Well now that my chassis is pretty close to done, its onto the body work.

My bed has some rust, tons of exess holes, some good size dents, and a cracked bed rail, so i decided that i am going to find a replacement bed. The original bed has the single gas tank and i cannot find a good shape bed with the single tank ANYWHERE.

Question is how hard is it to add the rear tank? I have already bought and installed the single 19 gallon side mount tank, will i still be able to use that tank?

 

I would get everything you need from a donor truck. Also to be compatible with your 1980, it should be a truck from 1980-1982. You would need the following parts for a factory style setup.

1: Fuel tank selector switch and new heater panel/HVAC to accept switch.
2: Fuel tank seletor solenoid.
3: Various wiring harness extentions.
4: 19 gallon rear tank with sending unit and hardware.
5: Fuel filler neck

It's not impossible, but not too easy to do.

Now if you want to just put in a manual selector valve, and not have a gauge for the rear tank, then that is simpler to do.

 

A manual selector valve, and an "A-B" type switch for the guage would be the cheapest, easiest, most reliable way to do this. It's how I would do it, if I were to swap a dual tank bed on my 80 F150.
The best part about having the manual valve and a seperate switch for the guage, you can switch the guage to see what's in the other tank before switching the valve...... Running the supply line dry with a mechanical pump can be a time consuming issue.....

 

From your description in the first post, you can't find a single tank bed, so you are going to buy a dual tank bed so you "have to" setup your truck for a rear tank. You do not have to run a rear tank with dual tank bed. You can just leave it alone with a little door going no where, or you can patch the door and with a little body work fill it in.

 

I couldn't agree with franklin more. I have had countless ford truck 70's-97 and my current truck is the only one that I have every had both tanks working at the same time...way more hassle than its worth, patch that second hole and be done. If you insist on having that second tank do as the others have advized with the manual valve and switch for the gauge.

 

I just got done trying to troubleshoot my fuel system. Let me tell you this, if you start installing two tanks, make sure you spend the money on QUALITY parts, because it is a complicated system. Im removing my rear tank. I just bypassed the selector valve. You can have the rear tank if you want it. I don;t recommend installing it though. But if you want it, just take it. Pay for shipping and its yours. You can have the selector valve too...not sure if you can clean it out and make it work or not, but I suspect its what was giving me my issues.

 

The newer models with the in-tank pumps are far more complex than the older mechanical pump systems.
For the in-tank pump setup, a person would need 2 manual valves (supply and return) and 2 switches (guage and pump), but it *could* be done....... Might be confusing as all heck having to switch 2 valves and 2 switches, just to complete the process *normally* done with the flick of a single switch.

 

I think I'd have to agree; I have a 1981 F350 with two tanks, a mechanical pump on the 400, and a selector valve with only 3 hoses going to it.

I quite honestly can't understand all the hubbub, I think it's a great system and works just fine.

'course I don't have in-tank pumps and return lines and whatnot but if you look at the wiring diagram and the plumbing diagram, it's really not that hard IMHO.

Having an extra tank of gas available at the flip of a switch is a great thing....

 

True that an extra tank of fuel at the flip of a switch is handy, but it can sure increase the pain in the wallet at the filling station..... By up 100%.

 

Nah... the pump cuts ya off at $75......

 

The tank, the sending unit, the fuel selector valve, and basicly the whole system is different on your truck compared to his.

A: You have a six port selector valve, he would only have a three port with no return lines.

B: No in-tank fuel pumps, his is mechanical on the engine.

C: The tank opening where you put the sending unit in your tank is larger than his because yours takes a sending unit with in-tank pumps, and his is just a regular old fashioned sending unit.

D: Even your fuel selector switch in the dash is different than what he would need.

The only thing he could use from your truck is the filler neck.

 

Really striking at a pet peeve of mine...

You go to the tank about half as often, and if it bugs you a lot, you can fill up every time one tank goes flat.

 

Thanks for all the replies! I don't like the idea of having a fuel tank that goes nowhere. I like things to be done right. Someone mentioned just filling in the hole, how hard would that be? Would it just be easier to find a good bed with the 2 fuel doors and replace just that bed side? What would be a good place to find a good replacement? Preferably OEM... Adding the rear tank sounds like a lot of money, which i don't really have. (My dad really wants the thing out of his garage!)

I guess I could widen my search for one and see if I can get one within like 100 miles of home.

What years/models had only one tank?

Thanks again!

 

Good! Now I can just throw it in the scrap metal bin at work!

 

Auxillery fuel tanks were an optional extra so you just have to find a truck without dual tanks.

The problem is in this era of Ford Pickups, we just went through the second Opec oil energy crisis of 1979. Gas shortages abounded, you could only fill up on certain days, gas rationing etc... Most of the early 80's trucks had dual tanks because of this. You didn't know if you could fill up tomorrow.

You should be able to find one with a single tank, 1980-1986, as the bed itself is the same through those years. It just might take you a while to find one, especially in good shape.

Welding a patch panel in would be an option if you don't want to do a dual tank conversion. Depends on your skill level.