How hard to replace gas tank and all associated hardware?

[D-Day]

Tank, sending unit, straps, filler hose, etc.

I've come to the ugly conclusion that it just has to be done. I'm tired of the problems they're all causing.

So, how hard is it? Considering I don't have a cozy, roomy garage to do this in; it'll be done outside. With a friend helping, how long will it take?

How long to drop it, how long to install it? Any tips or tricks or anything to plan for in advance?

[old Rusty C10]

its not too bad.. the worst part is making sure things are lined up before you try to put it all back together if you have a dual tank youre looking at a good three or four hours to do it all.... Ohio... better wait til spring if ya dont like cold like me lol

[D-Day]

Yeah, dual tanks. But I can only afford to do one side right now.

[old Rusty C10]

mine is the same way lol mine is parked in upstate NY with all the lake effect snow im saving mine til summer lol

[willett]

its fairly simple, but you've gotta assume that there will be a fair bit of rust on the harness bolts. also; when i did the tank on my '78 the straps were rivited do the brackets so i had to drill em and re-rivet the suckers. no worries, but it was -30 and i was 100 miles in the bush. (with no rivets or rivet gun... had to use 6" spikes, a hacksaw, and a punch)

the hardest part was reconnecting my fuel lines to the sender unit as the box was still on the truck

another thing:
you don't want to sit teh tank right on the metal straps so you will need to conjure up some kinda buffer between the 2, i used a strip of 3" nylon tie-down straps.


tips:
lengthen your fuel lines so that you can reconnect them to the sender unit before the tank is bolted on
get some dunnage and milk crates to hold the tank up above you as your hooking the lines back up
make sure that you have some kinda something between the tank straps and the tank

[asphaltburner]

Yo!
I did both of mine, but in the garage during this last summer. Eight bolts (use lots of WD40, and tincture of time, so that it can work),...and I used stacked blocks of wood to drop the tanks onto - they were essentially empty. Clamps and hoses at the filler spouts.
I twisted off one of my strap bolts, and was able to find a junkyard replacement. Reused my old insulators between the tanks and straps without difficulty.
Drained the tanks as much as possible after removing the filler hoses, and then knocked out the sender retaining rings with a punch and hammer. Drained the tanks through the openning, and then washed the insides with dishwashing detergent and a hose, dryed with a rag tipping back and forth, then dryed in the sun.
Here's the finished products ready for installation:



Re-installed the same way with new senders and short hoses attached. I took a day or two, due to the cleaning and drying process (plus junkyard shopping), and got perfect results with both tanks shiny inside.
My dual tank switching valve required filters between it and the tanks, and (although it doesn't look like it in this pic):



I was able to shield the hoses within the channel of the truck bed that I lined with inner tube rubber. The tank switching valve is housed within the black steel shield I built, upper right, and the electric fuel pump is housed in it's steel shield on the left frame rail. Once the truck is fully on the road (still finishing it) I'll run a steel sheild across the bottom of the bed channel to encase the hoses entirely.
Best of luck, hope this helps. Have a good holiday! Todd.

[D-Day]

Wow, really helpful information. Much, much obliged. I would have looked at the Haynes manual if I could find it, but I find people to be more helpful.

I have the rivets too...are there any alternatives to this? If not, oh well.

[willett]

your fine to drill out the old rivets and pop em'

its safe to do what i did with the spikes as long as you have a good center punch..it will work if you cut them to about an 1/8" stud and slam them through the holes, pound em flat with a hammer and then punch the center real hard to get a good flare

its teh next best thing to a spot weld

[D-Day]

Will do. Thanks.

[D-Day]

Well, I took a wrench to the bolts on the tank support closest to the rear axle. Surprisingly, it moved without a whole lot of effort (not nearly what I was expecting). Not sure how the front one will be, couldn't use a wrench.

I figure with an air ratchet or impact gun, they'll zip right off. So that's good.

After some cranking around, I see that my sending unit only has one hose on top of the tank going out...when I do a search for a sending unit on Advance Auto, it shows 3 hose outlets. What gives?

edit: Nevermind, I'm an idiot. They have a one outlet sending unit...my eyes saw the cheapest one and locked on.

[willett]

be careful, those things can get pretty rusty...

[Dave Kay]

Lots of great ideas here... Wish this thread was around when I did my new tank... did this very same thing just recently: all new hoses all around and new sender.

Can't find the post and maybe it's not on this forum but CapK did a gas tank R&R post for myself a short while ago... anybody?

Here's what I did:

Drain/siphon tank from the steel fuel-line to fuel pump (in engine compartment) This was the easiest way for me but there are other ways.

Dropping the tank itself is no picnic but really it's just 8 bolts on the frame member and of course disconnecting the rubber fuel lines at the sending unit--- recommend you just cut them while you're at it since you say you're replacing them anyway.

Get some good quality flouroelastomer (sp?) replacement lines and new hose clamps all the way around. Avoid using vapor-only rubber since it won't last as long and may cause probs in the future--- e.g. ethenol.

