TA_C10: Stage 1

[TA_C10]

Tanks Inc PA-4 Install - LMC 21 Gallon Side Fill tank


The PO had relocated the gas tank to the rear and used a SummitRacing universal fuel cell with baffles. Worked fine and I originally planned to reuse the tank until I did some extra research on my new fuel system(fuel injected). This truck is going to be a DD, so a quiet and LONG LASTING pump was in order. So I sold the poly fuel cell for $100 which helped purchase the new LMC tank. I went with the LMC tank and PA-4 fuel pump kit because they were much cheaper than the popular boyds tank and also held more fuel.

I wanted the side fill and extra capacity. The truck isn't "draggin crete" with a 4.5 / 5.5 drop and with plans to use a normal 2wd bumper I think I will be fine. I may have to paint the tank if its too visible but no big deal to me. I also plan to put the filler in the bed stake hole up top, or maybe behind the marker light. Not sure yet.

With the LM7 going in for reliability I also needed a new in-tank pump setup with baffle for slosh. So I decided to go with the TANKS INC PA-4 unit. Comes with a Wahlbro 255 lph pump and a little pan that acts as a small baffle in bottom of tank. Here is how I installed the unit.



The PA-4 kit is universal for fuel injection systems. Comes zinc coated with a drop arm that can be cut to fit your tank. After researching the LMC tank I knew there was a flat spot on the top of the tank so I ordered it up and prayed it was a large enough area for the PA-4. Turned out to be perfect size.










I followed pretty much the same video directions provided by tanksinc.com website but with a few modifications... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3jyyOGlD9o

The PA-4 comes with a slotted ring to mount the unit. I used the ring to mark by hole to cut. The PA-4 hole diameter is 4.5". I found large hole saw blades and bit unit at harbor freight, turned out the largest hole saw was only 4.25" but it turned out to be almost perfect size to use because it gave me the ability to use a die grinder and diamond bit to enlarge the hole to the perfect size of the ring. The 4.25 hole saw doesn't cut a perfect hole










Then I slid the PA-4 unit into the tank and marked the front/back for reference later. Then turned the unit upside down and marked the holes to drill.











I then punched the center of my marks, drilled the holes, inserted the slotted ring inside the tank using supplied screws and tack welded it in place with my mig. I cleaned up the welds with the die grinder. Wasn't much to it, pretty simple.














Here is where it got tricky. Because my tank was so large, the PA-4 unit was only setup to be used with a maximum tank depth of 10.5" and my tank depth was 13 and 1/16". So I went down the local hardware store and bought a small piece of galvanized sheet metal. Galvanized because it will be submersed in fuel and I didn't want it rusting. I cut it to size, bend the sides, drilled holes in the center for the screws and it mated up pretty easily to the original unit extending the PA-4 unit the extra few inches I needed so the baffle tank sat on the bottom of gas tank.
















Before finishing the install I wanted to seal up the welds I made on the top of the tank. So I bought some gas tank sealer from Eastwood and it turned out to be some really good stuff. I put 2 coats on.



I then








I then proceeded to install the rest of the components in the kit. I used Permatex gasket maker(fuel resistant) under the cork seal that came with the kit and I put a little antiseize on the screw threads as well.



















Because the unit was extended I also had to buy another foot of submersible fuel hose because the kit only came with a 6" piece. That stuff is expensive!! All in all the unit turned out pretty solid. The wahlbro should provide plenty of fuel for future mods to the LS and now that it's in the tank it should be quiet and cool running.

The top fittings are 1/4" NPT so I will adapt that to AN style fittings for the fuel lines. The 3rd fitting is the rollover vent valve. And the 2 wires for fuel pump will be soldered and waterproofed later on when I get the engine harness completed and fuel pump relay installed.

I capped off the old sending unit supply line but plan to still use it for fuel level gauge.

[TA_C10]

Here are a few more pics of inside the tank. Not really useful just curious what was going on in there while I had a 4.5" hole cut in the top And I cleaned the tank out when I was done with a shop vac first. Then I put a couple strong magnets in the bottom, poured in some WD-40 lubricant, sloshed it around a bunch and that got all the rest of the shavings out. I poured out the WD-40 and wiped out the rest with a rag. Worked good.

