Hide tank filler

[49bourbon]

I was able to get a late 80's Chevy suburban filler complete with hose to tank from a junk yard that allowed battery operated tools. I had a drill to punch a hole for reciprocating saw and took a 6" square around the filler cover. It's flat so will fit fender of my 49 suburban. Cost $10. Now just need to put into the burb.

[Matt_50]

I've finally got around to the fuel tank. Drivetrain is in, axle is sorta in, I'll weld seats and make proper tie plates when I get height where I want it and get the pinion angle set.

Weather is getting a little wetter lately, not to mention just a little cold lol. I've had to slow down. Upside, I just finished my last class, this time next week I'll be a college grad. With classes done maybe I'll get a little more project time in.

I'm back on the possible, full behind license plate kick. I've seen some good pics where the tank isn't hanging low like a blazer tank...

I want some opinions on using a 70 chevelle tank. I got one free today. Doesn't look rotten on outside, no flakes just powder surface rust. I'll clean it up and shine a light in. At the very very least I want to mock it up and see about buying a new one if it mocks up good.

And what are your opinions on using a vented or non vented sender? I'm not in a hilly area, flat for miles out here, but I do have a charcoal canister from donor.

[e015475]

This is a second gen Camaro tank in a '49 GMC frame. There's a pretty substantial cross brace fore and aft of the tank, and the tank is suspended with straps similar to the way it was mounted in a Camaro.

Here's a view with the bed going back on the chassis

I believe the fuel sender for the big block first and second gen Camaros are the same part number, and they have both a 3/8" fuel line and a 1/4" vent line to the tank.

If you are using fuel injection, a stock factory tank with a external fuel pump like the one above is a problem. A stock tank will let a little air get in the line when the tank gets low on fuel and you accelerate/brake/turn. Aerated fuel raises havoc with the mixture and can cause stumbling or hesitation as it works its way though the rail and injectors.

If you're carburated, this setup works just fine.

They sell Camaro tanks set up for fuel injection to overcome this problem. I believe they use in-tank pumps and baffling to control the fuel and prevent aeration, but they're pretty spendy.

I've never been a big fan of in-tank pumps and the noise of an external pump never bothered me. The truck in the fotos above uses a stock Camaro tank and a separate 2L swirl pot tank fed by a low pressure pump from the main tank and a return using the 1/4" vent line so the small tank is always complexly full. A 255LPH external Walbro pump sucks fuel from the swirl pot, then thru a stock Chevy fuel filter and into the a Corvette regulator. The bypass from the regulator goes back into the swirl pot. It sounds a little Rube-Goldberg-ish but it is very accessible/maintainable and I've used it on a few off-road cars with good results.

Still need to figure out how I'm going to vent the tank though. Might be as simple as a vented gas cap.

[e015475]

I see by your build thread you're running carburation. Maybe the fuel pump info will help somebody else.

Congratulations on graduating. When I got out of school, I felt like I'd just been released from a 5-yr jail sentence. A wonderful feeling. Best wishes on your career aspirations.

[Matt_50]

Nice truck. I'm not sure on the difference on the gmc and chevy frame.. Did you have to remove the rear crossmember?

I guess I could make any cradle set up however I want huh... make sure I clear filler neck and bed clearance.. and the top of the tank needs to be level with frame right?

I'm curious... the tank needs to be grounded right? Just a wire from sender to frame?


I'm so glad to be done with school. 9 years off and on. Sure wish I had done it all at once straight out of high school. The plan is to be a elementary teacher. Wife teaches 4th, and she loved it. So I decided to a substitute and so far I think I'll like the change.

[e015475]

The placement if the tank was dictated by where the spout came out. I use a roll pan and I wanted the fuel neck to come out in the center of the licence plate.

I don't recall ever seeing a ground on a gas tank.

My frame was hacked up when I bought it so all the cross members in back of the cab were fabricated

A GMC frame has a different front cross member than a Chevy, but otherwise they're the same.j

[Matt_50]

Ok. Lets see. Level tank for sender right? Use some square tubing I got and make straps. Nick it up and buy some rubber strips right?

[mr48chev]

If you put it behind the plate in the back use a non vented cap and rig a separate tank vent. That could be by welding a fitting or tube to the filler neck and running a hose over to an up the side post of the bed to vent several inches higher than the tank will ever be.

Those low tank fillers straight in the bank are prone to loosing gas when you take off hard or park facing up hill if you have a somewhat full tank.
At least the cars that had them that I drove in the 60's and 70's were. When I could afford to fill the tank that is.

[Matt_50]

You can vent a tank that way? I've never done so, so I'm curious.... Will it cause constant gas vapors smell? Is that how a vented cap works? What's the reason behind the charcoal canister from my donor?

[e015475]

I have several vehicles with tanks that vent to atmosphere and don't really notice any smell in my garage.

The carbon canister is part of the emissions equipment designed to capture fuel vapor. The ones I'm familiar with open the canister to fuel tank vapors when the ignition is off then purge the canister by opening it to engine vacuum when the engine is running. On modern cars it is must be functioning or it will fail the start precheck routine in the computer and cause the check engine light to illuminate.

If you'd like to have the canister to keep the vapors in the garage to a minimum, there's a few guys on the HAMB that have put them on hot rods. Suggest you search 'carbon canister ' over there.

[Matt_50]

So if I go this route.. I should get a sender with 3 lines off it? And I can simply run one off somewhere? Could this be a rubber line? Does anything need to be on the end of it?

[e015475]

I've never seen a sender with three connections - only two (at least on older non fuel injected cars) - one 3/8" fuel line and another 1/4" line for a vent/canister.

For yours, I'd take the 3/8" line and use that to feed the mechanical fuel pump on the engine (it looked to me that you had a mechanical engine pump in your build thread) and connect the other to the charcoal canister. If you're going to use rubber, make sure it is rated for fuel.

I'd at least put a cheap plastic fuel filter on the end exposed to the atmosphere. Around here, if you leave something open like that there's a chance a mud dauber will plug it up.

[Matt_50]

I think I need another look at the fuel lines. C10 had a 3 connection sender. I assumed, supply, return, and vapor. I'm pretty sure it has a 3 tubes on mechanical pump too.

Is a return line necessary for a 350 engine. I think I've heard of capping it. Maybe I could put a 2 connection pump on....