Clean out the new tank real good w/soap and water, flush with clean water again to get out any small sediments that maybe there... drying the inside of tank w/hair dryer set to low, works like a charm. Also, I re-used my old tank straps still attached to the mounts and didn't have any probs. Just use something between the tank itself and the straps and you'll be fine. Found some felt-like stuff at a plumbing supply shop and it worked great.

If you have help that's great but installing the new tank can be a bear especially trying to connect sender to steel-lines between the bed and body... leave the straps loose before you tighten the mounting bolts to the frame... you'll see! Don't forget to clean-up the sender's ground wire-to-body connection---wire brush.

I recommend installing a brand new sending unit of the best quality you can afford because it's too much work to do only to find out you're old or cheap replacement sender doesn't work right. I bought an ACDELCO unit for about $200 and it's working flawlessly so far. Also BE SURE to make a good seal with the sender's rubber gasket or you'll have a leak when gas sloshes around after filling-up.

Only other thing I might suggest (if it's not going to be a show-truck) is to just cut back the steel lines about a foot right where they connect up the the sender. I know this sounds like a 'hack' but it's so much easier to make this connection with the bed in place. While you're trying to install the tank it's real easy to kink the rubber at this point and you'll only know you've done that when the truck wont start--- fuel starvation.

After install is complete and BEFORE hooking up fue-line to fuel pump and carb, I suggest filling the tank w/about 5 gals of cheap gas and siphon a few gals from the steel line to a gas can, catching the flow in a white coffee filter... you'll be surprised how much sediment is still in your now new fuel system... don't want that going into the carb.

Take your time, give yourself a full day and it should be a success.

Good luck!

[BigAl]

My biggest problem was attaching the sending unit to the tank...

I fastened the lines to the sender with the sender diesconnected, then attached the sender to thetank...

[willett]

Originally Posted by BigAl

My biggest problem was attaching the sending unit to the tank...

I fastened the lines to the sender with the sender diesconnected, then attached the sender to thetank...

werd

[D-Day]

Piece of cake. Did it in about 15-20 minutes, no help. The impact gun zipped all the bolts off, save for one near a support bracket for the driveshaft, but the air ratchet got that one out. When the last bolt zipped out, it promptly and smoothly dropped one inch onto the buckets.

Crawled out, used the floor jack to lift it in the middle, removed the buckets, balanced it, lowered it to the ground, then slid it onto the creeper so I could move it more easily.

Oh yeah, and it was full.

[willett]

rough!
when i had to do mine, i had just fillerd er' up and a rock or something decided to push through the tank....
gave me an excuse to run my girl at full bore for a good 45 mins though

[Dave Kay]

Good start! But did I read correctly; the tank is full? I mean, like FULL, FULL~!? Yikes!

[D-Day]

Bit more than 3/4...

Advance Auto didn't have the selector valve or the filler neck hose I needed, and they couldn't order it. I'm gonna hit up Napa on Monday. Maybe Autozone, but Autozone seems pricy.

Opinions?

They will however have the tank in Tuesday, sending unit Monday, straps tomorrow...hopefully I can round up the last couple parts Monday and be ready for the job.

[East End K5]

D-Day, here's a pic of what i did to mine. When I yanked the old one I just sawzalled the straps off and was able to drop the tank quicktime! I also had the new tank sprayed with Linex (bedliner) prior to installation. Cost about $250 and well worth it. Put the new straps on and took about 2 hours (by myself) to install. That's including all new hoses and a new ground for the sender.......

[silvereagle07]

That tank looks good. Sweet idea.

[D-Day]

Indeed it does.

[D-Day]

Well hell, I just got back from spending more money. Had to order a filler hose from the dealer, that cost $35, and will take till Thursday to get. New selector valve from Napa was $55.

This is one expensive damn project...

[asphaltburner]

Yo! My thirty year old tanks were weathering nicely, so I just used some Permatex "Rust Treatment" paint-on rust stabilizer (NAPA) for the surface rust spots. It is cheap, and permanently stabilizes the surface rust to black primer. See my post of 11/26/08 above.
My switching valve was a bit expensive, but it swaps supply and return lines, as well as the fuel guage, from tank to tank. The filler neck I needed came from a whole selection at the local junkyard, and I spent a little on a Summit electric fuel pump with regulator. New senders were not cheap.
My fuel system was not a cheap part of my project, but WELL worth it when done!!
Todd.

[D-Day]

Yeah, I'll be glad to have done this with all new parts in the future. It'll be nice to have a brand new, almost entire fuel system.

Maybe I should do the driver side in the summer. I'd only need a tank, some hose, a sending unit and filler hose for that. And...straps of course.

[D-Day]

You know, I think I'll pick up some of that Permatex rust treatment for the gas tank brackets to clean up that rust look, since I'll be at Napa again anyway. If I had POR-15 on hand, I'd use that, but...