[Scurry67]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Tanks Inc PA-4 Install - LMC 21 Gallon Side Fill tank
I also plan to put the filler in the bed stake hole up top, or maybe behind the marker light. Not sure yet.

I vote bed stake pocket filler. I'm looking at doing it too and with a flush cap.

This was a photo in a different thread. I'd probably make my cap more flush and paint it to blend in to the bed. Still looks good though.

[cornerstone]

Very nice write up on the extra large tank install. Someone down the road will really appreciate this since it saves money over the Boyds set up AND increases capacity.

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by Scurry67

I vote bed stake pocket filler. I'm looking at doing it too and with a flush cap.

This was a photo in a different thread. I'd probably make my cap more flush and paint it to blend in to the bed. Still looks good though.

Attachment 1875168

Yeah I am probably going that route, I just like the idea of it in that position better than anywhere else. I know several have done this but its just cool.

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Very nice write up on the extra large tank install. Someone down the road will really appreciate this since it saves money over the Boyds set up AND increases capacity.

Thank you sir. I can only hope that others will find this useful when doing their trucks. After all I have been gathering most of my information and help from you guys on this site for a while now so it's the least I can do is try and contribute!!

[towstrap72]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Tanks Inc PA-4 Install - LMC 21 Gallon Side Fill tank


The PO had relocated the gas tank to the rear and used a SummitRacing universal fuel cell with baffles. Worked fine and I originally planned to reuse the tank until I did some extra research on my new fuel system(fuel injected). This truck is going to be a DD, so a quiet and LONG LASTING pump was in order. So I sold the poly fuel cell for $100 which helped purchase the new LMC tank. I went with the LMC tank and PA-4 fuel pump kit because they were much cheaper than the popular boyds tank and also held more fuel.

I wanted the side fill and extra capacity. The truck isn't "draggin crete" with a 4.5 / 5.5 drop and with plans to use a normal 2wd bumper I think I will be fine. I may have to paint the tank if its too visible but no big deal to me. I also plan to put the filler in the bed stake hole up top, or maybe behind the marker light. Not sure yet.

With the LM7 going in for reliability I also needed a new in-tank pump setup with baffle for slosh. So I decided to go with the TANKS INC PA-4 unit. Comes with a Wahlbro 255 lph pump and a little pan that acts as a small baffle in bottom of tank. Here is how I installed the unit.



The PA-4 kit is universal for fuel injection systems. Comes zinc coated with a drop arm that can be cut to fit your tank. After researching the LMC tank I knew there was a flat spot on the top of the tank so I ordered it up and prayed it was a large enough area for the PA-4. Turned out to be perfect size.










I followed pretty much the same video directions provided by tanksinc.com website but with a few modifications... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3jyyOGlD9o

The PA-4 comes with a slotted ring to mount the unit. I used the ring to mark by hole to cut. The PA-4 hole diameter is 4.5". I found large hole saw blades and bit unit at harbor freight, turned out the largest hole saw was only 4.25" but it turned out to be almost perfect size to use because it gave me the ability to use a die grinder and diamond bit to enlarge the hole to the perfect size of the ring. The 4.25 hole saw doesn't cut a perfect hole










Then I slid the PA-4 unit into the tank and marked the front/back for reference later. Then turned the unit upside down and marked the holes to drill.











I then punched the center of my marks, drilled the holes, inserted the slotted ring inside the tank using supplied screws and tack welded it in place with my mig. I cleaned up the welds with the die grinder. Wasn't much to it, pretty simple.














Here is where it got tricky. Because my tank was so large, the PA-4 unit was only setup to be used with a maximum tank depth of 10.5" and my tank depth was 13 and 1/16". So I went down the local hardware store and bought a small piece of galvanized sheet metal. Galvanized because it will be submersed in fuel and I didn't want it rusting. I cut it to size, bend the sides, drilled holes in the center for the screws and it mated up pretty easily to the original unit extending the PA-4 unit the extra few inches I needed so the baffle tank sat on the bottom of gas tank.
















