I needed a gas tank for my 53 Chevy Sedan. The rear is notched and I expect the car to sit very low when I get done with the suspension. The tank could not hang down very far at all. I don't have a whole lot of cash to throw around for anything fancy. I did however have an old upright gas tank out of my 70 Chevy pickup and a bunch of time. Basically I just cut 14 inches out of the middle of the tank and welded the two halves back together. I also had to fab two notches in the top of the tank to clear the trunk hinges. The tank sits very well in the space just below the rear window panel...had to trim the lower section of the tank a bit. The filler neck will curve around the inner body and hopefully I can dream up somewhere neato to put the end of it (behind tailight maybe???) I still need to make some tabs to bolt the thing down. Just incase anyone might be wondering...yes the tank is galvanized and all the proper procedures were used to cut, grind and weld it back together. There will be a firewall built into the trunk/passenger compartment divider plus a sheetmetal cover on the backside of the tank to prevent any road debris from damaging it. If I was to do this again...I would not have welded the halves toghether...I would have just cut the 14 inches off one side and welded a plate to the end to close it up. I rigged up a pressure tester and fill the tank with compressed air while spraying the welds with soapy water to find pinholes....lots of em showed up....so the welds are sloppy looking because I had to go back over them to cover up the pin holes. All in all Im am happy with it...seems like I still have alot of trunk space compared to cars with fuel cells or whatever. Well...let me know what you guys think!!!
...looks OK , you mite try using some "epoxi-weld" (brand name) over your welds if you're worried bout em. You can get this at Menards I believe. It's a two part mix and spreads on like putty, dries smooth and hard as a rock. Sposed to seal up for any liquids. It will actually cover your welds and make it look better. ...where's your filler located?
Yes...the sender goes just about in the middle of the tank, the sender is also the fuel pickup...the hole is covered with black tape in the pic. As for the gallons Im not sure how much it will hold now. If I had to guess I think I took about 4 gallons out of the total volume. As for the filler...this is kinda why I cut the center portion out of the tank...to keep the factory sender and filler locations. The filler does stick up out of sight on the passenger side of the car. There is plenty of room to put an elbow in there and bring the filler out into the trunk area somewhere...its 2 inch dia. so I will probably make something up out of exhaust pipe and rubber sections. I cut the cap locking part off the tank and will relocate it to the end of the new filler so the cap will fit correctly.
"and all the proper procedures were used to cut, grind and weld it back together..." Since you are still alive, how about sharing your techniques for cleaning the tank for cutting and welding?
Keep in mind the filler has to be above the tank & can only drain down: pretty sure behind the taillights is out. ;^P ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver" Giggle Cream - it makes dessert *funny*!
As far as the fumes go...It sat for a long time without any gas in it, but still smelled like fuel. I filled the tank with water and a bunch of purple cleaner stuff and let the water run through it and flow out the sending unit hole. That helped alot, but I still took it to the car wash and and pressure washed it. After that I still let it sit out in the open air for a good week. It passed the sniff test...so I washed it out with the garden hose and some more cleaner one more time...then left it to dry agian for the night. I have to admit once I took after it with my cut off wheel...I was kinda scared...but thats just something we all deal with on lots of things. For the grinding and welding part...a resperator, safety glasses and ear plugs. I don't know the real effects of the galvanized stuff getting air born, but I didnt want to find out just yet. Before welding I ground alot of the gal. off on both sides (outside and inside of tank) of each part to be joined. Some areas where hard to get to with the angle grinder...so I used some rough sandpaper on them. "Keep in mind the filler has to be above the tank & can only drain down: pretty sure behind the taillights is out. ;^P" ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver" I have been thinking about this...true that the tailight is out, but I think I can still run a tube from the original filler to a decent place right under the trunk lit seal. Anyways...thanks for the comments and suggestions. I will post more pics if and when I get off my butt and work on it more.
As for the filler outlet, you could always mount something in the top of the rear fender, something like '69 Chargers had. They just have a tube running into the top of the rear quarter, and the cap mounts to it. Sort of like a race car. Anything you spill stays outside the car (as I have learned!)
Here's a tip: You can run water through a gas tank 'till the cows come home, & it will still have gas fumes in it & will explode. A friend tried it with his bike tank. Ran water through it for several hours, & checked it with a lighter. Ball of flame came up in his face & singed his eyebrows. ;-) What I do is wash the tank out with laquer thinner. It mixes with the gas & cleans it out. Then I run AIR through it for a while, to dry out the thinner. Another tip: Never just start cutting or welding on a tank you're not SURE is clean & dry. I always check them with a lighter - from around a corner. ;^D Never had one do anything more than a *slight* puff. BTW Tcoupe, it would be a good idea to use some sealer in the tank while you're messing with it. It will seal the pinholes (if any are left) & prevent rusting. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver" If you can't take the heat, get out of the nuclear reactor.
Dawn dish soap is what the tank man around here says to rinse tanks out with before he welds/solders them up.
Gunk (the stuff used for emulsifying grease on engines so it can be hosed off) used to advertise its degreaser product as also good for cleaning out gas tanks for welding--that was back in the fifties; I doubt anyone's lawyer would allow that in an ad nowadays! Anyway, it struck me as interesting, as the stuff is designed to mix with petroleum stuff and make it washable with water. Best advice I ever saw on the board for cutting and welding tanks safely: Have the new guy do it, over on the other side of the parking lot!
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