I got a gas tank from a junkyard (81 Pontiac Sunbird I believe, I'll check
that) - cost was $25. Calculated volume is 20-21 gal, seems like a lot for
that little Sunbird. I mounted the tank between the last two crossmembers
but I did have to move the rear crossmember back about 2". I placed two
pieces of channel steel (1-1/2 by 1/2 or so - open end up) perpendicular to
the stock crossmembers for the tank to mount up against. I used the
mounting straps from the Sunbird also - reshaped them slightly and removed a
couple of inches from their length. I used roofing tar paper, several
thicknesses, folded to fit under the channel steel and the mounting straps.
The tank is a great fit - it has about 1/2" clearance on each side.
Clearance between the tank and bed wood is about 2-1/2". Its tight but I
wanted to keep the tank up as high as possible. I'll have a piece of tubing
welded in place for the filler tube (positioning is critical if you want the
filler to sit between two of the bed strips and centered on bedwood) and I'm
going to use a CoolCap from AirRide to connect to the filler tube from above
the bed. We did this same install (different tank) on my son's 55 1st and
it worked great.
The stock sending unit/pickup tube sits about centered on the tank and was
retained but I removed the sending unit portion. It didn't work properly
and I had a new VDO unit anyway. The sending unit fits the stock tank so
I'm going to remove a section of my original tank that has the bolt pattern
already tapped for the sending unit pattern and weld it in place on the new
tank - then merely bolt the VDO sending unit in place. Since the sending
unit was designed for the stock tank, I had to shorten it to accommodate the
shape of the new tank. I used a stainless steel 3/8" swagelok union to
connect the pickup tube to the new steel fuel line so I wouldn't have any
rubber hose connections under the bed. That's one thing we need to redo on
my son's pickup the next time we have the bed off is to replace the rubber
connection (its not leaking or a problem - but somewhere down the road it
will need to be serviced - hard plumbing will remove that potential problem
forever).
When moving the rear crossmember make sure you don't cover up the holes in
the frame for your bumper brackets. One other thought - before doing some
of the steel tubing bending I slipped a piece of rubber hose over the steel
line so it wouldn't rattle against other metal pieces after it was
installed - you can do the same thing after bending by slitting the hose but
then you need to use wire wraps or something else to hold it in place. With
a little planning the rubber hose can be put on first and it looks a lot
cleaner. Of course, some people are going to ask you how you got that hose
on there (not realizing that it was placed on there first and then the
tubing was bent).
I don't have a digital camera or know anyone that does or I would provide
pics. I have seriously thought about buying one though - if anyone has a
recommendation for a good inexpensive digital camera let me know offline.
Bob Welch
'56 Cameo
'55 Belair
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian m" <pkupman57@hotmail.com>
To: <rwelch@ionet.net>
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2000 6:28 PM
Subject: Re: [oletrucks] Gas Tank Sending Unit
> i would agree with you on unit placement. but what i want to know, is
where
> did you get your tank, how many gallons?, how much money? etc. i need to
do
> this up grade too and would like all the info i can get thanks.
> Brian
> Jess; '57 chevy 3200 (Soon to be EFI)
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