Projects 32 Ford gas tank fuel line clearance problems

^^^ do not forget to install the shims @ rear of subrail , help keep door gaps correct .
Looks Nice the way you are fabing the rear floor .. I just did not want to cut my floors up ,
What get me , The manufactures know this is a problem but they do not address it in redesigning the pick up/ return or notes in there Applications warning modifications required to stock floor.

 

Good work.
Suggest you think about how to put trunk carpet/upholstery around the new patch/access.
If you're good, we're good.

 

I really didn't expect to have to modify the trunk floor, I thought the tank and outlet fittings would have been setup to work with the stock floor.
I wonder if the flange mount on the tank could be positioned lower to give more room. Don't no if that would be a good idea since the connections and vent line would be below the fuel level in the tank when it's full.

 

I already thought about that. If you look at the photo of the section to be cut out you can see to the left that I had to add a hump in the floor to clear a raised section I added on the coil over mount cross bar to clear the quick change rear.
I'm going to ask the upholsterer to fill in around the raised parts with some stiff foam or something and blend in the whole rear floor area with the high part of the trunk floor in front.

 

If you are referring to the lip on tank where it mounts to frame , if you would do that , frame horn covers To fenders ext will not work or line up if full fendered , If you just stand back & look @ a 32 body is has curves threw the entire body the whole compleat car .
It take alot of time to correctly line up its Beauty from Front to Rear as a Whole.

but if I was to Design/made the tank, I would have recessed the pick / fuel pump 1-1 1/2 lower , or made the pick up lines like Original design..
It's just hard for me to believe with all this modern technology we have with 3-D printers CNC's Not to many manufactures /designers or engineers think of the simplest things , there is so many that would pay for Quality exactly like Original made sheet metal/parts.
I examine the details even in new Ferraris & others of that caliper $5000,00
Plus & see flaws.

 

I was thinking along the lines like your second idea. Lowering the pickup or fuel pump location.

 

Run you a couple of lines to the edge of the tank and make a bracket for a couple of bulkhead fittings, makes life easier

 

And also all the Aftermarket steel 32 gas tanks the mountain flange lip seem need to be trimmed to fit correct between frame rails

 

The way the after market pick ups are made they stick up higher then floor Even with the access door removed .

The Aromotive 340 Stealth pump is even more of a problem.,& other companies that have copied their design

 

Yeah I really wish you could just buy parts and bolt them on without having to re-engineer everything. It gets old and frustrating after a while. Especially since the manufacturers know there parts don't fit and refuse to make changes.

 

I'd like to hear a little more about installing shims at the rear of the subrail. Ron

 

what is your Question? Not asking in a smart way.
On Steel body's on 32s there is two sets of adjustments 1st is @ front cowl feet.
Then a space between rear frame & @ the end of Sub rail , you tighten bolts
To adjust door gaps , Measure distance between frame and sub rail take bolts out add shim , tighten back bolts , One on each side.

 

I hadn't seen that information before. Appreciate it. It explains the spacer under that rear body mount I found. Ron

 

Tack weld the nuts for the access plate to the underside of the body and make a new plate that overlaps the edge of the hole. Use stainless nuts so they don't rust later. You could also just install some nutserts. Then when your car has a fuel pump problem at an inconvenient time, access will be very easy.

You might consider adapting short radius tubing bends instead of fittings and then putting push connect fittings on them. Really makes it easy if a problem arises. Think about where your hands can access the connections easily (?) and try to locate connections accordingly.

 

When replacing my 32 sport coupe tank I also was confronted with the floor/send unit issue, armed with a hand full of fittings found a viable solution & cleaned up a previous shoddy access panel, was surprised to find the fuel line going forward was not a steel line but rather fuel injection hose. I know this is common practice on newer vehicles such as our late model G.M.C. but looking to the off season I'm looking to replace it with the real deal in steel.

 

How about that?! Add a small flange to both sides, drill some holes and screw it to the floor. Instant access!

 

Here is the new raised floor section test fitted in place.

I gave a lot of thought on what type of access hole to put in, so I decided to keep it simple and make a door that will be easy to install and remove. I decided to make a round access hole and a cover with a stepped over-lap around the outside to locate the cover in the hole.
I made a press die out of 1/8" plate to form the recess in the cover piece, and squished it in my press.

I used a piece of flat stock to make a bar that will pull the cover down tight in the hole. This was a simple way of mounting the cover piece, no additional welding. All I have to do to remove it is loosen one screw and slide the cover over until one end of the flat bar clears the hole and then it can be lifted out.


I made the hole 4 1/2" and there is plenty of room to remove the pump.
I'm glad I took the advice from the members here on the HAMB and put an access panel in.

 

Are you intending to run fuel injection?

 

Excellent solution! Nice job!!

 

Thanks, I still wish I didn't have to do this but I'm happy with the way it looks.

 

No, I was forced to run an in tank electric pump because the motor mount I'm using gets in the way of the bottom connections on the Carter mechanical pump that I wanted to use in the first place.

I have an Edelbrock bypass fuel regulator that is made to use with a carburetor setup. The Edelbrock regulator will drop the pressure down to 5 psi. I will have to use an additional regulator to drop the pressure down even more to work with the Stromberg carbs that I plan to use.

 

Thanks for the explanation.