Putting the new spring hangers on the car and it is a lot easier to get to the inside frame bolts if I drop the tank. This got me thinking why not delete the spare tire well and put a full width tank on the car. The tank on it looks almost new and even has the bottom drain on it. But it’s only 16 gallons. The blown 505 BBC will hopefully get 10MPG on the road. Would it be worth it to go 24 or 30 gallons? If I don’t get 10 mpg that 16 gallon tank seems pretty small. Thoughts?
I have a 25 gallon for sale. 10 inches deep x 30 inches wide x 20 inches front to back. Setup for you. has 10 and 12 hookups at bottom of tank. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/RHC-18-0225-SU $275 shipped.
The only help I can offer is this: Thru the '70s and '80s I ran a number of vans (5) for a delivery service. Buy them new, run the snot out them, and a write off. The one I liked and cared for the most, and miss the most, had a 32 gallon tank. I could hit the same pump every day.
I stole a 40 gallon tank out of my 77 suburban. Modified the filler neck and patched the old filler neck hole. The 16 gallon repo tank I purchased was inefficient for what was up front. Plus sending unit, perfect, access door, perfect, 3/8” fuel line, return line. Vent line. Pics keep posting double, sorry about that. If you want exhaust out the back forget it with this huge tank.
A bigger gas tank is always good, but think about it. How long do you wanna be in the car at 1 time? I just Drove back from Vegas in my 55 and it's got a 18 gallon tank but I stop every couple hours. I could probably make the whole trip in one shot. But it's nice to get out and move around a bit. Just something to think about.
Depending on how much you drive the car, a bigger tank could mean the gas has a better chance of going stale. If you go on long trips, a bigger tank is good but if you just take it out on occasion maybe not so much.
Tanks inc has brand new factory stock looking ones. Standard at 16 gallons, the one I chose was the extra capacity. It's only 18 gallons but I'm ok with that. Modify it with fittings etc you need. I put -8an stuff and a 1/2" pickup into the baffle of mine. I'm using a robmcc mechanical fuel pump with return line
Thank you all for the feedback. The tank in the car looks new and is a 16 gallon tank with a bottom drain. I generally drive until I need gas. At 10 MPG that would only give me 150 miles between stops. At 6, I couldn't even range 100 miles. My last trip to Ohio from central Iowa was over 6 hrs nonstop thanks to my OT 40+ MPG car. Running E85 is the source of most of my concerns. I worry about finding fuel stops while traveling and having enough range to reach the stops. My second concern is tank material as E85 is not friendly with aluminum. Specifically, E85 has a high affinity for water that leads to corrosion in aluminum tanks if fuel is left in them. Rhodes says their tanks are ok with E85 as long as you don't leave the fuel stored there for months. @FastCarl953 has been contacted about his tank, thanks for reaching out.
I ordered a 15 gallon fuel cell for my '39 Chev so I could go further without refilling. Never checked it by measuring when I got it, and went ahead with my build. A couple years later when I started to make my first test drive I dumped 5 gallons in the tank, and stopped at a gas station to fill it up. It only took 7 gallons! So my tank was a damn 12 gallon, and of course no way to return it by then. I'm not getting 10 mpg as you are hoping for, and with an OD trans I get around 16 mpg with a 430HP SBC engine. But I stop every 150 miles and fill up on trips, and really have gotten used to that, and don't find it an inconvenience as I thought it would be. Still wish it was 3 more gallons, but I wont spend the money to change mine.
I installed a 15 gallon '65 Mustang tank in a '51 Chevy. Cheap new. Also comes in a 20 gallon version from, I think, a '70 Mustang. Cut a hole in the floor, drop it in. It will require a fuel gauge compatible with a Ford sending unit.
When I find a station around here, that has trouble free gasoline, ethanol and all. I prefer to fill up there, than stopping out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, filling up with fucked up gas and wind up calling road service to tow her home . Bad gas is real, ethanol is usually the culprit. What’s wrong with packing a few extra gallons?
Nothing is wrong with packing extra gallons. But if you know that’s what you want to do, do it the right way and put in a bigger tank so you don’t have gas cans rolling around the trunk in case of an accident. Even if the don’t blow up, who likes cruising around in a car that reeks of gas. And with the battery in the trunk, storing gas cans there too isn’t the best option.
My post,#4. explains that I installed a 40 gallons gas tank in my 53 Chevy. I repeat 40 gallons tank. Post #5 and #6 , a tank that size is an overkill. My, #11 post I made a statement that "packing a few extra gallons" don't hurt. The extra packed gallons are in the 40 gallons tank. One more time- FORTY GALLONS TANK-. Break-out the TRIPLE A CARD, thats A.A.A. and call for a tow truck. They might be able to yank your head out of your AZZZZZ
I removed the spare tire well, welded in a flat panel. Installed a 20 gallon 1964-67 chevelle gas tank I modified to side filler so I could keep the original 1950 gas filler neck. Used the 64 chevelle sending unit since they were still 0-30 ohm. ('65 and later is 0-90 ohm) Used the chevelle style trunk floor braces and straps to mount the tank to the trunk floor. Tank fit perfectly between the rear frame rails without cutting either the tank or frame rails.
Please note: I did not say you were packing gas cans. Nor did I state the obvious fact that 40, FORTY, or even 4T gallons is not just a FEW EXTRA GALLONS. I did however state that the practice of using gas cans to carry a FEW extra gallons in the trunk is not prudent. It was nice of you to realize we don’t have access to the naval surplus portholes here in Iowa and suggest a wrecker. Out of curiosity, how long and how many surgeons did it take to install that porthole in your bellybutton so you can see to read posts? I mean clearly your head must also be up your AZZZZZ.
The Jalopy Journal
