1972 C10 Gas Tank Replacement

[Jason Bourne]

Looking for any advice on replacing a gas tank for a 1972 C10. How hard of a job is this? Are there any tricks to make it easier?

Access to the bolts holding the tank seems good. I’m a little worried about how hard it will be to wiggle the tank past the hard lines that run to the sender without damaging anything?

Also a little worried about the filler neck grommet. How does this get removed?

He ordered a tank made by Spectra (GM49B) for 1972 with EEC has anyone used this tank before? If so did you have any issues getting everything to line up?

[howzzzit]

Originally Posted by Jason Bourne

Looking for any advice on replacing a gas tank for a 1972 C10. How hard of a job is this? Are there any tricks to make it easier?

Access to the bolts holding the tank seems good. I’m a little worried about how hard it will be to wiggle the tank past the hard lines that run to the sender without damaging anything?

Also a little worried about the filler neck grommet. How does this get removed?

He ordered a tank made by Spectra (GM49B) for 1972 with EEC has anyone used this tank before? If so did you have any issues getting everything to line up?

Pretty easy to do. Need to change all the hoses including the ones under the truck.. I also have a 72 C10 and have all hoses as original design including a new vapor canister. There's a hose from the tank to a hard line under the cab. If original there are two hard lines along the frame. They break under the passenger side and have short pieces of fuel hose between and take off from there. Change them, also. I've had them leak twice. So much easier with no fuel in the line. Don't scrimp on the hose quality and maybe use fuel injector hose. You'll be OK with the hard lines in the cab. They go through the rubber grommet in the floor and you've got enough wiggle to get the tank in. I don't know about your tank, but some of the aftermarkets' filler necks are one inch longer than a stock tank. Probably stamped at the same factory and the sellers just put their name on it. Sticks out a little more.

[Jason Bourne]

Originally Posted by howzzzit

Pretty easy to do. Need to change all the hoses including the ones under the truck.. I also have a 72 C10 and have all hoses as original design including a new vapor canister. There's a hose from the tank to a hard line under the cab. If original there are two hard lines along the frame. They break under the passenger side and have short pieces of fuel hose between and take off from there. Change them, also. I've had them leak twice. So much easier with no fuel in the line. Don't scrimp on the hose quality and maybe use fuel injector hose. You'll be OK with the hard lines in the cab. They go through the rubber grommet in the floor and you've got enough wiggle to get the tank in. I don't know about your tank, but some of the aftermarkets' filler necks are one inch longer than a stock tank. Probably stamped at the same factory and the sellers just put their name on it. Sticks out a little more.

Thank for the info. What about the rubber grommet for the filler neck? How do you remove it? It looks old do they make aftermarket ones in case the original gets damaged?

[Sheepdip]

Get a new filler neck grommet they are cheap and just razor knife the old one out. Be sure and check but I believe 72 was a little smaller filler neck so it was different

[Jason Banks]

I'd just cut the rubber grommet like Sheepdip says.

But, make sure you get one of the quality replacement grommets from Wes at Classica Heartbeat or I thinkg GMCPauls sells the same one.

The china ones don't last but a few months.

[michael bustamante]

heres what i did
remove the bench seat, unfasten the lines to the sender unit. go under the truck and disconnect the rubber line to the hard line going up thru the floor.
push that hard line down thru the floor as much aas you can.
spray spme penetrting oil on the filler neck grommet. . (use a rag so it doesnt stain the paint)
unbolt and wigglle out of the grommet
mine is a 67 though so i dont have vent lines but it should still be the same process
get your grommet from gmc pauls if yours is all dried out or cut off

[71meangreenc10]

Best advice....
Wear leather gloves when handling the tank. The edges can be very sharp and your hands will thank you.

I ordered the same tank and hopefully your filler neck will be ok through shipping. Do as others have said. If you are replacing the tank, replace all the rubber lines. I would put in a new grommet for the neck, if yours is damaged, you might get some smell in the cab.

Smitty

[697498chevy]

When I replaced the tank in my '69 C 10 , the filler neck wasn't centered . I drilled the mounting holes oversize and got it centered ok . Good luck

[Jason Bourne]

I got the tank in and everything looks like it lines up. My only problem is my gas cap doesn’t fit the new tank.

Has anyone else had this problem? I can try and get a new cap but I don’t know what part to buy. Im also concerned maybe they built the tank wrong. I don’t want to put any gas in it until I get the cap situation worked out.

[michael bustamante]

did you get a vented or not vented tank? (71-72 is vented)

[Jason Bourne]

Originally Posted by michael bustamante

did you get a vented or not vented tank? (71-72 is vented)

It is the vented tank with the EEC lines. The new tank neck is slightly bigger diameter and my old cap is loose. The cap pushes in fine but when you turn it it doesn’t tighten up.

[howzzzit]

Originally Posted by Jason Bourne

I got the tank in and everything looks like it lines up. My only problem is my gas cap doesn’t fit the new tank.

Has anyone else had this problem? I can try and get a new cap but I don’t know what part to buy. Im also concerned maybe they built the tank wrong. I don’t want to put any gas in it until I get the cap situation worked out.

My tank is distributed by Dorman. I too had the same gas cap problem. Call whoever made your tank (I should say distributed) and ask them the Stant cap you should use. Mine ended up a Stant 10704. Original wouldn't fit.

[Jason Bourne]

Originally Posted by howzzzit

My tank is distributed by Dorman. I too had the same gas cap problem. Call whoever made your tank (I should say distributed) and ask them the Stant cap you should use. Mine ended up a Stant 10704. Original wouldn't fit.

Howzzzit you called it!

I ordered my tank through Rock Auto and I searched high and low but couldn’t find a phone number to call. Their website says they communicate through email only. This may give me pause to order from them in the future.

I ended up calling spectra who manufactured the tank. They told me a Stant 10704 should fit my tank. I found one that worked at a local parts store but it is a black locking cap. It will work for now but my son wants a plain chrome one like before. I will look around to see if I can find one online.

On the bright side the tank fit great. My son and I had the old tank out and the new tank installed in about an hour. Everything lined up great. I was surprised how easy and fast of a job it was. I saw stories of others where the filler neck was too long and they had to slot the holes in the tank to get everything lined up. I didn’t have any issues at all. The tank feels like a quality build. The steel felt thick not flimsy at all. Anyone needing to replace their fuel tank for a 1972 C10 with EEC I highly recommend the Spectra GM49B tank. Just make sure you have a Stant 10704 gas cap handy.