Prepping and installing a new gas tank, filler neck and skid plate.

[Red Merle]

Made more progress. I decided to take the bottom down to bare metal as it had more surface rust than I originally thought. The top of the tank will be cleaned up and have some of it down to bare metal, but it's in much better shape than the bottom was. I will just POR 15 the bottom and on the bare parts of the top and then top coat the top with good paint. I am going to reglue the rubber pads on the whole tank once it dries.

 

[Red Merle]

Got it finished for the most part. Still need to clean up all of the hardware and install the rubber pads but I have hope my efforts will last another 25 years. I am happy with the way it ended up.

 

[steffan]

strong work - looks great

 

[Red Merle]

strong work - looks great

Thanks man! Yah, as usual, I made this into a bigger project than it needed to be. I am thinking I will just turn this thread into a how to thread once I get around to installing the new system since I didn't find anything too comprehensive using the search function. I still need to order a few more odds and ends and get ready to tackle removing the old stuff, including figuring out how to jack up the body to separate it from the frame without damaging a bunch of stuff.

I am also wondering if anyone has had any luck snaking in new fuel lines? I have two of them already and the last one is supposedly coming in next week. I am hoping to save the plastic clips that hold them together underneath, but I did buy some new metal brackets, as I am sure those will be shot.

 

[slow95z]

i have lifted the body off the frame to do body lifts in the past. just get a block of wood and use either the floor pan where the seats bolt down or the wheel well (rear only) where the seat belts bolt down. we normally just use tanker bars for the front.

 

[Red Merle]

i have lifted the body off the frame to do body lifts in the past. just get a block of wood and use either the floor pan where the seats bolt down or the wheel well (rear only) where the seat belts bolt down. we normally just use tanker bars for the front.

What are tanker bars? I will take your advice on this as I know you have done it a bunch of times.

I prepped all of the bolts and fastners that I could reach with 18 months of bar chain oil and I have gone over everything I could reach with the needle scaler. I bought a new(aftermarket) set of the rear most body mounts and plan to order more from Mr. T if I need them. I am going to remove the rear seats so I can get to the access panel and am hoping to get all of the gas out of the old tank so that I can use heat if I need to on the old bolts that hold the straps on.

Once I get the old tank out, I am going to spend at least a day working on the metal that is under the tank as I am sure it needs some attention. Then I hope to snake in the new fuel lines and get them connected. I am considering removing the whole front fender at the same time to give me a little more room to get to the fuel filter and also to install that new fender I bought from you at the same time. Not sure if that is a good idea though because I am worried about having all the stuff that attaches to the inner fender left dangling. Any advice on that idea?

I think I have most of the parts I need except for a few gaskets for the tank. I am planning on doing this in a five day stretch over the 4th of July. I am hoping that gives me enough time to do a good job and get it all buttoned back up.

 

[slow95z]

 

[OGBeno]

Some pointers here are well:

My next project...

 

[Cruzerman]

That tank looks great. I'm going to be taking off my subtank and now am thinking that something like this would be something to do while it is out. What POR product did you use? I see many on Amazon. And besides the sanding / grinding, what other prep was needed?

 

[Red Merle]

That tank looks great. I'm going to be taking off my subtank and now am thinking that something like this would be something to do while it is out. What POR product did you use? I see many on Amazon. And besides the sanding / grinding, what other prep was needed?

I just used regular POR 15. The auto body supply store that I buy my stuff from said that if I was blasting, I should use the POR 15 Metal Prep product, so I did after scrubbing with Simple Green and water after I ground and blasted everything down to either clean metal or a few areas on the top that still had good paint. I did two coats of POR 15 on the botoom and one on the bare spots on the top and then did 2 coats of Rustoleum Professional Satin Black.

 

[Red Merle]

Some pointers here are well:

My next project...

