Vannin' Home Forums Chevy General Discussion 1980 G30 question

First of all, hello I am new here and to vans. I have a 1980 G30 and am trying to figure out what the canister is that is along the frame rail on the drivers side about midway back. It has been raining for 3 days now so I haven’t got a picture of it or been able to trace the hose coming off of it. I am just trying to do some armchair mechanics.

Hey 76 welcome to the site ....dont know of that one but on the passenger side there is a Fuel filter about 3" x 1.5 round dia. A pic would help a lot.



Been thinking it maybe where some one took out the rear heater.... hoses in bypass mode

Charcoal canister for the fuel vapor fumes.

Thats under the hood on the passenger side.

I will get pics ASAP. It’s dark by the time I get off work. It is about 6” in diameter and about 15” or so long with one hose going towards the engine.

Sounds like the charcoal canister to me as well. Someone might have relocated it at some point.

Its a Muffler ....LOL


Where does the hose go ?

Is it a hard black plastic, that is what the charcoal canister will look like, with a one or two rubber hoses coming out of it.

The stock evaporation emission canister for '80 would have about 4 ports, be mounted below the front passenger inner fender I believe and look like this:

https://www.stockwiseauto.com/acdelco-215-150-vapor-canister

I could be wrong.

What you have may not be fuel related but it could be a vacuum canister of some type. I don't suppose your G30 is/was originally a diesel by any chance? They had vacuum pumps and vacuum storage canisters different from the gas models.
Without pics we're just guessing....... although I do enjoy the research.

We should start a "What the hell is it" sticky.

Your not wrong Cat .... thats what mine looks like so its for a '90 also. N yes its under the hood on the pass side.



SOooo ..... Its not a Evap canister.

I have a picture but I can’t get it to post. I am looking now to try to figure out where the hose is going.

Maybe I got the picture this time.

Ok, if anyone can get the picture to open and please post it for me. I can’t figure out how to get it to post from my iPhone.

You got it! It looks pretty scary...

I looked all through my 90 FSM, I'll try the Parts manual next.

Not instantly recognizable, is it. Vacuum canister? Air tank?

Never have I seen one of those .....

Well.....(judging from the photo) it's definitely not for fluids. So that leaves air or vacuum. I vote for vacuum. It appears to be built like the old tin "juice can" vacuum reservoirs that were on the mid 80's Ford trucks, but it's larger.
I'm thinking that some previous owner maybe added it for some reason. Was your G30 ever used for passengers?

Yes it was used by the church for passengers.

I've seen vacuum operated running boards and/or steps and even doors on passenger vans.
My thought was it could be left over from such a system.
Or if it is thick and strong enough to hold air pressure it could be part of a leveling air bag set-up.
Interesting part.

I'm a Jawga boy as well. We live in the foothills up on the north end of the state.

Thanks Catfish. I am going to try to figure it out for sure today. I am in northeast Georgia, Rabun county.

We go up that way every chance we get! It's one of our favorite places. Love eating at the Cupboard, best fried chicken on the planet.
Black Rock SP, Tallulah Falls, and all those back roads, it's just a great area. Overnight van camping at Tiger drive-in is something we've added to our must-do list.
Our daughter even attended school at Tallulah Falls for a little while.

In other words, I know about where you're at.

We live in Cherokee county between Woodstock and Alpharetta.

Propane tank ? Left over from a previous conversion to run on propane?

Getting to be way too much traffic for these little roads up here but we haven’t found anywhere much better.

Moonshine tank?

Have to pay for those new hymnal's somehow.