I am constantly surprised to see classic cars with paint damage beneath their fuel filler neck. Gasoline is corrosive and you don’t want to get any on your paint if you can avoid it. So I made a fuel-fill video below so you can see my technique to prevent fuel from spilling.
First off, self-service fueling is required. I would never leave this to a stranger so full service is very high risk. In fact, I have seen several cars with fuel nozzle scrapes near the fuel fill. Some people just aren’t very careful when they are swinging the spout!
Secondly, topping off these old cars is risky. If you overfill the car and then park it in the sun, the vented caps will bleed fuel out of the tank and perhaps onto your paint. Sometimes filler necks leak onto the top of the fuel tank, which never smells good. So try to stop filling about a half gallon from the very top. That leaves some room for expansion. I believe the photo above is damage from heat expansion overflow. So if you overfill, make sure to burn some fuel before you park the car in the sun!
And finally, try not to move the nozzle out of your tank before the fuel has drained out, that way, you won’t drag a few drops onto the paint and cause damage!