Thanks! Is that valve assembly part #77380-26010 still available and what is the thing that screws it down called. It has the little pipe running out of it. The gasket on mine is bad and I am not sure if I need to buy the whole doodad or I can just get the gasket?

 

[Red Merle]

I call those spud bars. I have a couple of them.

 

[Red Merle]

Pulled the tape after using it to hold down the rubber pads(still have one left to glue. The tape was in the way). Got a little crazy with the glue, but nobody will ever see it again, I hope.

Nests in the skid plate nicely.

 

[Red Merle]

Oh yeah, I also did the vinegar thing and I am glad I did. I used my garden sprayer to spray the inside with the vinegar and a bunch of nice crud came out. No rust particles, just lots of fine dust. I would do that again.

 

[Red Merle]

I also decided to sneak in a desiccant tape ladder before I sealed 'er up. I am a month out from tackling this project, so controlling the environment inside the tank seems like it makes sense. I am hoping my boys soak up anything that even lips off about being moist.

 

[nukegoat]

I also decided to sneak in a desiccant tape ladder before I sealed 'er up. I am a month out from tackling this project, so controlling the environment inside the tank seems like it makes sense. I am hoping my boys soak up anything that even lips off about being moist.

View attachment 1710279

Smart

 

[Red Merle]

Smart

Index finger to temple smaht.

 

[Red Merle]

I got started on removing the old tank today. I can't believe that turd didn't leak. The skid plate will be my entry for the Rust Belt Thunder Nationals Terminal Cancer Award this year.

The body above the tank was actually pretty good. I will just do a little wire wheeling on it to knock down some of the surface rust spots and touch it up with POR15 and then coat the rest in oil. I am debating on dinking around with the lines now. They actually look pretty good and it would be a lot more work to replace them. I will take a closer look tomorrow and decide.

Getting the tank out was a tight fit. I hope I can get the new one in without scarring it all up.

 

[Red Merle]

Made further progress today. I got the body separated from the frame and got the new filler neck in and cleaned up a bunch of rust that I couldn't get to with the tank installed.

I was tired after 7 hours of crawling around under the truck, but I couldn't get the tank in. I mangled the little hose that goes to the roll-over cut off valve as it got hung up on the stupid e-brake cable and decided to call it a day since I had to pull the old hose off the old tank and clean it up and POR15 it but I am thinking I may just pull the rear driveshaft so I can use my floor jack to get the tank up rather than try to do it alone by bench pressing it up and tipping it right to clear the drive shaft.

Any tips on doing that beyond using match marks as described in the FSM? I am not going to pull it apart, just get it out of the way. I may only loosen one side if that gives me enough room to get the tank in.

Here is the method I used for separating the body from the frame. It worked fine. Pro tip: Don't use soft wood like a one by four pine board. I started with that and was pressing up under the tailgate and it was starting to give so I backed out and used a shorter, thicker piece of really hard oak that was cut into boards 190 years ago. No flex when I used that and the push point I used is better. The vertical board is just a 4x4 cedar post left over from a deck project. See photo.

 

[Red Merle]

I got the new one installed and put a full tank of gas in her. Man, this was a lot of work. I know I am slow mechanic, but this took me almost three full days of work and that doesn't include all the time I spent prepping the new tank, skid plate, straps, etc.

I ended up dropping the rear drive shaft from the rear diff so that I could just push it aside and then I used my floor jack that I mounted a board to in order to get it into place which was MUCH easier than trying to muscle it up there alone and then try to hold it up while I fumbled to get the straps on. No real snags, it just took time to get all of the old fasteners loose and then cleaning them all up and POR15ing them.

I decided to skip replacing the fuel lines as I couldn't find any rust problems on them and it would have added another day to the project. I am debating on whether I should return them, or hang on to them, just in case something happens down the road and I am pretty sure I bought the last few available in the US.

Very happy with the result and I am now confident that the rusty mess that was in there won't be the thing that kills this truck. 100% worth it.

I hope this thread helps someone else down the road.