Vacuum holding tank leaking 1969 L48 car

[Koop]

My vacuum holding tank is now leaking. That thing appears to be a pain in the A#@ to get out. I bypassed it for now, but every time I start the car my head lights open then close about 10 seconds later.

Any easy fix or temporary fixes out there?

I don't have time to pull that can out of the fender right now, it's buried so there is quite a bit of time/labor to change it out. I don't want to do it for while (I want to combine repairs when I put in a new steering box, saving the double labor). It could be a couple of years before I do a permanent fix on this holding tank since the only side effect of the bypass seems to be the head lights opening at start up.

I'm not complaining that it went bad, it's 40 years old after all.

 

[TimAT]

Find a vacuum tank from another car. GM used one that was the size of a softball on several cars. Or Summit/Jegs/Speedway all have add on tanks too.
I agree with you- that factory tank looks like it'd be a PITA to get out. Probably a 30 minute job, but it looks like a 3 weekend job.

 

[Koop]

I'm hoping that someone here has done a bypass with a different tank. Taking that thing in and out is no 30 minute job, there's a bunch in the way that has to come out to squeeze that out of there. I could live with a softball sized one hidden out of sight for now, that's kind of what I was thinking.

 

[Crimson Thunder]

Can you tell where it is leaking from? If it is a small hole,you can be "bubba" and JB weld a penny over it. Should last until you can take the time and fix it right.

 

[Koop]

Can you tell where it is leaking from? If it is a small hole,you can be "bubba" and JB weld a penny over it. Should last until you can take the time and fix it right.

I'm in So Cal, so it's probably a leak on the seam not a rust hole. I'll see if I can figure out how to put in some pressure, spray on some windex and look for some suds, but half of that can can't be seen the way it's stuffed in there. It's certainly worth a try. I've done Bubba repairs on my car that are still working 20+ years later so I'm not opposed to that idea!