Before finishing the install I wanted to seal up the welds I made on the top of the tank. So I bought some gas tank sealer from Eastwood and it turned out to be some really good stuff. I put 2 coats on.



I then








I then proceeded to install the rest of the components in the kit. I used Permatex gasket maker(fuel resistant) under the cork seal that came with the kit and I put a little antiseize on the screw threads as well.



















Because the unit was extended I also had to buy another foot of submersible fuel hose because the kit only came with a 6" piece. That stuff is expensive!! All in all the unit turned out pretty solid. The wahlbro should provide plenty of fuel for future mods to the LS and now that it's in the tank it should be quiet and cool running.

The top fittings are 1/4" NPT so I will adapt that to AN style fittings for the fuel lines. The 3rd fitting is the rollover vent valve. And the 2 wires for fuel pump will be soldered and waterproofed later on when I get the engine harness completed and fuel pump relay installed.

I capped off the old sending unit supply line but plan to still use it for fuel level gauge.

im interested in this but i see no pics could you help me out

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by towstrap72

im interested in this but i see no pics could you help me out

I got your message yesterday. I'm working on it man. I will restore these 2 posts first. Basically all my links were cut the way I used to post pictures and I need to go back and redo them all. I have all the new links ready to go I just need our moderators to open up these old posts for me so I can edit them...

I sent a PM to the moderators 70LonghornCST last night but no reply yet.

@70LonghornCST, @leddzepp

.

[TA_C10]

Sheet metal updates - Passenger side cab corner


Well my cab corner is in. The reproduction piece really didn't fit well. And unfortunately I didn't realize how bad in was until I started tacking it in and wrapping it around the cab as I went. More on this later.

I started out with weld thru primer on the body and the part but I just can't stand how easily the paint rubs off so I scuffed it all down again and shot some eastwood rust converter on it. It states its also an epoxy along with rust conversion so I hope to have good luck with it from here on out. I end up wire wheeling away the paint where i'm going to be welding anyways so what's the point??

I started out like this.....







And ended up like this...










The rest is just cab corner welding. I will say however, switching to .023 mig wire is SOOOO much better than .030. The grinding process is less and it seems to just weld easier on thin sheet metal.

So this piece from the side, can you see how it bows out towards the bottom?







Well I ended up cutting a very small pie cut out to bring the lower part of cab corner back in towards the truck, but the floor pan sticks out that far so the cab corner never would have been straight down anyways.














It didn't bring it in much farther but my pictures don't show the REAL comparison. It helped. Trust me...














The way I did this cab corner was I started on the door side, tacked in the spot welds and then started wrapping the cab corner around to towards the back of the cab and as I was doing this I realized it was off. Which led me to the pie cut(PS: I can't get to the inside of the cab to grind down that pie cut so this needs to be fixed before hand). I realized that just sitting the cab corner over the existing hole and just "eye balling" it wasn't going to work on this type of piece. You really need 2 hands to hold this thing in place and a level. Grind till you get it right the first time, over and over, then burn the piece in. So I will get help on the drivers side


I also still have not welded the cab corner from the underneath side to the floor pan so this will pull it in just a little more as well. I plan to do this work when I pull the cab off the frame one last time for undercoating. As for the rest of the cab corner fitment, it didn't have enough material under the door side to meet with the outer rocker panel so I will also have to weld in a small piece of sheet that I bend myself to connect the cab corner to the rocker.

[TA_C10]

Another Rocker Panel - Drivers side


Moved to the drivers side rocker panel. Cleaned up the floor and door opening with wax and grease remover then acetone paint prep, sprayed it down with epoxy rust converter. Let that dry 24 hours.








If you guys remember I didn't brace my cab when I cut all the rockers out so it sprung like a chicken forcing me to re-align everything myself. I did the best I could with the floor pan using old pieces I cut out and references from each side of the floor to get everything lined back up. It turned out pretty decent, I think I got close as everything seemed to line up well. We will see when everything is done . I test fitted the rocker panel and marked the rear piller where I wanted it and marked where it met the floor pan. Pulled the rocker back off and drilled the holes for the bolts to hold the pillar in place. Last time I forgot this step and had to do it after I had the rocker installed....








