As you can see, the tank would take up too much room for you to keep the rumble seat. The tank is 10-11 gallons.
I think that if your in a wreck that is severe enough to damage the stock fuel tank, you will be in no condition to be unfastening your seat belt. Also I have never heard of anyone ever catching on fire because of the placement of the stock tank. I put many miles on my Model A every year with a stock tank and don't believe relocating it would make the car any safer.
Shaggy is right: Model A gas tanks are actually safer than those in the conventional rear location ... or saddle tanks for that matter.
What about a custom made tank that is made to fit underneath in between the frame rails? Might be kind of costly I don't know but I am going to check into this route.
The stock location is as far from possible impact as you can get, and as far as possible from the easily crushed running board area and completely unsupported rear end of the body. Only other option that does not put tank at outermost perimeter of car would be a vertical right behind seat. Life nowadays always involves a 5,000 pound Cadillac suburbal 2 feet from your bumper as the driver carries on two texting sessions at once... do you really want a tank back there, with no real structure behind the axle area? A good combo here might be stock plus a small wedge-shaped tank at very front of deck area, behind seat, perhaps made as toeboard for rumble. Keep the flash arrestor at the filler. The stock part to worry about is the steering mount which rivets to bottom of tank...the tank can crack there from driver pulling on wheel to get in and out of car, AND if a hard front or front corner collision moves the steering, it is going to rip a chunk out of the tank. Ford introduced a late '31 mount that went up to the dash rail...better deal, can be retrofitted.
There is more leg room for the rumble seat when you use the stock tank. The stock tank has the same risks as one behind the seat in my opinion ...save for one. The big risk with a stock tank is not what happens if you crash the car. The risk is emptying the entire fuel tank onto your garage floor if you have a needle / seat issue. You have to remember to use the fuel shut off valve off EVERY time you park it. I've built several Model A's. I've used the stock tank, as well as putting the fuel tanks in other locations. I have no favorite location.
The very biggest drainage risks come with stock and stock replacement carbs, which have very weak float/needle systems and often come with badly restored lines and shutoff valves as well. With modern engine or anything with a pump, you can plumb modern hard line from the rather large pipe thread hole in tank down to a 3-way valve that would pick up fuel from stock and trunk reserve tanks and shut both off in the third position. With proper job on the plumbing, there should not be any issues there.
On the 32 they hung the tank right out on the rear in the open, and that was an improvement? There is no good place to put the tank in an A, so I'm leaving it where Henry put it. Unless you maintain a complete firewall in front of a trunk mounted tank, there's no safety benefit, just like a behind the seat tank in a truck, and you lose most or all of your trunk space. FWIW, mine is a late 31 with the factory tank improvements, and I'm using a solenoid valve to prevent any problems when the ignition is off. The 3 times I've been hit in any of my cars, it was in the rear every time by an inattentive driver talking on a cell phone that failed to stop. I won't be hanging my tank out the rear. And I can't think of any time I've ever wanted to stay in a car as small as an A for more than 180 miles without getting out to stretch my legs.
On a '32, at least there's a frame going past the tank, and spring steel bumper supports, but certainly not enough to stop the cell phone zombie in the Caddy! The '31 A change moved drips from damaged fitting connections outside, but did nothing to help the marginal float shutoff of the Zenith...and it made it harder for the driver to shut off the faucet, perhaps encouraging him to just skip it and have faith. If either of the A systems was properly plumbed and hooked through a filter to a carb with positive shut off there would be almost no more leak danger through the feed system.
I HAVE met a fellow who had over 75% of his body burned due to the tank in his Model A rupturing and dumping it's fuel all over him. It is because of him that I will never build a Model A with the tank in it's stock location. Do a google search on burn victims. Then decide if you want to keep that stock tank.
I would keep the stock tank,if it's in good shape! the stock tank is easy on your pocket book to fill her up
I sir have yet to meet this fellow you speak of, and I just did a Google search of...... "burn victims, Des Moines IA, Model A "....and found nothing....is this Awful event documented somewhere ?......The Model A world will park their cars until you respond
That puts things into perspective. I've always been fine with the stock tank in my A, now I'm not so sure.
