Hot Rods Is Gas Tank Grounding Needed?

I’m trying to determine if I need to ground my old 37’s gas tank or not & if I do need to do so how to properly do it?

What I currently have is this: a steel tank painted on the outside with a fuel sending unit & separate pickup tube. From the tank to the engine I am planning to run rubber fuel line, not steel lines. On one of the bolts of the fuel sending unit I have a wire which goes to the body as a ground and allows the sending unit & gas gauge to function properly. My plan is to use something between the tank & the body as well as between the tank straps and the tank. I have some strap material from Tanks Inc which is what I’d planned on using between the things. Thoughts?



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...either the tank needs to be grounded or as yours, the sending unit needs grounded.
you should run steel lines from tank to engine with short rubber hoses at tat and fuel pump.

 

No it's not necessary to run a ground wire on a fuel tank

 

It's already grounded by the sending unit ground, that is all you need.

 

Can’t go wrong with more ground.
Necessary or not this is one case where more is better.

 

If you look at the welds that weld the top of the tank to the bottom, on the corners there is usually an area outside of the weld where you can run a sheet metal screw through to attach a ground wire. I do this to all cars I have worked on, and it really helps the gas gauge work right.

 

Please run steel lines, the life you save might be yours!
The new gasoline has been known to break down the rubber lines in short order.
High quality alcohol resistant hose is very expensive, I only use it between steel line connections or where some flex is needed.
KK

 

Exactly. Painter painted my tank (base clear) which I didn't ask for. After reinstalling the tank I no longer had ground to it like from the factory. So I ran a ground wire direct to the sending unit.

 

NHRA rules require that plastic fuel tanks need a ground wire, no mention of steel tanks needing a seperate ground wire

 

Gas gauge needs some kind of signaling to work.

 

I’d run steel or aluminum hard lines or braided hose before I’d run all rubber. Any road debris could cut a rubber line pretty quickly. Even a copper hard line, properly supported with rubber insulators, would be better than all rubber.

 

I will share part of my experience with sending units and gas tanks. I built this car in the 70's, used the org tank with a SW sending unit and gauge, it worked great. After the car had sat for almost 40 years I got it running again and had a gas odor in the car (the tank is right behind the seat in a 38 Chevy coupe), about that time Tanks (I think) started making repo coupe tanks, I bought one and installed it. I didn't ground the tank and it doesn't read correctly. Could something else be wrong???Maybe??? All I know is it is a paint in the arse to uncover the nicely painted tank and add a ground Maybe someday.

 

Don't forget about static electricity. I vote for a ground wire somewhere, anywhere.

 

For goodness sake use steel gas lines from the tank to your carb. If you have a steel gas tank
you can run a separate ground to the frame from one of the fuel tank sending unit screws. It's not
really needed but it's a good way on insuring a good ground for your tank and the sending unit..
If you s choose not to run this extra ground wire the steel gas tank is already grounded by the steel straps that secure the tank and the bolts which secure the tank to the frame - assuming you have bare metal contact.

 

Over the years I have grounded many fuel tanks this way. It works very well. Also, if I have the sending unit out of the tank I clean a spot on the sending unit near the pickup tube and solder a wire to it for a ground wire going to the body. I don't remember ever having a grounding issue after doing either one of these methods. One way or another the tank / sending unit needs to be grounded.

I also second the idea of running a steel line from front to rear.