Gas tank question..

[chucky07]

just dropped gas tank on my 52 ph...and dumped out about a cup of old gas...I added about 5 gal..fresh gas and swished around good ..and dumped..looks clean...One Question for you guys...ok....The line coming out of gas tank is not allowing fuel to come out...I tried to blow compressed air into it and nothing...It seems to be blocked..is it suppose to be blocked? umm how would I free it...any ideas? never dropped a tank before...

The sending unit on top looks a bit rusty and i'm afraid to try to take it off...but it does seem like I might be able to get a better look at the inside of tank and possibly what's blocking the fuel from flowing out the line...

Thanks for any advice..I'm stumped....and i looked all over online for a replacement tank..and can't find any..so i'm gona have to make this one work ...

[stevenelle]

I had this exact same problem and so have others on the forum. It is a common problem. When old gas sits in the tank for a long time, some hard varnishes or deposits will form in the gas line inside of the tank. They can be extremely stubborn to remove. Compressed air will usually not do it. You can remove the external gas line fitting where it comes into the tank and try to run some flexible wire into the line. But the fuel line in the tank has acouple of 90 degree bends making it hard to jam a wire up the tube to dislodge. What I did worked beautifully, but required the removal of the gas tank from the truck.

After tank is removed, rinse with soap and hot water a couple of times as completely as possible. Then fill tank about 1/3 full of water and boil it with a coleman stove for an hour or two. That might dissolve the obstruction. You can check periodically with compressed air. If that does not work, then add some powdered lye. You will need to be very careful with this and add it in small increments. Lye in hot water reacts violently for a couple of seconds. Just be prepared for this and don't freak out. If you add 1/2 to 1 cup of lye in small increments and keep the mixture boiling, you will get the gunk out of the line. And the inside of the gas tank will be clean. Some folks have had a hard time finding lye at the store. Some places have stopped selling it I have heard. One fellow said that Drano is made with lye, but check the label.

[chucky07]

ok will try that today....thank u

[chucky07]

went all over couldnt find lye...most places said "what's lye" hahaha...guess they quit making it here anyways...any thing else like lye that will work that is readily available that you know of? thankx

[Thunder II]

Uhhhhmmmm...... I'm no expert........ But doesn't a Coleman stove produce flames??? Fire and fuel tanks????? It doesn't sound safe to me.... Call me overly cautious, but I've never blown anything up, that didn't have it coming. A good soaking with carburetor cleaner should clear the lines.

[chucky07]

didn't find the "lye"...but I have a "two-piece" gas tank after the explosion hahahahaah just kidding...i heated it up and it boiled a while but no luck...i reached inside the tank through the gas gauge sending unit hole..and tapped it with a long 3/8" extension and some rust came out of the end of the tube..but still would'nt clear it...so i sprayed in some carb cleaner and will let soak over night....If i could find a replacement gas tank I would surely order it ..as this is a pain in the &**...hahaaha..thanks for the help...any other ideas would be appreciated...

[Guest Dave Claussen]

I have searched the web for someone who makes a replacement tank to no avail. Seems as though the there's not enough demand for replacement tanks for Pilothouse trucks to make it worth while to produce them. If someone else has EVER seen one they have not posted anything on the forum since I've been reading it. Some other "universal" type tank may be made to fit/work. The other possibility would be if a person knew someone with fabrication skills, you could have one custom made but the cost would be very prohibitive. Making the one you have work is probably the best option even if you have to clean and seal it with one of the kits available from J.C. Whitney or Eastwood or your local auto parts outlet.

As you have guessed by now, you're not the first person to experience this problem. There are some other posts about the methods used to repair tanks. Just use the search feature and you can research some of the other solutions to this problem. Good luck

[norrism1]

Dave,

Mopar parts are almost impossible to get a license to make aftermarket parts. Chevy and Ford open the aftermarket when the 10 year deal is up if not sooner but Mopar has always been stingy about not letting anyone license their products. I don't know if it's because they want you to buy newer vehicles or just a control issue!

[blohmiller]

This one you will probably have to go with there universal tank but I thought they had a dodge tank at one time

http://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=results/category_id=69/home_id=59/mode=cat/cat69.htm

This one I think is the one that makes poly tanks I could be wrong I got both of these off this site some place

http://www.plydo.qpg.com/

Bryan

[anthonyb]

Chucky,

It may not be 'lye' technically, but Drano will do what you want done to your tank. As previously mentioned, be very cautious when adding it to hot water as it will bubble and splatter a lot. Rubber gloves and eye protection are a MUST. This will strip out the gunk and also remove old paint from other types of parts.

