Gas tank, what does ECS or EEC mean

[Lord Warlock]

Was just looking at new gas tanks on ebay, and some say they have ECS or w/o ECS EEC, what do they mean and what is the advantage of ECS?  does that mean the vapor return line in some way?  As far as i can tell, the original tank does not have any vents in the front or side, what are they for?

Some are zinc coated, some are stainless steel, almost looking like they are polished, others are galvanized steel.   The original tank looked fairly shiny in places when i removed the original tank pad on the top of the tank,  makes me wonder if they  should be stainless looking or bright and clean looking.  Mine's always looked drab since it was undercoated on the bottom when they did undercoating on the bottom rear section of the car, (pretty much everything under mine looks like its covered in undercoating, including the rear differential cover, wheelwells, rear frame rails etc.  I'd probably prefer it to be clean looking, would probably clearcoat it before installing if i put a new one on.  

Tank straps however look rusted, but intact, may just be scale rust from being in contact with the tank itself.  Been looking at replacement straps also, not sure if i should get a kit with straps included or not.    

[b5blue]

If you had "ECS" there are a bunch of tubes sticking out of the pass. side of the tank and an expansion chamber inside the tank.

[Lord Warlock]

After draining the tank, and taking a peek inside, there is no way that i'll put the original tank back on, so it looks like i'll be ordering a new tank, guess it will be a non EEC or ECS tank, since mine doesn't have those tubes on it. 

[b5blue]

Do a search here for reviews of brands and quality as they vary there is even stainless available now. 

[Ghoste]

ECS means "Evaporative Control System" and it was designed to return fuel vapors to the tank instead of just venting them to the atmosphere.  EEC is Evaporative Emission Control so different acronym but same thing realy.

[maxwellwedge]

I always buy tanks made by Spectra - if you are interested in originality....they also seem to be the best quality out there. Repop straps aren't perfect....if you can clean up and re-use the originals you should be good to go.

[Lord Warlock]

I ordered a Spectra tank, it was a bit more expensive but had free shipping, so figured it evened out.  I thought about the stainless tank, but it was an extra 100 and how shiny do you really want the gas tank to be anyway, it would blind people behind you, not that i care that much about behind me.  I plan on clearcoating the new tank before installing it just to minimize rust.  Still have the mat that goes on top, needs to be thoroughly washed or brushed out though, its nasty looking.  Also when i took the sending unit out, it was covered in rust, so i ordered a new sending unit as well. 

The straps on mine appear to be whole, but they've been sprayed in undercoating so look dirty on the bottom side, top side of the bands have rust accumulation on them from the tank, will grind them clean, and clearcoat those too.  May not look as nice as the tank will, but will have to do for now. 

With the tank out of the car, decided to cut the rot out of the trunk area, now the car has a huge hole above where the tank used to sit.  Ordered a two piece trunk floor to replace what needs replacing.  Wish i could weld better.  Would prefer to weld in the new floor before i remount the gas tank.  Just ordered those yesterday so the tank will be out a while. 

If anyone needs a nasty looking tank that could be cleaned out and reused, come by and get it.  It appears whole and relatively rust free, just has alot of scale on the inside that will need to be scraped and flushed out with a hose or pressure washer. 

[b5blue]

You are on track! 

[Lord Warlock]

Its amazing how you get something apart and find something else that needs more work.  One day I'll be able to start bolting it up again and won't have to buy any more expensive parts.  (lol good luck with that).  

Managed to gash my finger pretty good pulling the chunks of floor off, sliced about half way thru an index finger, right on the joint, no tendon damage, just skin, and luckily that still heals quickly.  Also have two new scratch/shallow cuts on the forearm of the other arm.  Not sure where i did that, they didn't bleed much so i didn't worry about them.  That is just the price of working on the cars, have to make a blood donation every time i get deep into something.  Parts should start arriving this week, so hopefully i'll have something to show off as far as progress goes.  Have some pics of the trunk floor and engine bay, but haven't uploaded them to photobucket yet.

It looks like the rear frame rails are nice and solid, the trunk floor over them was rusty on one side (drivers) but solid on other.  Filler tube is out  too, Thought i was reassembling but car is more apart now than it was six months ago.