Vapor guards CA gas stations

[TroubleInc]

All the gas stations in my town just 'upgraded' their pumps to comply with California's excessive environmental regulations.  This means they put a bulky rubber vapor guard over the filler.  The flip top gas cap on my challenger pushes the nozzle away from the car so it doesnt get a good seal and the pump wont work.  Anybody else have this problem or know of a good solution. 

[Bullitt-]

Move












      or get a funnel

[hotrod98]

I thought that this problem came up a few years ago with another pump handle design and someone invented an extension. 
First they come up with a plan to ban black cars in cali and now this. I agree...move.

[72bluNblu]

First off, we did not come up with legislation to ban black cars, I already explained that one in the thread on that legislation. And of course, its moot, since the legislation never even made it to a vote. I'm sure I could find plenty of asinine legislation for each and every state, not to mention dumb laws that actually made it past a vote. Every state has them. For example in the wonderful state of Arkansas, there is actually a law that states you can not walk a cow after 1 pm on Sunday. There's also a law in Arkansas that states the Arkansas river can not rise higher than the Main street bridge in Little Rock. That'll keep that global warming crap in check, ha! And don't forget, its still technically legal to beat your wife with a stick in Little Rock, as long as its less than 3" in diameter.  Don't believe me? Check here...http://littlerock.about.com/cs/factsfun/a/strangelaws.htm


Now, on the issue of the vapor guards, I haven't had any problems with it. Most stations have had compliant fillers for some time now. I have a flip cap on mine, and just usually position the guard so that one edge catches the structure of the flip cap and push the filler in. Unfortunately, you can't position the pump handle so you can walk away from it, gotta stand there the whole time. But it works. And its still less annoying than trying to put gas into a motorcycle, to do that you have to hold the vapor guard back with one hand and pump with the other. But if you still wanna move, feel free! 

[hotrod98]

Tell us how you really feel. 

Thanks to living in this part of the world, I've become fairly wealthy. I own a 3600 sq ft home, three shops with 6000 sq ft of shop space, three lifts, a new Kayco paint booth, 188 acres of prime land with wheat, hardwoods and a gas well that I own the mineral rights to. Oh, and last time I counted, I owned 12 mopars, some restored, some original and a few waiting on restoration. The beauty is I paid cash for everything. I kind of like this part of the world. God bless the south.
Heck...we gave you guys Wal-Mart stores. What more could you want from us? 

[72bluNblu]

Sorry for the rant, I really do get tired of people picking on CA, its laws, people etc. I don't agree with everything my state does by any means, and I suspect you don't agree with everything your state does either. I suspect some of the people that bag on CA have never even been here. Now, I've been to the South, and you won't find me there anytime soon. To each his own. Some of CA's laws address problems unique to CA, if you've had the pleasure of breathing the air in LA in the summer you know what I'm talking about. Do some of those laws conflict with being a vintage car enthusiast? Definitely. But everything is a compromise. And if you want the Wal-Mart's back, be my guest, I avoid them as best I can. 

You have obviously done well for yourself, and good on you for an awesome Mopar collection. You've got some really good looking cars  ! I only have 4 mopars, and none of them can be counted as restored, although one is pretty darn close to original. But you've got a 23 year head start on me, and by the time I'm your age I'll be retired if all goes according to plan. Maybe by then I'll have 8 more and some more shop space myself!

And I apologize for the thread hijack, the vapor guards just take a little practice.

[TroubleInc]

btw, i love cali. Didnt mean to come across as condescending.  wouldnt dream of moving.  Nothing beats year round beach weather.

I used to be able to do the method you described 72bluNblu.  But they took off the old vapor guards and put on bigger ones.  Now i cant even get an edge under the flip top cap.  Ive tried pulling the vapor guard back and filling the tank with a rubber hose.  Ive also tried pulling the vapor guard back and using a funnel.  It seems like the pump will only work if there is an air tight seal between the vapor guard and the car.  I'll prolly try to rig up something to extend the fuel stem.  Just wanted to see if anybody had a good design.

[hotrod98]

I don't have a problem with Cali or any of the other 49 wonderful states that we call America. I've lived all over inc Cali. I just found that the opportunities for me were better here. I have many friends here that are originally from Cali. They say that they will never go back.

I guess the clean air, the beautiful mountains, the crystal clear water and the nice people were reason enough to move here. Taxes are low, money is good, homes are affordable and there are still many old musclecars sitting around in barns, etc. There's hardly a week that goes by that I don't find another mopar sitting somewhere. It's become a large part of my income lately.

