Gas Tank Install Complete tech article show you how!

Classic Performance Products 378 E Orangethorpe Ave., Placentia CA 92870

Move Your Gas Tank Under the Bed
and Add A Nice Fuel Door for Convenience and Good Looks.

By Bob Carpenter
There aren't too many peopke out there driving early trucks who enjoy having the gas tank in or under the cab of the truck. Moving the tank to underneath the bed is probably about the number one item on most people's list of things to do, especially with a truck like this F-100 pickup. Roger Garrett is no different. He wanted to get the tank under the bed of his '53 Ford, and he turned to Classic Performance Products for a beautiful aluminum tank that was designed to fit his truck perfectly. After you have moved your gas tank from the cab to under the bed, you're going to have to decide where you want your gas filler to be located. The easy way out is to simply mount the filler in the floor of the bed and be done with it. But that means you have to raise the bed lid, unsnap the tonneau cover, lower the tailgate, or some similar task every time you want to fill up. A clean way to handle the gas filler is to nm a fill tube from the tank to the side of the bed. Now your truck is as easy to fill as a late-model truck. But you've still got to make a decision as to how to handle the treat. ment of the gas cap on the side of your bed. You can simply mount a cap on the side like the old 70s trucks or you can go for a cleaner, more modem look with a fuel door. The owner of this '53 Ford wanted a fuel door and he turned to Williams Street Rod Parts in Humboldt, Illinois for the part. Pure Vision's Steve Strope and Frank Stevens joined to install the fuel tank, fuel door and connect the filler to the tank via a custom-built fill tube. Let's follow along as the crew works over Garrett's truck.

A fuel door is the per fect solution to the question of where to put your gas cap after moving the gas tank under the bed. This version from Williams Street Rod Parts is slick.

Steve Strope of Pure Vision slides the tank under the frame of this F-100 using a floor jack.

The tank is moved into position with the jack.

Strope works the jack handle to lift the tank up into the frame.

The final inch is done very carefully and slowly.

Strope checks the side clearance and measures it to make sure it's the same on both sides.

The alignment of the tank is also checked. Strope sees where the mounting plate will need to go.

The tank is removed and the mount is welded to the inside of the bottom frame rail. If it was not welded on and the tank was later removed, the mount would be loose.

After the mounts are welded in, the tank was installed again and the mounting bolts are threaded into the mounts.

Here's a look at the tank mount from underneath. The bolts will be easy to get to later when the bed is put back on the truck.

The tank is mounted and fits perfectly.

Fuel line is run down the side of the frame as Strope determines where to run the line.

The supplied fuel sender is placed into the tank.

A ground wire is hooked up as well as the wire that goes to the fuel gauge.

Strope ran the fuel line with a filter, and relocated the fuel pump from the engine compartment.

Fuel line was run up the frame and into the engine compartment.

Strope replaced the original fuel line to the carburetor with a nicely shaped new version.

Pure Vision's Frank Stevens starts by cutting the plate off of the door so that the install can be done from both the inside and the outside of the fender instead of cutting a big hole in the
fender.

The cut areas are cleaned up with a grinder.

Here's a look at the fuel door with the plate removed.

Pure Vision owner Steve Strope contemplates where to install the fuel door.

Strope identifies the perfect location.

A small hose is used as a guide to make sure that the cap location will have a nice path to the tank.

Two different curve guides are used to find an area that most closely matches the fuel door box.

The fuel door box is held onto the inside of the fender to see if its contours match the box.

The box is measured to make a template for use on the inside fender. The center of hole on the template will be marked and then transferred to the fender.

A circle is drawn on the cardboard template material.

Strope cuts out the circle.

The template is checked on the inside of the fender.

Strope measures from the center of the template to determine if it is definitely the right place to put the fuel door.

The center mark is in position and a center punch is used to make a mark on the fender.

A pilot hole is drilled in the fender.

Next, a template is made as a guide for how much paint to grind off to avoid taking off more than needed.

The paint is taken off with a grinder.

Using a punch as the center, a circle is marked on the fender.

The plate that was taken off the fuel door is then checked to make sure the radius is close enough for proper fitment.

With the plate taped onto the fender, Strope uses it as a guide to cut out the hole in the fender using a Plasma cutter. He cuts a bit on the small side and will trim to fit.

The hole is ground to size.

The door is held in from the inside of the fender to check the fit.

Strope bends the door a bit in search of a more perfect fit.

The arm itself is bent a little to get the door to line up better.

The door is checked again and this time it fits extremely well.

Strope checks the door after it is open.

A grinder is used to clean off the inside of the fender.

The fuel door box is tack-welded to the inside of the fender.

A piece of brake line was used to make a pattern for the fuel tube that was constructed.

Rubber tubing will connect the hard fuel tube to the tank.

The tube is welded to the fuel door box.

Pure Vision painted the fuel box and tube with undercoat paint.
A coat of primer on all the surfaces was sprayed in preparation for paint.

It's always best to have shop and assembly manuals on hand to make sure your installation is correct and to make the project as easy as possible. We recommend factory manuals, available at Greg's Automotive

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