my plan sound safe? 

(sorry for the long post)

s.