Sorry you don't like Wal-Mart. We want everyone to shop there. It brings quite a bit of money into the state.
The funny thing about Wal-Mart is that when people here in northwest Arkansas say that they work for Wal-Mart, they're usually pulling down over 100K a year working for corporate.   

Hope you guys figure out that vapor guard problem. You never know, they just might decide to start that nationwide. As long as I can buy 93 octane and race gas at the local gas stations, I'll be happy.

[thenuke1]

if this "bulky rubber" is what i think it is ... its actually helped me and my flip top gas cap ... the others would wrap around part of the gas cap and id have to put force on it in order for the gas to actually come out from the nozzel ... and the bulky rubber actually fits inside and i can lock the nozzel so i can wipe my windshields

[whitesatinmopar]

That filter system sure does seem like a pain in the ole butt. How do you fill a can for lawn mower gas? But from the description that may not be as bad, if so perhaps unless you make long distance drives you could keep two or three 5 gal cans of gas around for the E-bod, using a funnel............carefully. Something I wouldn't want to deal with. And  there are a few places I wouldn't live and only because of way too many people, when the population exceds the temps. in K's, that way too many. And since I prefer cool temps I guess any place with more than 70K people is too many for me.  Actually even that is wayyyyyyyyy too many for me.

[peterro]

Wow, I haven't driven my Challenger since about 1996 and those pumps were a big problem then.  Here in Oregon, those pumps have been around for a long time.  Add to that in Oregon there is NO self-serve gas. 

So I'd drive up, tell the guy/gal how much I wanted AND that you HAVE TO HOLD THE PUMP while it was going.  There was no way you could just set and forget and move on.  Nearly all the attendants would ignore what I'd said and stand there and click/adjust/click/adjust/click/adjust/try something new, lather, rinse repeat, click/adjust.  I get tired of that and say you HAVE to hold it because the new design doesn't work in this car.  I'd usually get out and ask if I could just hold it for them.  They were usually backed up by then and didn't have a problem with it.

At the time, my paint wasn't the best so I didn't worry too much about it.  I am wondering what will happen when I ask to simply pump it myself since the paint/car will be fresh.

Wow, I hate those pumps.

[Aracer]

I posted a pic. of a yellow stubby funnel , similar to the Prestone radiator fill and flush kit. Use it to hold back the rubber seal and give clearance from the license plate (cuda) and allow the tube to make the turn. Sorry , no time to re-post it.

[ntstlgl1970]

Have you tried different gas stations? I've found that although the "bootie" thing is on all the nozzles, the actual nozzles themselves are different (mainly angle and so on) depending on what station you go to.

I like California, lived here all my life

[go-fish]

Get a 'cuda! They'll work with their gas caps, LOL.

On the subj. of California, aside from Berkley and Nancy Pelosi, I think it is in the top 8 of beutiful States in America and it is awesome how there are so many things you can do there.
My favorites include snow boarding at Big Bear, surfing in Ventura, driving the twisty roads around Ojai, nightlife in the Gas Lamp district, running the trails in the Redwood Forrest. I have family from Sacramento to San Diego.

The reason the wife (Coronado native) and I (former resident myself) will never move back permanantly is the taxes caused by illegals and non-tax payers on MediCal and Cal Public Schools, overcrowding (everyone wants to live in that beautiful weather) and the prices on EVERYTHING being so much more (due to all of the above). That CARB thing sucks too.

I am perfectly content being in Mississippi where I can afford to send my girl to an all girl private school, buy a 2000 sq ft home and a couple acres for $200,000, and pay well below the nation's avg. for gas and diesel.

There is no way I would put my girl in most of the public schools here but my wife says they are better here on the Gulf Coast than at her schools growing up in So Cal.

Ooops, I gotta go. I just saw the time. I gotta go meet my buddy from New Orleans. He's comming up and we're going to go shoot our guns at completely random stuff out in the woods, something it only seems like you can do in Nor Cal.

Hey Hotrod98, I love your area, W. Arkansas, E. Oklahoma, and NE Texas is God's country. I grew up there and the Ozarks and south of there is everything you could ask for in outdoors. 

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Maybe a bit off the topic, but Obama wants the entire country to have the Ca emmissions standards, hence would that not mean that same bulky fuel filling set up everywhere??