Petrol Thieving Bar Stewards

[MCBrowncoat]

I seem to remember somebody started a thread on here called Petrol Thieving (*Insert naughty word*)....

Anyway, just been a victim myself, walking back to the house saw something on the roof, thought it was a leaf...no, too big for a leaf...Oh, it's my fuel cap, now broken...thanks for that. Wasn't sure if it was just for kicks or to syphon petrol at first, but after the AA man had arrived (thanks Russell!) it quickly became clear that they had indeed, nicked all my fuel.

Funniest thing is, mine still runs on leaded.....

Anyway, my point is, is there anyway to prevent this from happening? Can you get a super-hard-to-get-into fuel cap replacement? Or is this just par for the course?

As John Travolta said in Pulp Fiction: "Don't mess with another mans vehicle!"

[Cerberus90]

You could get a better fuel cap, but then if it happens again they may cause more damage trying to remove it.


Read about quite a bit of this in the classic mini scene, and most people are just sticking with the normal cap as its cheaper to replace than having a load of keyed panels resprayed, , also the mini fuel tank only holds about 7 gallons anyway, so they never get away with much.

• EDIT*

Oh wait, this is in the mini section, , not paying attention.

Another thing is some people have had the original filler neck welded up or made into a fake one, and the actual filler moved onto the other side of the tank so it's in the boot.

[Plank]

I had the fuel cap forced off on one of my minis last summer and the petrol half inched.
Even with a replacement cap it has never sealed correctly since as the filler pipe lip was damaged.
It is flaming annoying. I suppose that exposed cap is tempting for the oyks

[MCBrowncoat]

Hmm, seems my mini luck has totally run out at the mo, I returned from holiday to find a fist sized dent in my roof (possibly from the petrol thiever?)

It's hard to feel the dent from the inside to push it out with my hands (difficult with the roof lining there to actually get to it) and a local garage owner suggested it could cost up to £350 - an insurance claim then - to get fixed properly. It's not a deep dent, but it's about 10cm from the front right corner near the A-pillar. Anybody know of any cost effective methods of getting this out? What are those suction cups like?

[FWDRacer]

Try chipsaway.co.uk/Dentmaster.co.uk - Local franchishes all over country. £60/panel

[MCBrowncoat]

Hmm, Tried them already, said it almost certainly wouldn't be possible as it's on the roof

[FWDRacer]

Try another one

[dave_Sw1]

All the mighty mini race cars have to have the tank filler within the confines of the boot for safety incase you roll the car, so we remove the original filler next, plate and fill the hole, and shift it round so you have to unlock the boot to get inside it, you need a professional to change the neck on the original tank as you should never start welding even an empty fuel tank unless you know what you are doing (I think my guy filled it with water during the weld to prevent vapours from old petrol etc) but unless they bust into your boot, your fuel is safe.

[JC T ONE]

Maybe the "out of sight - out of mind" might work ?

But the boot lid handle is just as easy to open, as a fuel cap with lock.

[AshleyPatience]

My tank costs about £20 to fill; I honestly can't believe that someone would damage someone elses car to steal 10 quids worth of petrol!! Absolute tw@ts.

You might be able to raise a smile by thinking of how ste their life must be that they are driven to stealing something of such low value, and will likely spend their entire life in a poverty-stricken, benefit-defrauding, sink-estate hovel.