AL Wtb axillary fuel tank retaining nuts

[best view]

4 for me to

[67RS/SSx2]

Stopped by the machine shop today. Locked up tight. I think he may be on vacation. Will check back later.

[best view]

Sounds good

[67RS/SSx2]

Okay, the machinist said he would make these for us. You can see what the tank nuts he made look like in post #21. I am impressed with his work. The company is

Advanced Machining Solutions (https://www.amsokc.com/)
4703 Enterprise Dr
Oklahoma City, OK 73128
405-208-8737

It is a small company, I think the owner's name is Bruce. Seems like a good guy. If you need me to, I can take one of my originals to him for a pattern (if he does not recall how he made them). Good luck and go get 'em!

Now to work on getting the long carriage bolts.

[Gyrine]

Outstanding!!!!

Will call Bruce at the Machine Shop tomorrow.

I greatly appreciate you setting this up.

[67RS/SSx2]

Originally Posted by Gyrine

Outstanding!!!!

Will call Bruce at the Machine Shop tomorrow.

I greatly appreciate you setting this up.

Were you able to make contact?

[Gyrine]

Yes, talked to Bruce today. I told him how many I wanted. He took my email address and told me he would email me an invoice. Hopefully I will hear from him soon.

[PbFut]

I just spoke to Bruce as well.
Probably a good idea if anyone else wants these to call soon so he can run them all at once.

[w314speed]

That is as fine a replacement as I have seen. I had an NOS Accessory install kit YEARS ago and I would have traded it for the SS version. Thanks to GYRINE for the tenacity to hang in to find these. Thanks, Dan

[Gyrine]

Dan,
I learned a lot about these tanks from this wise gentlemen down at Moultrie.

I hope to see you there this year.

Thanks
Rob

[Gyrine]

Fellow folks who have axillary fuel tanks,
I just ordered four of the retaining nuts from the machine shop in Oklahoma City.

Will post a picture when I receive them.

v/r
Rob

[67RS/SSx2]

Good to hear Rob. I think you will be pleased with them. I left one of mine with Bruce today. He is going to create a drawing of the nut so he will have the design for future use.

[Gyrine]

Thank you for setting this up. Hopefully more folks will have an opportunity to re-hang their tanks.

[67RS/SSx2]

Stopped by the machine shop today (I have no connection or relation to this shop other than he built a set of tank nuts for me). Picked up my tank nut. Bruce said he made a drawing of it so he could build more in the future. Also said he had a few guys order the tank nuts from him. Was glad to hear that, hoping he will continue to make them and maybe even be willing to make other custom parts.

[D-n-Tyke]

Anyone that has bought these want to give an idea of what he is charging for a set of 4?

[67RS/SSx2]

Originally Posted by D-n-Tyke

Anyone that has bought these want to give an idea of what he is charging for a set of 4?

Just saw your post. I paid $200 for six nuts (average $33.33 each) a while back. Not sure what he is charging now that he knows for sure what it takes to make them.

[PbFut]

As mush as I want to support the small shops, $100 to remount the tank is a bit heavy for my budget. A simple solution is a 5/8 arbore grinding wheel washer welded to 7/16 rod coupler. Use a bolt and lock nut to tighten down and then remove. Looks very similar and eliminates having that nut and washer hanging down waiting to hang up on something.

[67RS/SSx2]

I understand. To really keep the costs down you could use a length of allthread with a flat washer, lock washer, and nut on each end. I thought about doing that but decided to make it as original as I could.

[Fourbrads]

Anyone have snapshots of how you reinstalled using non-oem hardware? I just picked up a factory driver's side tank (with issues) from a guy parting out a bed. My truck used to have what I think was a 'travel tank' type on the driver's side, but a previous owner deleted everything but the holes! It's not on the SPID.

I'll try to include a snap of my tank. It has a rust-through spot on the top where the frame member used to be. My plan is to clean and restore the tank since I have no other option.

Of course, I snapped off two of the long carriage bolts within a day of starting the project. One came out intact. Now I'm really stuck as I can't seem to get a drill running straight enough to drill out the remains of the frozen bolts from the bottom. Any suggestions for that? Was considering ignoring it and just welding nuts into the through-tank holes at the top openings. Tank seems to be made of thick enough steel that it could hang from the top vice the bottom?

