I have a 78 L-82 Silver Anniversary model and when I
fill the tank above 3/4's it leaks. I haven't removed
the tank yet and was wondering if anyone could tell me
the best was to do that? Do I need to take the mufflers
off or will it come out with them on? Thanks: John

Yes you will have to remove the mufflers, Chiltons manual says disconnect at the trans crossmember and slide the exhaust towards the rear to remove. I have Hooker side pipes so this was not needed and I cannot state the best way to remove the exhaust for tank removal. It also states to remove the spare tire carrier, but I was able to remove my tank by lowering the bottom half of the carrier(as if I was removing the spare) and removing only the top half of the carrier completely. Tank removal wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be. The hardest part was getting it back in (but this would have gone better had I followed direction and totaly remove spare carrier). My '76 probably sits a little higher in the rear than most (doesn't have that rear squat look), so I did mine with the car sitting right on the ground. You will probably want to raise yours as high as possible. Dont forget to use good jack stands.

|UPDATED|7/3/2003 5:47:30 PM|/UPDATED|

Make it easy and remove the spare tire carrier. Its only 2 bolts. Just loosen the nut where they thread into the frame and spin them out. Takes less than five minutes if there is no rust to contend with.

I would have removed mine, but with a 1/2" drive ratchet, they were so tight I couldn't budge them. I probably could have thrown a piece of pipe on the ratchet, but I thought I would try it without removing the carrier. I would definatly recommend complete removal as well. I did mine by myself, remove/install, but if you can get an extra set of hands, all the better.