The Olds parts companies want three times as much for an Olds tank as I can get a Chevy tank of the same year and I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't the same tank. Anyone know for sure? I can get a Chevy tank for around $200.
The chevy fills under the left tail light olds as i recall is still on the side. That said i have a 60 olds 88 and needed a tank not one to be found. so Impala bobs sent me a 59/60 chevy. its not as flat as the stock olds but its a little taller but same width. what i lost in the rear makes up for being taller and is going to work out fine. so the tank may well be the same base tank but need so mods to work. us Olds guys have to make due. another thing to look at is a mustang tank they mount in the trunk floor and go up to 25 Gal.
if you know someone who has a Hollander, check in there, I have one but I'm not at home to check for you. I think you will find that a 54-56 Olds is probably the only interchange you will get. You haven't stated why you need a new tank, but can the old one not be repaired?
I can tell you for sure that the originals were not made in the same factory. Chevy made theirs in Plant 10 in downtown Flint. They did NOT supply Olds. Given the separate sources of supply and G.M.'s penchant for saving pennies; it's highly unlikely that a duplicate set of tools would have been in existence 60 miles away.
hollander says says 56 olds only. but a 54 and 55 olds is the same size but will have to have the filler tube modified. the book doesn't say anything about buick being a replacement but maybe someone with a buick or chevy could give you some tank measurements.
Hollander interchange manual, you better get yourself one if you don't have one, it can be very helpful. Unfortunately Olds didn't interchange with much, but even knowing that information can save you from going down a path that is not the right one. I'm in Australia and have one, bought it off ebay and paid to have it shipped over. for me it allows me to see that no, that part on ebay isn't going to fit my olds, even if the guy says it will. Costs a lot to get stuff shipped here so I don't want to buy stuff that isn't what I need.
I have seen some really ratty gas tanks repaired. I would check around and see if anyone around you can repair it. Around here we used to have a couple weld shops and radiator repair shops repair them.
I can weld and know how to do it without blowing myself up but figured if I could get a new one for a couple hundred.....
I cleaned up and repaired my 36 Ford tank. It was rusted, dented, had pin holes from busted spot welds of the inner baffles. Did a shade tree repair by first draining it and refilling with water from a garden hose. Flushed it out real well. this insured me there would be no flame or explosion risks. Then I filled it with several handfuls of nuts and bolts from my used bolts bin. I then shook and tilted it end to end, upside down and all around. The filler tube would occasionally puff out a rusty little cloud so I knew I was getting somewhere. That took about an hour. Shook all the bolts back out and refilled it with water, tilted it on end with the filler down while the hose was still running. The first minute the water ran rusty red with white flecks in it. When the water finally ran clear I let it drain empty. Next I got an expandable plug from a plumbing shop to plug the filler tube and installed a shraeder valve with adapters to the fuel line fitting. With that setup I could pressurize the tank through a spray gun regulator. That allowed me to find and mark all the pin holes. The area around each pin hole was ground to clean bare metal with a 100 grit rolok disc and then welded shut by TIG welding. I then reground them and fluxed and soldered them over with lead just like is used to sweat plumbing pipes. To remove the dents, I recharged the tank with air up to about 40 lbs. Then I took my gas weld setup with a "rosebud" tip, heated each dent up from red into orange, and watched as I was able to walk the dents out completely. The worst dent was on one end corner, about 6-7inches in diameter and about 3 inches deep. I was amazed that this technique would work that well. I reinstalled the tank and have run it for 2 years without ever an issue with leaks or fouled fuel filter or carburetor. The cost of the repair was about $10 and a Saturday, I figure I save about $400 that day. Best Regards and Good Luck with all your endeavors, KB aka telekenfun.
I seem to remember using some sort of liquid liner on motorcycle tanks we modified years ago. I can't remember what it was. It might be a good back up after repairing pin holes. Pin holes are worrysome as they indicate that the metal is getting thin.
I used this tank in my Buick and my buddy also put one in his 53 Olds. If you look at the options you can choose where you want the filler neck on the side. Just find one that is closest. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1940-1954-B...Parts_Accessories&hash=item51a026c0a6&vxp=mtr
I used POR 15 tank sealer on mine, more due to all the crap it was full of then anything else, even after boiling and rinsing a million times it was full of sand and dust, sealed it all in with the POR 15 about 15 years ago, no problem since.
Long long ago I put a few lengths of chain inside a rusty tank and strapped it to the front of a 110v cement mixer. Loud!!! but it worked, the chain knocked all the rust off and worked great. Same principle as the misc hardware in the tank from above but more noise.
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