Then I test fit the rocker a few more times, drilled my spot weld holes and marked the hole locations to grind off paint.










Got it tacked in a little at a time refitting the door to make sure my gaps were good and finally burned it in for good and coated with epoxy rust converter. It's just what I have right now, rust converter not needed but its an epoxy as well soo...

















.

[TA_C10]

Roof Seam - Welded up


While I worked on my rocker panel I finished cleaning out the seam sealer on the roof panel. You can't get it all out that's for sure. So I'm pretty sure I have a few contaminated welds in there... I used a wire wheel to get the majority out of the seam, then I used a sharpened chisel to get the rest out. I found that the seam sealer that was sunken down in between the panels would heat up and rise to the surface after a few welds so I would take the chisel and keep scraping it out when it surfaces as I welded the seam.










I'm so close I can taste it.... Here is my list of items left to body work:

1. Drivers cab corner
2. Gas filler hole
3. Rear window seam(very small section of rust)
4. Firewall holes and smoothing.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Roof Seam - Welded up


While I worked on my rocker panel I finished cleaning out the seam sealer on the roof panel. You can't get it all out that's for sure. So I'm pretty sure I have a few contaminated welds in there... I used a wire wheel to get the majority out of the seam, then I used a sharpened chisel to get the rest out. I found that the seam sealer that was sunken down in between the panels would heat up and rise to the surface after a few welds so I would take the chisel and keep scraping it out when it surfaces as I welded the seam.










I'm so close I can taste it.... Here is my list of items left to body work:

1. Drivers cab corner
2. Gas filler hole
3. Rear window seam(very small section of rust)
4. Firewall holes and smoothing.

Wow you've been busy! Good progress and it must feel good to be nearing the end of the metal work.

[Andyking1203]

Looking good!!! Are you also gonna weld up the seam inside the cab as well?

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by Kronald_70GMC

Wow you've been busy! Good progress and it must feel good to be nearing the end of the metal work.

I still have lots to weld but yeah i'm definitely getting closer

Originally Posted by Andyking1203

Looking good!!! Are you also gonna weld up the seam inside the cab as well?

Nah, inside seam is gonna stay. Prob gonna get a headliner at some point.

[TA_C10]

Driver Side Cab Corner - PIC HEAVY!!


So today I started to tackle my last cab corner. I didn't like how the passenger side turned out so I went a different route this time. If you look back in my thread you will see the passenger side fit 'OK', but it bowed out at the bottom and therefore wasn't flush when I put a level on it.

The drivers side I cut it all up and pieced the sucker in there. It was worse fitting than the passenger side. It was actually too short from left to right. However on left(door end) I really liked the lip and how it fit wrapping around the corner so did just a little bit of grinding on the lip and sized it up, then cut it off around the corner(cut it in half).

Here it is before I cut in half, you can see the lip looks good on left side. But then next pic you can see how it bows out again like passenger side.










Here you can see how short it is when I wrap it around the corner, then end doesn't line up on the right side.








This is where it is supposed to end up...









So I ended up cutting too much off at the top so I had to add a little material back on the top. Here is how it ended up fitting for me after getting it where I wanted. You can see where I cut in half after wrapping it around the corner.





















Here you can see how far it was bowing out. I made several cuts in different places to squeeze the piece and shrink it basically to fit where I wanted it. All the relief cuts got me to where I needed it.





















Those relief cuts helped. After hammer and dolly the piece the cuts closed up just right allowing me to get the piece to hug around the corner.

[TA_C10]

Driver side cab corner - Continued


So here is where I ended up finishing for the night. I grabbed the other piece and realized that it was going to be really hard to mimic the bottom edge around the corner so I cut it at an angle and welded it to the left corner piece. This way the strip I need to build will be easier and uniform. You can see in the last couple pics how short the cab corner ended up being and you can see how the angle will help be build a new piece to weld in to bring it all together.

