Fuel Tank Fun

[herb101]

OK - nearly done....

The new tank is in (fit perfectly now). I replaced all of the hoses for the fuel pickup, the filler vent, the two tank vents and the filler neck hose (horizontal and vertical). I also ditched all of the tower clamps and spring clamps in favor of new SS worm drive clamps.

Here is a picture of the newly installed neck. I did not bother with a wide shot, as it looks just like the original...


Here is a shot of the old stuff - kinda looks ready to replace, huh?


Here is a shot of the new goodies waiting to go in. All of this and a cheapy 2-1/2" tach ran about $65.


Close shot of hose detail for filler hose...


Close shot of hose detail for fuel pickup hose...


Close shot of hose detail for filler vent hose...


Close shot of hose detail for tank vent hose...


As for the "nearly" part...the tank is in and full, but there are a few more sections of rubber vent hose that are split and leak when full (near the rear bumper). I'll track those down and replace with my leftover hose. Sending unit works great too.

Thanks for letting me ramble on....
Herb
I'll get a couple shots of the final results tomorrow, as it's too dark now.

[Aarons72s]

Tank looks great, herb101. Glad you finally got it installed. I agree I hate chasing down all those old rubber fuel lines, just when you think you got them all another one shows itself, ie leaks.
Aaron

[herb101]

I forgot to post these before...

Here are the final installed shots of the tank/filler areas





Herb

[Yukon Jack]

Originally Posted by Yukon Jack

Good luck - I'm so glad my tank was in good shape when I pulled it to have it cleaned out!

So I spoke to soon - filled up my tank and it leaked pretty bad - it wasn't fixable so had to get a new tank. Got the old tube swapped onto the new tank yesterday but I'm having fitment problems.

I have a couple questions. I can't remember, does the filler tube sit in front of the rear body mount or behind it? Having fitment problems either way but need to know that.

Secondly, does the tank's lip that goes around the entire tank sit between the c-section of the frame or does the tank's lip sit under the frame? The lip looks wider and is causing a lot of trouble getting the tank into position.

These tanks kinda suck

[jaros44sr]

Well, I never fooled with my tank so I guess it's stock! Filler is mounted to the front of the body mount and my tank sits below the frame rail and doesn't touch....But I do have a broken strap

[Yukon Jack]

Thanks, looks like the neck might need to be tweaked a little. I thought it set in front of that body mount but just didn't fit either way so I thought I better ask before I screwd it up! Hopefully I can get it to fit without too much problem.

[71swb4x4]

I can second what jaros said. Neck in front of the body mount. Lip under the frame. The lip on mine was touching the frame, but had a piece of rubber on each side between the lip and the frame. I assume it was there to prevent squeaks.

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by 71swb4x4

I can second what jaros said. Neck in front of the body mount. Lip under the frame. The lip on mine was touching the frame, but had a piece of rubber on each side between the lip and the frame. I assume it was there to prevent squeaks.

Yep your right on the rubber pc., forgot to mention that...

[bigdon-70blazer]

Here is a question for you all. My tank had a couple of welded pieces on it and it seeped gas out out it. I will send a pic of the tank later today. I had planned on buying a new one until I read how much trouble everyone has with the new ones, glad I kept the old one! It has been empty for over a year, I am thinking about just repairing the old tank and reinforcing the welds or cutting out the old fix and starting over then sealing the tank with the stuff from eastwood. I have mentioned this on another thread but I would like to know if you guys know if a 71-72 suburban tank is the same as my 1970 blazer 4WDblazer? A guy down the road from me has one languishing behind his house. This was a great thread for gas tank issues. I am sending a lot of pics for reference because I took a lot of pics when tearing down my 70

[Jtrux]

I really want to replace the tank in my truck and seeing this really sucks. Good thing for me is that i'm a plumber's apprentice and I solder all day long. It would be nothing for me to heat, remove, reheat and then solder away. I'm glad I started that job now.

[Yukon Jack]

Bigdon - I'm thinking your tank looks pretty bad from the outside and wonder how bad it is inside. May not be worth saving.

I ended up cutting the filler neck off of the tank that the guy put on yesterday and used about a 4" piece of fuel hose that goes directly off of the tank then to the old filler neck that was attached to the tank. That fixed my problem.

So, for me, it would have been cheaper to have just left the new tank like it was when I bought it, hack sawed off the neck from my old tank and used the short piece of rubber fuel hose to connect the two.

[bigdon-70blazer]

Anybody have an idea as to my question about the 71-72 suburban gas tank size?

[71swb4x4]

If I remember correctly the filler neck for the suburban is in a different place. I can't recall how it's different though.
As far as the size goes it's the same.

[Yukon Jack]

Just wanted to add some additional info in relation to the tank I bought. Again, to make this particular tank fit I cut the neck off the old tank and used a piece of 1 3/8" fuel hose to attach my old neck to the short fitting on the new tank.

The box from my tank says Fuel Tank Kit and gives the following number: 69-9310-BKIT. The manufacture info was torn off of the box.

I got it from www.bowtiebits.com for $250 and it comes with the tank, the straps, a sending unit, new sending unit seal and lock ring. It did not include the rubbber strips that go between the tank and the straps.

Here are a couple pics of the old tank and the new tank









Here are a couple pics to show how I used the old tank's filler neck. About a 4" piece of hose goes from the new tanks existing filler neck and attaches to the bent piece that I cut off my old tank, then it connects to the long piece that will go up the side of the Blazer.

[Thealien]

I finally soldered my fill tune to the aftermarket tank. Not a fun day! The silver solder on the new tank was very difficult to melt and the two studs that hold the filler tube in place fell out. I used the studs from the old filler (but they fit loosely and were hard to get in with the filler tube and get nuts on all at the same time). I then soldered everything back up with regular solder. It did not want to stick to the tank and the tank leaked the first two times. Finally on the third time it held and seems solid. I expect to be installing the tank this week sometime. I'll post how it goes. I may even add pictures.