Thread: 32 Ford gas tanks........and a problem!

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Okay folks, so we 've got the chassis for my coupe almost done and went to fit the "Tanks" poly gas tank, and it won't fit! I'm using Pete and Jakes transverse spring setup etc and when I slide the tank into the frame the front of it butts up against the spring mounting pad on the cross member, so the tank is about 1 1/4" short of ling up with the mounting holes! The only way I can see of solving this is to get someone who works with poly stuff to cut a chunk out of the front of the tank and refilling it so it fits around the spring pad! Are all these tanks the same size front to back or is it just because I'm using a poly tank? Has anyone had or heard of this problem? Any help/ideas/info/etc would be greatly appreciated! Other than that it's all comming together great, and pretty quick! I'm looking forward to the first fitting of the New-Age 5-window body in a week or so!

top,
Just measured the steel "Tanks" tank on my '32, it's 13 3/4" front to rear, including the flanges where the top and bottom are formed together. It fits fine, but then, I don't have the transverse spring anymore.

Any particular reason you're using the poly tank? At least with the metal tank you could cut and weld a "pocket" to clear.

Hi Bob! Yeah, mine measures (as best I can!) about 15" front to back - I guess that's because of the thickness of the poly. If it was the same as yours it would be fine. Looks like I have two options - buy a new steel tank or find someone who can modify this one. It's a major pain in the ass for us to return anything to the US from here.

Another thing to keep in mind with the poly tanks is that they will "move" more than the steel ones. When you fill them the weight of the fuel will distend them, and as the gases expand with heat they grow a bit, so if you're able to modify that one make sure you give a little extra clearance.

Don't try to modify the poly tank. One these tanks are manufactured and cured the poly is cross linked. A few years ago I tried to repair one of these tanks. No mater what you did I could not get anything to stick to the tank. I ended up throwing it away and buying a new one.

Thanks for all the advice guys! I didn't like the idea of messing with the poly tank either so I bought a steel "Tanks" one from the local hot rod shop here that happened to have the exact one I wanted. So, if anyone's in the market for a nice new poly tank complete I've got a good deal on one! Hey, that's hot roddin!!

Hey, my first ime on this forum. Hope I'm doing this right. I just might be able to use the 32 ford poly tank. I have a 25 T Sedan I may be able to use it on. What are the dimentions of the tank. How is it supposed to be mounted/supported? And HOW MUCH do you want for it? Thanks The Phorde Luvor. aka Keith Lewis

Hi All! Well I bit the bullet and put in a Tanks steel gas tank! A little pricey but well worth it I think. Now........ as I said, I'm using a Flatlanders (New Age) 5-window body, and now that I've got the body on the frame and the tank in I notice I've got a fair sized gap (about 1 3/8") between the tank and the bottom of the body. Is this common / normal / right??? The tank's sitting on top of the frame rails as it's supposed to be and the body is sitting nicely on the rails, so they aren't going to change! Waddyathink?

There should be only about 1/4" to 3/8" gap between the tank and the body. I hope they didn't put the floor in the body too low. If they did I don't know how you would fix it without cutting out the floor and reinstalling it.

Awwwwwww Geeeeeez! I didn't want to hear THAT!

Yup! Seen several with glass bodies and Tanks tanks have 1 - 1 1/2" gap.

Yeah, everything else seems to line up and sit right, it's just alittle bit more of a gap than my roadster. I'll see what happens when I get into the serious bolting down and shimming etc! Thanks guys!