Lastly, check out how flush this one is !!!! BOOM!!
















I should be able to finish this up tomorrow. Then I will be ready to pull the cab back off again to spray primer, bed liner, then lizard skin ceramic coating to the bottom of cab. Then it goes back on the frame for good!!

[TA_C10]

Drivers Cab Corner Completed


I finished the driver cab corner today Man I'm so happy you guys convinced me to switch to .023 wire. It's sooo much easier to get a nice flat weld which makes less grinding work

The rear corner will need a bit 'o' filler but nothing too bad. It's not perfect but I will be the only one who knows








This next piece I started from the top and slowly worked my way down so it was really easy to form the piece as I went and especially when I got to the curves at the bottom. Worked great.

[TA_C10]

I fixed my pictures in last post. If they don't show up let me know.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

I fixed my pictures in last post. If they don't show up let me know.

I'm still not able to see them. Maybe it's a problem on my end?

[SCOTI]

Steep learning curve but you're getting the hang of it.

On the wire size…. The smaller dia wire works better on thinner stuff (think sheet-metal or slightly thicker). The thicker diameter is used on stuff like frame brackets or sheet stuff over 1/8". Of course, w/each change you'll have to re-adjust settings according to your material. I always keep a spool of each handy. The later pics have your tack welds looking much better. I like to do a series of tack welds, check the fit of everything & if good, grind the tack welds down @ that time. Repeat after each round of tack welds & you get a more consistent weld seam vs missed areas between tacks.

On your Blazer tank, nice job w/the in-tank pump mods. Been looking @ that same kit for my Blazer tank as well (I've been eyeing the TB style aftermarket FI set-ups for the SBC in my 64 build). I would recommend supporting the bottom of the tank as the flange alone was not intended to carry the full weight & will probably cause issues on down the road. A strap set-up can easily be made to work w/your mounting arrangement since you can fab & are getting better w/the welder.

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Steep learning curve but you're getting the hang of it.

On the wire size…. The smaller dia wire works better on thinner stuff (think sheet-metal or slightly thicker). The thicker diameter is used on stuff like frame brackets or sheet stuff over 1/8". Of course, w/each change you'll have to re-adjust settings according to your material. I always keep a spool of each handy. The later pics have your tack welds looking much better. I like to do a series of tack welds, check the fit of everything & if good, grind the tack welds down @ that time. Repeat after each round of tack welds & you get a more consistent weld seam vs missed areas between tacks.

On your Blazer tank, nice job w/the in-tank pump mods. Been looking @ that same kit for my Blazer tank as well (I've been eyeing the TB style aftermarket FI set-ups for the SBC in my 64 build). I would recommend supporting the bottom of the tank as the flange alone was not intended to carry the full weight & will probably cause issues on down the road. A strap set-up can easily be made to work w/your mounting arrangement since you can fab & are getting better w/the welder.

Thanks for the advise on the welds, I get what your saying and I'm not doing that(obviously you can see that i'm not ) and will start trying that method.

AND Oh man, I'm glad you told me that!! I didn't know the flange wasn't able to support the tank... That sucks because I really didn't like the straps but now I guess I will have to use them after all... I will be looking into making a different bolt setup for the straps as I don't like what they designed. The j-hook or whatever they call it will dig into my painted frame and cause it to crack and then rust... Might be as simple as just adding a washer under it we will see.

And I got curious and found your recycle build. I quickly flipped through and found your tank stuff on page 26 or so. I don't see straps on your setup either but I assume your not done yet. I see some of your other work and dang man, experience really shows, your doing some amazing work over there. Didn't realize your were in Dallas. I'm in Justin just behind TMS. Maybe someday we can check each others rides out.

Thanks!!

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Thanks for the advise on the welds, I get what your saying and I'm not doing that(obviously you can see that i'm not ) and will start trying that method.