180 miles is a little optimistic on mileage. I get about 100 miles and am looking for a gas station. But I don't think you are going to do any better with a tank anywhere else and leave any room for those in the rumbleseat. I have the tank where Henry put it and it works fine. I like the nostalgia of filling the tank the same as 80 years ago. Also figure it is as safe there as anywhere else. Neal
I didn't mean to google for this exact accident. I meant burn victims in general. He was from Kansas and the accident happened in the 1980's. The vehicle was a 30-31 PU that I believe was green. It had a Jag rear which was the only part of the car that was salvageable. If you truely want more information in an attempt to contact him, PM me and I'll try to help you out.
I still run the orignal tank on my 29. It saw full of crap so I ran a boat tank in the back were the seat should be for a season till I could pull the front off the car to repair the tank. I cut it open, blasted it, selded it shut then coated it inside with POR tank coating then did the outside with regular POR. I never painted it yet. I have a shutoff and glass bowl inside and the electric pump on the firewall. There is a wooden dash behind the tank. GEORGE!!
As I noted above, the rupture point to worry about is the place where all A's except for certain late sedans had the steering mount riveted to bottom of tank. If you have age cracks, they will be there because of people hanging on the steering to get in and out. If you have an accident hard enough to move frame and steering, thge steering can rip the bottom right out of the tank...is that what happened to the burned guy? T get rid of that feature, Ford started shifting late in production to a mount that went up to the cowl rail. This part will fit right into some '30-31's, and could be structurally replicated in other A's. My feeling is that any crash that rips the tank from causes other than the above will probably have already ripped you. I think the area from firewall to right behind the driver's seat is the safest zone, so the tank has to be near you. Sidesaddle or at rear leave tank with nothing between it and that cell phone cadillac.
Do tell, where would you have put the fuel tank that would have been safer in the above truck? The only thing salvageable was the rear axle? I tend to think in a wreck of that nature, the fuel tank would have been opened no mater where it was at in that truck. How come no one has said build what you want yet? It normally takes only 3 or 4 posts...
OK show me a SAFE street rod, rat rod , or old hot rod! Most are a little box with rust (unless it is a new high doller everything new Street Rod.). No 'bags, steering wheel up against you knees or gut and a whole bunch of stuff just wateing to impail you. If I want a safe ride I'll look for a Volvo or somthing like that. If I want a fun ride I'll go with my "A". GEORGE!!
OUTSIDE of the passenger compartment; such as the saddle tanks, under the car, or in the back ala' the '32/33/etc. Fords. The tank may rupture in an accident, but it won't be dousing the passengers with gasoline if it does rupture.
I don't know the specifics of the wreck. All I saw was the rear end that he had sitting on his garage floor. He had scrapped everything else. And I didn't think it was appropriate to ask the guy with scars all over his face and arms "tell me all the specifics of your wreck." He obviously learned his lesson because the '29 RPU he built next was running saddle tanks. So build yours how you want. I'll do the same. Personally, I like at least some sheetmetal between me and my gas tank. On my 28 PU I put the tank in the bed. On my full fendered 29 coupe I have saddle tanks under the splash aprons.
My roadster has a custom tank that fills the entire rumble seat footwell (over 20 gallons). The big tank is a real convenience when traveling cross country. The floor above it is about level with the bottom rumble seat cushion. With the cushions in, it is fine for smaller kids, especially when they are in car seats, but ineffective for real people. In recent years, I haven't needed the rumble (both daughters in their 20s), and have stored the cushions to get more available volume for event t-shirts and such. My wife has had all the roadstering she cares for, so the right seat is available for the World's Most Beautiful Granddaughter; no rumble needed any more.
How do you figure that is safer? Doors pop open, glass breaks... you'll get fuel on ya. I'm not buying it. EDIT: Hell, some of these cars don't even have a roof! A good hit in the saddle tank and you're wet.
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