How to Repair a Gas Cap on the Cheap

First question: Why would any sane, rich American want to repair a gas cap? After all, nobody needs to know how to do that; just hop on down to Napa and by a new one, dude!

Yeah. Well. Normally, I would do exactly that. A few problems here today, though:

1. No money. We're living on plastic right now, anyway; tossing ten bucks out there for a new gas cap would be the height of profligacy.

2. Not an auto. This particular cap fits the gas tank on our 5500 watt Troy-Bilt generator. Napa doesn't carry those.

3. No time. There was not a single gas cap for sale in the entire town that would do the trick. Waiting a week for a special order was not an option.

All right. There's the why of it. Now for the how.

Prior to repair, the old cas cap had a gas gauge which we never used because the formerly clear plastic view plate was so sun damaged that (a) you couldn't see through it, and (b) it had also broken away completely from its retaining rim, leaving only crumbles behind.

 The repair process, by the numbers:

1.  Get out the pliers, use 'em to rip off fuel gauge parts off, then discard those unneeded parts.

2.  Drill a new air hole at an upward angle through the side of the cap.  This "upward angle" will keep rainwater from finding its way inside the cap and from there into the fuel tank.  Every cap with an airhole should have the hole drilled this way; no why that's not the case.

3. Grab the lid from an empty coffee can. Using a pair of scissors, cut a rough circle of plastic from the lid and trim it to fit the top of the gas cap.

 4.  Apply plenty of of silcone glue to secure the new "lid" to the cap...and you're good to go (though letting the glue set overnight is generally a good idea).

 Simple, eh?  That's all there is to it except for the addition of a coat of paint--which must wait 48 hours or so.  The paint will provide protection against further sun damage.  In the meantime, the generator is good to go...and has in fact already gone back to powering the microwave for the purpose of cooking all those TV dinners.

Greater convenience trumps better taste at our house!