AND Oh man, I'm glad you told me that!! I didn't know the flange wasn't able to support the tank... That sucks because I really didn't like the straps but now I guess I will have to use them after all... I will be looking into making a different bolt setup for the straps as I don't like what they designed. The j-hook or whatever they call it will dig into my painted frame and cause it to crack and then rust... Might be as simple as just adding a washer under it we will see.

And I got curious and found your recycle build. I quickly flipped through and found your tank stuff on page 26 or so. I don't see straps on your setup either but I assume your not done yet. I see some of your other work and dang man, experience really shows, your doing some amazing work over there. Didn't realize your were in Dallas. I'm in Justin just behind TMS. Maybe someday we can check each others rides out.

Thanks!!

You should be able to make 'straps' that connect to a common tab. Just make them so they work w/the current mounting plates you already created. Basically a 'sammich'..... The plate/anchor inside the rail (one slice of the bread); the gas tank flange (the meats or PB); & the gas tank strap/flange for under the rail (the other piece of bread). The bolts would go through the tank-strap flange, through the tank flange + rail; & then thread into your mounting flange inside the rail. My re-pop tank has 2 channels formed into the steel where the straps would be positioned under the tank for the added support that will dictate the size of your 'tank-strap' flange.

I did mine that way but now have to re-create them (I did a similar mount/set-up like your build for bolting the tank in place using nuts welded to a plate). But, my tank was originally set-up for my old 68 swb truck w/stock rear rails. For that app, I actually set the tank between the frame rails, raised it 2" so it wouldn't hang as low, & made shorter S.S. straps that worked w/the raised position. The bed floor was getting raised 3" so raising the tank wasn't an issue.

Since I raised the rails on this frame & I'm using a wood floor, I'm going to mount the tank under the rail like OE. I'll modify (shorten) my inner frame piece w/the welded nuts for inside the rails & re-make the tank straps to accommodate the increased depth under the rails.

[1971Stepside]

I want to do something like this on the bottom of my cab. Watching to see how it goes. Keep it up

[Scurry67]

That's all looking real sharp! Question - how'd you flip your cab? I'm getting close to that stage but I'm trying to figure out how in the heck I'm going to tip the cab without damaging it.

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by Kronald_70GMC

Wow great progress this weekend! That wheel looks super nice too. Keep up the good work!

Thanks! I'm pumped about that wheel. I still can't believe she picked the exact wheel I wanted. #awesomewife

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

I want to do something like this on the bottom of my cab. Watching to see how it goes. Keep it up

I gotta tell ya this process really went great. I just finished the rubberized undercoating tonight and will be posting pictures and details on it soon. I would definitely go this route if I had it to do all over again. My techniques would change and you can read about that very shortly lol

Originally Posted by Scurry67

That's all looking real sharp! Question - how'd you flip your cab? I'm getting close to that stage but I'm trying to figure out how in the heck I'm going to tip the cab without damaging it.

These cabs are pretty strong after you get them all welded up and ready. I had a friend over and just he and I picked up the cab several times during my process of cleaning and painting. So you probably saw my earlier posts how I built a jig for it to remove the cab from frame as a one man show with my cherry picker, this method worked great, completely balanced itself and I could swivel it no prob.

Once I had it on the ground my buddy came over and we picked it up and moved it outside on an old bedroom door so it wasn't sitting on concrete. This worked excellent while I washed with soap and water. And during this process I was flipping it all on my own from it sitting on its back, I would roll it over(pivoting on the 2 back cab corners) to sitting upright position and back. Man those cab corners didn't even budge. I payed attention to this closely. And I didn't let it sit on those cab corners long, I immediately and with a very quick and fluent motion rolled the cab without stopping.

Man handle that beast!

I just made sure there was either the cardboard or the door under the cab at all times so it was always padded from the hard ground.

Another option is to use 4x4's bolted on via the subframes under the cab. You could extend them out the back of the cab so they would pivot on those instead of the cab corners. Plus when it was sitting on its back those would also pick the bottom edge of the cab off the ground some which would angle the cab up towards you while you painted which would have been nice as I found that spraying material between the rear most frame rail and the back of cab(small gap) took some finess

[TA_C10]

oops, pics fixed in my last post.