[VAC] Re: Black water tank

["Harvey Barlow" <harveybarlow@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Adam,

You have now joined the elite inner circle of vintage Airstream owners.
Until you discover your holding tank is damaged and remove it you have  not
entered the secret privileged group who have had the dried waste of a dozen
strangers dropping in their eyes while they worked from underneath to remove
the old tank.

The good news is replacement tanks can be found.  The bad news is they won't
come from Airstream or Airstream suppliers and can not be located with a
part number.  You'll have to search for a generic new tank from an
aftermarket supplier or a supplier of tanks for new trailers of other
brands.  It is unlikely you will find an original A/S tank and if you do, it
will be suffering from age, and will likely have become brittle also.

I found a new replacement for my '66 but the tank was not exactly like the
original and requires some refitting.  A '70 tank is different than my '66
so my source would probably not help you much.  Have you read the archived
messages on the subject?

Nick Novia in CT knows a plastics firm that can hot air weld your original
tank and a fellow listee told me of a source for new custom molded tanks
($$) in South Dakota a few months ago.  Both messages should be archived as
well as many more on the subject.  The first step, if you haven't already
done it, will be to remove your tank, draw a good sketch showing the
fittings and external shape, then carefully measure it in all three
dimensions as well as the location of the fittings and label the sketch.
When you have defined your exact needs you can make inquiries.  There are a
number of tank molders all over the USA who make either a line of similar
tanks that can be adapted or will custom mold a tank for you.  I don't
personally have a good system of archiving recommended vendors for various
components so I can't be much help with recommending a source.  Others on
the list seem to have excellent filing systems and can quickly call up a
name and address or web address of a supplier of almost any part.

I can help some with guidance on removal and replacement of the tank.

Harvey Barlow
Lubbock, TX
WBCCI # 1171, WDCU, VAC