Dear Aimee,

At 01:35 AM 3/30/2010, Aimee MacLeod wrote:
>Another question I hope you can help with for my 82 aircooled ( I actually
>think the engine is a rebuild from an 83.5).  Thanks in advance.

83.5 engine is watercooled...

>it off but still getting the smell.   Is this fixable or does it indicate I
>need new tank??

A point to keep in mind -- the smell will hang around after the gas
leaves.  It's very potent stuff indeed.

A weak solution of dish detergent in water is your friend.  You want
it so that bubbles will stick around for a bit, but not so much that
you get suds.  Slop it around with a basting brush or similar and
look for little growing piles of bubbles.

As someone said, the main suspects are the bottom of the tank
underneath the tack-welded certification tag which traps water
(design flaw), and the rectangular Marshall Brass 260 regulator.  If
the tank and all the connections test clean, including the
connections from the regulator to the plumbing that goes inside, then
you can assume it's the regulator diaphragm leaking (design flaw;
they no longer make the rectangular ones).

The Marshall Brass 290 is the replacement; if you can't source it
locally Frank Condelli sells it on his website.  It's a screw-in
replacement except that it's an inch or so longer; so the outlet
connection will have to move back.  On my '84 I was able to hand-bend
the tubes to get enough space -- they started to flatten a little but
not enough to matter.  Others have replaced that section with new tubes.

Yours,
David