[Reg Evans]

A couple gallons of laquer thinner has done the trick for me. Dump it in and close off the openings so It doesn't evaporate and let it sit for a day or two. Don't use any flame heat !!!!! pour some down the pickup tube too so it will be working on the blockage from both ends.

[stevenelle]

Lye was available at hardware stores just a year or two ago. I got some at Lowe's. If you Google "lye" you will get several commercial sources for Red Devil Lye.

[Guest Dave Claussen]

Dave,

Mopar parts are almost impossible to get a license to make aftermarket parts. Chevy and Ford open the aftermarket when the 10 year deal is up if not sooner but Mopar has always been stingy about not letting anyone license their products. I don't know if it's because they want you to buy newer vehicles or just a control issue!

Makes me wonder if Ford and Chevy get some sort of return for licensing aftermarket parts. Regardless, it sure does make it tough to get parts to replace the unusable and worn out things on our trucks. There are days that the dead ends just make me want to throw a stick of dynamite at the whole kit and kaboodle and be done with it!!..... Just kidding, but it is very frustrating to search every corner of the web and see all the stuff available for the "other guys" and zip for Dodges. That's why I have decided to steer away from a stock original restoration but plan on leaving the outward appearance as close to the stock looks as possible. I really like the style of the truck but the updated drive train and electrical system open up lots of new possibilities for creature comforts and safety not offered back when the Pilothouse trucks were being built. Just my 2 1/2 cents worth. Not trying to convince anyone that one type of building plan is better than another, just offering a different opinion. And you know what they say about opinions......LOL

[woodscavenger]

This issue with lack of aftermarket has scared me a bit as I have been searching for just the right truck. Not having done an old truck I don't want to get stuck not being able to get a part for something....however I have decided to jump right in and go for it...

[Dennis_MN]

I was missing a couple of parts, a horn bracket and a front license plate bracket. Just bought a piece of steel at the hardware store and fabricated what I needed.

Dennis

[Guest Dave Claussen]

Welcome to our world. Most parts are available with the right amount searching and spending. As has been stated, certain things are more difficult than others. Some are rare as the proverbial hen's tooth. One example is the mythical T 610 radio. Apparently only one was ever made, Zeke's got it. Reg wants it.

If you can't repair and reuse your tank, there might be one out there from a parts truck. The thing about tanks is they all suffer more or less the same fate. They get holes from rust from inside and outside. They get gunked up from old gas sitting inside for several years. The senders go bad. The pickup tube gets clogged. All these problems are things that can be fixed with a little knowledge and effort.

And that's the case with many other parts. That's where this forum comes in. Read the archives and just about anything you run into has been dealt with on some level. If you don't find it, don't be afraid to ask the question.

[chucky07]

ok..after messing with my gas tank for about 30 hours..i decided to take it to a welding shop...the guy there said.."yeah i can fix it"..he proceeded to cut a square hole in top about 6 inches square..reaached inside the tank and cut a piece of the pick up tube out..showed me where it was gunked up...weleded in a new steel tube and then welded a plate on top to cover hole up..and said 50 bux..took about 20 min.....I guess that's where it's better to pay to have something done. haahahh...On to next step of trying to get my p/h running....thanks for the help tho...(at this rate..i'll probably get to fire her up late spring of next year ahahah..but it's fun

[Guest Dave Claussen]

All's well that ends well.

[greg g]

Hey Dave, It is difficult to find MOPAR stuff, and when you do find stuff its expensive, but I have found Studebaker truck stuff is hens tooth territory. Ran across a nos gass tank for a 50 to 52 plumouth asking price $650.00.

what we need is a good supplier for Orphan brands.

By the way during a discussion at Hershey with a fellow who was repopping sheet metal for 30's fords, he pays a license fee to Ford for his efforts. So it seems they make money on parts they don;t even make. Probably the same for Chevies and other easy brands.

[Guest Dave Claussen]

Greg, interesting stuff. Maybe we should start up a company to make Dodge and Studebaker parts. We could be millionares!! LOL

[Reg Evans]

I'm tired of being a thousandaire so I'm in !!