Mounting a fuel pump inside the fuel tank for my LS swap (1 Viewer)

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Oct 29, 2017
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Sharon, TN
Update: Tanks Inc. sells the mounting ring and gasket now like I made so that will save you a lot of fabrication time on this project.

Since I didn’t find much info on this when I searched a while back, I thought I would make a post showing how I mounted the electric fuel pump inside tank on my 84 FJ60. I’m in the middle of a LS swap and I noticed most people mount the pump on the frame but I feel like it will much more dependable mounted in the tank.

The FJ60 tanks are already set up for a tank mounted pump from the factory. There is already a recessed mounting pad and the tank has a baffled pickup tray inside. It was meant to be!

I’m using a fuel pump kit from Tanks Inc. This is the kit designed for their EFI tanks so it doesn’t come with a mounting ring or gasket. They offer a retrofit pump that does come with a mounting ring and gasket but the mounting plate is much larger and I felt the smaller pump plate would fit the FJ60 tank better.

This is what I started with: a new tank from Toyota.

I started by finding the center of the opening and drilling a 2 1/4” hole using a hole saw.

Since this is a universal pump, you have to do some measuring and trimming of the feed line to get the pump pickup at the bottom of the tank. This was the finished product:

Now the hard part, I had to make a mounting ring to go on the inside of the tank so the mounting screws would have something to attach to. I found a scrap piece of 3/16” mild steel and first drilled a 3 1/4” hole using a hole saw. Then, working with the slug, I drilled a 2 1/4” hole ending up with a ring roughly 3 1/4 OD and 2 1/4 ID. I then transferred the mounting holes from the pump using transfer punches and drilled/tapped for 10-32 machine screws. I then transferred the holes to the tank and drilled the tank.

Next, I had to notch the ring so I could get it inside the tank.

Before the ring was welded, I used it as a pattern to make a mounting gasket.

I used the screws to hold the ring in place to tack weld it to the tank.

Then, I was ready to mount to pump. I used truss head machine screws because they have a larger head than pan head screws. This worked well with the rubber washers I used to seal the screws to the pump plate. I also used some Indian Head gasket sealant on the gasket per Tanks Inc’s instructions.

Here you can see, the pump landed perfectly in the pick up tray.

I still need to make a pigtail for the wiring harness but it’s pretty much complete. I hope this helps!
 
Last edited:
Great write up
 
Split ring is awesome tech. Cheers!
 
I’ll add, if you cut the smaller hole first, you could use the smaller saw as a pilot for the larger saw. This way, you can lock down the squared chunk of plate for drilling, rather than trying to keep a disk from spinning in a vise while applying rotational friction. Cheers!
 
Unless you’re using a drill press, you have to cut the large hole first. Otherwise, you’d never be able to keep the hole saw centered on the second hole.
 
Ah but I can;)
 
Hole saw in a hole saw, you’re welcome. And, yes, I have done. Hole hawg works great but it’s hell on the saws....wear goggles.
 
Update: Tanks Inc. sells the mounting ring and gasket now like I made so that will save you a lot of fabrication time on this project.
 

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