Gas tank replacement help

[69-72]

After seeing your thread and realizing I didn't have the u bolt I took a piece of 3/8" rod, bent it up and threaded it. Seems to work

[vancelot69]

So you threaded the ends yourself? That's pretty cool!

I finally got mine started today!

Novel incoming:

This morning I got out and did some testing. I took the line from the tank loose at the fuel pump and blew into it and had my wife listen at the filler to see if she could hear bubbles, and she did. Then I put my siphon in the line and tried to siphon some gas through. It seemed to come pretty quickly. It didn't start gushing, but I attributed that to not having a good seal (the siphon hose is significantly smaller diameter than the fuel line), then I tried putting a larger hose over a smaller hose and connecting it to the "in" side of the fuel pump and the big side into a gas can, but it didn't work. So I took the smaller clear hose from my siphon and put it in the smaller hose and tried again. It would suck a little bit of gas, but if the fuel pump wasn't actively pulling, it would fall back down. The thought that it might be due to a bad seal between the hoses crossed my mind, but the other failed tests led me to believe I had a bad fuel pump. So I went and bought a new one, but it still wouldn't start. Next thought was still on the hose from the sending unit to the metal line in the frame, but that one is a pain in the butt to get to, so I went with the aftermarket inline fuel filter that one of the previous owners put between the fuel pump and the carburetor. I went and got one that was clear so I could see if gas was being pumped without having to take the line off. Put that on and it was still barely getting gas into the filter. So I finally broke down and took off the line from the sending unit. It was a pain because I couldn't get my hand in between the bed and tank to get it off, so I had to drop the tank a few inches, just to the end of the thread on the j-bolt, and I had enough room. Took it off and held my thumb on one side and blew and air was escaping like mad. Further inspection revealed several cuts, the lip of the tank probably cut it when I was putting it in and tightening it up the first time. Put on a new piece of hose and it fired right up! That was such a relief. When it didn't start after putting on the new fuel pump I got pretty disheartened and was about to give up and call in the cavalry (get a mechanic). Glad I stuck it out and got it done!