Any recommendations are most welcome!

Thanks

[PbFut]

What does the retaining device look like on the bottom of the tank? I would saturate the 2 tubes with a rust dissolver of your choice. Let stand and resaturate. Then use a hammer and punch or rod to break free the bolts and knock them out. Should not be too difficult if you take your time and allow the PB Blaster or whatever you use to work the dirt and rust free. You likely have an original factory tank. Most of the aftermarket tanks only use two hangers.

[PbFut]

I used 7/16 carriage bolts. I could not find any long enough to reach the bottom of the tank unless I paid its weight in gold for shipping. I got some allthead and a shorter bolt and 3 couplers. I placed the oval washer for the bed on the bolt, connected the alltread to the bolt with the coupler and welded together. Then ground down to fit the tank tube with room so as not to rust in place. The original bed washers were in good shape. I made 3 more for the added right side with some scrape plate. Drill 1/2" hole and square out to 7/16 with file so the carriage bolt does not spin when in place. I made my own lower retainer to mimic the original. Not perfect but a reasonable likeness. There is a machine shop making them but I spent 30 bucks, not 150. I used the washers found on amazon for a bench grinding wheel. Search "Bench Grinder Arbor Washer/Flange" Weld the 3 flanges to 3 more couplers. You will want the rod to be just short of the bottom lip of the tank when installed. This allows room for the bolt and lock nut for installation. Use the flanges to retain the tank. You can tighten with a bolt and nut locked to the flange. The flange does not need to be torqued super tight. You would damage the tank if you did so. But tight enough not to vibrate loose. Mark with a sharpie so you can monitor if the flange is backing off. You could also simply use 2 nuts and a fender washer but that allows for a pretty good hook to grab onto something and really make a mess of things. I took a couple photos. Hope this helps.

[Fourbrads]

Wow! Exactly what I was looking for. I think I'll have to re-read your reply about 50 times to figure it out, but I'll collect the hardware first so I can visualize as I go. Thanks for the pictures. The one with the flange is on the bottom? Or top of the tank?

I used PB blaster, heat, and light pressure over three days to try to get the bolts to free up from the 'special washers' at the bottom of the tank. One eventually came free and the other two snapped at weak and rust-thinned spots on those very long bolts. I tried to drill the end of the bolt I could see from below, through the square holes on the special washer. No luck. Bits kept slipping off the bolt ends and I did not want to risk drilling through the tank through-holes.

Do you know if the special washers at the bottom of the tank are retained in any way by the tank? I am thinking that if I can get some evaporust down in there, I might be able to loosen them up, provided of course that they can be knocked out with a long punch and hammer. Trying to do all this without cracking the tank.

Thanks again!

[Fourbrads]

Apologies...forgot to show you the retaining nuts on the bottom. A little hard to see here, but these definitely look like the factory retaining thingies. They appear to be fused to the bottom of the tank and the through hole shaft sides by rust.

Thanks,
Jim

[PbFut]

The flanges are threaded onto the rod but could also be rusted to the tank bottom. The only way to get them off is to push the rod out. Maybe flange is rusted to bottom. Possibly grind the flange to expose the rod to work up and down to break free. It was a challenge to get the rods out on my tank and it appeared in slightly better shape than yours. The rod will be badly corroded and dirt works its way into the tube as well so there is a lot of stuff in the tube to work free.
One last important note. Fuel tanks can hold explosive vapors. Make sure you clean tank so as not to blow yourself up. If you can smell gas in the tank you are at risk.

[Fourbrads]

Thanks. That helps. I'm guessing that the sides of the shaft portion of the old flange assembly are rusted to the insides of the through holes in the tank. And you're right....there is a lot of crud in there that has accumulated over the years. I'll have to find a way to pick that stuff out first.

My plan is to clean out the through holes as best I can, seal the holes in the flange bottoms, then pour rust remover into the holes and let it sit. With any luck, some will creep down the rusted sides and loosen it enough for me to pound out from above with a pipe.
Appreciate your help Sir.