86 Blazer tank swap??

[muddpile]

A friend of mine told me he saw a 67-72 with a rear mounted tank, and the guy told him it was out of an 86 blazer. It apparently held 20 some gallons and didn't hang that low. I was wondering if this is an actual swap that has been done, or if it was a 67-72 blazer tank swapped in and a mistaken year? I can get an 86 blazer tank for a really good price, and if it will fit good, I'll do it, but if not I'll hold out for a 67-72. Anyone have any info. Pics would be great. Thanks!

[qksilver]

get out the measuring tape.........

[chevy_fatman]

Yes it has been and it'll fit, you mwy have to relocate a crossmember if it gets on that way, just make sure the tank you get comes from a carburated truck as the ones with EFI may be different.

[Stano]

Yes the 73-87 burb/blazer tank will work, but you have to do a little fabricating and make some changes. The rear crossmember will need to be moved to the rear of the frame and braces will need to be made for the top of the tank to rest against. The next thing is to fabricate straps for the bottom of the tank to hold it up. It is not hard if you have a good idea how it was mounted it the doner vehicle. Some of the tank can be seen if you have a rear roll pan but if you have a rear bumper it will hide a bunch of it.

[extd56]

Get the crossmember out of the donor truck along with the straps and they should work in your truck. Make sure you bring a grinder as they are riveted in. Ask me how I know......

[muddpile]

Thanks for the help guys! I may have to do this swap, as the price on the tank is pretty decent. What does everyone do about fuel line? Just run new steel from the tank right to the fuel pump? Also, will the stock Blazer sender work with the stock 72 fuel gauge?

[Mudder]

Get the sending unit that comes with it. I believe the 86 was the first year for fuel injection and the tank will have a pan in it. The older sending units will ot work with this tank. I know I bought an 86 tank new and the older sending unit wouldnt work. The tank I have now came out of an 85 Blazer I believe and its a 31 or 33 gallon tank. I will post a few pics on how I did mine. I did this back in the early 90's from just looking at my 86 Blazer's tank and deciding that I was going to do it to my truck to get the tank out of the cab. I may be wrong but I think a tank from a 72 Blazer is about 17 gallons so it wouldnt hang down as low. I can compare mine to my daughters if needed.

[alblogg]

Originally Posted by Stano

Yes the 73-87 burb/blazer tank will work, but you have to do a little fabricating and make some changes. The rear crossmember will need to be moved to the rear of the frame and braces will need to be made for the top of the tank to rest against. The next thing is to fabricate straps for the bottom of the tank to hold it up. It is not hard if you have a good idea how it was mounted it the doner vehicle. Some of the tank can be seen if you have a rear roll pan but if you have a rear bumper it will hide a bunch of it.

I see you put your filler on your bed side did this come off the Blazer too? I have a step side I was wondering how to do my filler, get one off a later year or what.

[Stano]

I have some pics as I was doing it, but not scanned into the puter. It is a opening from a 88-98 chevy fullsize. It is on the left side of that body style, but I put mine on the right. To do this I obviously flipped it upside down. I used the door from a 88 because they didn't have the bracket to hold the gas cap when removed and when upside down it would be useless anyway. It was a pretty easy project. I had to open up the inner wall to make room for the filler neck though and I boxed the opening on the inside of the bed. I still need to make some changes to my fillerneck. It came from a 71 chevy van(what I had sittin around) and it is too straight up and is a little difficult to get the gas nozzle into without it contacting the top of the opening. If you would like to see pics of the process I have a couple just PM me and let me know. I will have my wife scan them in and resize them. But be patient as I don't get on real regular(trying to change that LOL). Very busy.

[Stano]

Lets try this

[Stano]

ok that worked lets add these