Beer Keg to the Rescue.

My '41 Fordor has been stalled during all these beautiful Hot Rodding Summer days, because of a rusty gas tank that keeps clogging fuel filters, and eating fuel pumps. It cost $350.oo either way to buy a repop, or have the original one boiled out & sealed by a local reputable shop, SOOooo.. The only place that kind of money was coming from was a yard sale, which would help clear out my shop, and house also. Low and Behold in my back yard was this long forgotten BEER KEG I had planned to make into a chair some day. It just came to me that I could make some brackets, and mount this thing real solid, just a little right of center, for traction, and to offset my weight. There's plenty of room still to mount my space saver tire behind it too.
This looks pretty basic. I'll have a vent tube at the top, near the filler tube, and a hard line at the lowest point meet up with my electric pump, that's right under it. If any body has ever used one, or has some input, I'm open to suggestions.

 

Tanks will sell you a new steel or poly tank for $235

http://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=results/Category_ID=86/home_id=59/mode=cat/cat86.htm

 

Yes - but he's short on cash and the beer keg is sitting there.

It won't be ideal because it isn't baffled inside - but has to be better than the rotting tank.

Previous thread here;

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=506659

 

used one in my race dirt track race car for several years......no problems

 

Whatever works for you but it does look like something a rat rodder would use as a gas tank. HRP

 

i think beer distributors are giving about $60-$70 bucks for SS kegs. you could return it and come home with a full one. and still have some cash to find a replacement at Pull-a-part.

 

Thanx, all good points. I'll probably go with a poly-form eventually. I'm concerned about no baffles inside, but then I never seem to have more than a half tank at any time.
I can install this for @ $20. Should I be concerned about sealing it?

 

Yeah I know, That's why I'm glad it's hidden in the trunk.

 

I remember when kegs were the hot setup for buckets. Make sure you put in a vent fitting so you can run a vent hose outside the trunk and use a sealed cap. Biggest problem you are going to have is keeping that big heavy (especially with fuel in it) keg from wanting to roll around, so make your mounts VERY strong.

Don

 

I'd sell the keg, and use the money to repair/buy a real gas tank. Cleaning and sealing yours can't cost 350. There's a time and place for beer keg gas tanks, I don't think your car is it.

 

I think I would mount it vertically to take advantage of the height of the trunk.

 

just curious......if the OP can't do the work himself , what do you think it would cost to have a filler neck , vent line and a bottom fuel pickup welded on? then there are the mounting brackets.

 

Just asking, isn't it better/safer to have a top pick-up tube?

 

yes it is......the Tanks fuel tank would have one

 

B-B I ran a small tank out of some foreign car that was built to sit behind the back seat at the front of the bed of the 48 for a while when I was having tank problems. It was made to sit on the hump at the front of the trunk. Big problem was that it was about 10 gallons and that made for more frequent gas stops but it was very cheap and simple to hook up.

 

Heck,in my Deuce pickup I'm ready to stretch after I go through 10 gallons. HRP

 

Don't encourage this behavior guys. It's a horrible idea and lazy. Figure out a way to put a proper tank in it. So it takes you a little while longer to get it on the road. Big deal.

 

VW tanks are small,I would think someone has one they will give you.

 

I have one of those kegs I use for brewing. Aluminum, with a wooden bung right? Sell it to a home brewer for $100. When I got mine 20 years ago you paid the $20 deposit and took it home. Now I don't even see that style at the licker stores.

 

I put a tank out of a s10 blazer in my brothr in laws 48 ford sedan. The filler neck even came up to the filler door in the rear fender.Just a thought.

 

How did it mount?

 

It's also called "hot rodding"......just saying....

 

we bought some universal tank straps and drilled some holes to mount them.The buggy spring was already gone so we mounted one end of the strap to that cross member and the other to the rear cross member on the frame.

 

And after you sell that thing to a home brewer, take that $100 and buy a gas tank repair kit from POR-15 for $86 and change. I used that same kit on the tank for my '54 and it worked like a charm. Here's the link http://www.por15.com/FUEL-TANK-REPAIR-KIT_p_62.html

 

The inside baffle thing is a non-issue, have cut open 3 oe tanks, no baffles. My Studebaker has a 32 gallon cell, no baffles, no problem. MAYBE if the car was super light and had a big tank, baffling might be necessary.

 

I can only think of one instance where a beer keg wont fill the bill, as a gas tank.
Get one from a little ferrin car or a saddle type extra tank from a pick-up truck. Theyres too many easy cheap options available.
Fill it with beer and think of something else,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,like boobs.

 

You can get a new 64-5 Mustang tank for $80. Nice flat flange all around. Several of my friends use Mustang tanks in their early 50s Chevies. They also leave the trunk floor nice and flat.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/64-65-66-Mustang-gas-fuel-tank-and-sending-unit-NEW-/171040340158

 

I'd see what the local shop would boil it and seal it for...

The nearest radiator shop to me will clean, boil, and seal an old gas tank for $100.

After you sell the keg it wouldn't cost you more then $30 or $40 extra to have the original tank re-done, and never have to worry about it again... Like you said, it'd cost you about $20 to run the keg for a tank, so for another $10-$20 I think you'd be better off with the correct tank...

I don't disagree with using a keg for a fuel tank though- and I certainly wouldn't call a car a rat rod just because it ran a keg... Guy's have been using kegs for decades, in T-buckets, stock cars, etc.. Though I still say for this application have the original tank re-done is the best option

 

Also consider the height of the fuel level in the keg compared to where your carburetor is, and the condition of your needle/seat/float. If the fuel level is higher in the keg, then there is the possibility of gravity taking over, and trickling a lot of raw fuel into your intake manifold.