I couldn't tell you how many times dudes pumping my gas would try to rip the license plate off the back of my 57 Bel Air years ago. I always had to rush out of the car to stop them.
Always thought it was cool to hide the gas cap. It was like a right of passage to know were an how to open them*,when I worked in a few gas stations as a teen in the 1950's n early 60s part time,after school n summers! When designing n building my full custom "Henry J" in early 1960,I made my own hide-a-way for gas cap, Cut a tag size hole were most car would of had a trunk<my rear was a backward 60 Chevy gutted hood skin welded in and then rolled pan down n under,n with 2 nerfbars. The tag hole had some curve to hole from top to bottom an side of tag/gas hole I trimed with alum door edag<inside the hole I made a tunneled box that pivoted from two arms/part of box with tag n light; plus a curve plastic lenz= So when I wanted to add gas,I'd push in n upper word on plastic lenz,that would then lay back in to trunk space> showing gas cap just inside n under were tag box had been. Sorry all photos of rear of my custom have been lost. My "J" did get a little coverage in Car Craft Mag Jan 63.
This thing has provided such good use as a storage container for so long I'm not sure I want to finish and drive it. Even then, if someone figured out a way in all they would get was the brand new Pioneer Super Tuner, for you kids they were a real popular car stereo in the old days.
Hidden caps are cool until the gas pump spills gas all over the place. Maybe the new pumps fill a lot faster than the old one, or higher pressure? I make a mess filling up the ‘57 nearly every time.
Ok, I'm still wondering. If the vented cap is in the trunk, .....and everyone in the car was smoking, ....Sorry not trying to be an ass. Was there another way they vented it? Maybe the cap wasn't vented, maybe had a tube off the top of the filler neck. Looks cool, but? Mark you got one, how is it vented? Lippy
That's why when you were a pump jockey back in the early 60's you had to know some stuff. Fuel companies probably complained to the car manufacturers that their employees couldn't keep up.
Not to derail this thread, but here's a related question. Some states, by law, don't allow drivers to pump their own gas. I've run into this a couple of times as a visitor, driving a rental. No big deal, but I gotta wonder about you guys in those states gassing up your hotrods - especially if the cap is hidden. Do you just show them where and supervise the fill? (I'd still be nervous.) Or do you know places that will let you pump it yourself?
Not hidden but a lot better than the cap sticking out the side of tje pickup cab. I cut this out of some foreign car at the junk yard and hammered it to the shape of the fender. The box underneath had to be shaped a bit also but still a pretty easy mod. It fed a 80s 25 gallon tank that fit nicely under the frame, got the tank (and gas fumes) out of the cab.
Here is another behind the tail light! 1955 Nash Ambassador Custom Lemans God Bless Bill https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/
How about flipping it from outside the bed to inside the bed wall. Could even use a flip open late model door.
For some reason I've got it stuck in my head that New Jersey and Washington state Oregon did not allow self-service fueling. (I stand corrected. Thanx, Dan and Denny! ) They may be the only states to do so, but speak up if you know others. I believe the intention was to help retain more minimum wage jobs rather than any safety related concerns.
Oregon continues to be a no self-service State, probably the result of a strong Fire Marshall. When ever it comes up in the Legislator they stress the entry level job aspect, nobody will vote against a job bill, even with big oil corp support. My first real job in High School (not counting paperboy and bean picking) was at a Richfield station. Got married, had two kids, bought a house, had two cars and a motorcycle on those wages. Can't do that today. We always let motorcyclist pump their own gas. Today you can pump your own diesel and in the sparsely populated eastern part of the state many communities stations are operated like card locks. Most stations will let enthusiast pump their own and I have never heard of anyone getting fined although you occasionally run into the attendant that will holler at you.
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