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Hi everyone. Thanks in advance for any help. Pardon my bumpside, but underneath the cab and bed is a 1977 F250 with a 460/C6 auto. I bought the truck in an early/mid project state- the in cab tank was removed, there is no tank behind rear axle, and there was a rusted midship tank from a 1989 f150 held up by makeshift straps and 10mm self taps.
The existing tank was too far gone to salvage so I removed it. I ordered a tank from LMC truck (43-5016). It didn’t fit. The 22.5gal tank was for the 1972 and was too tall. I then got a spectra f6C from auto zone, because it was basically the same as the rusted out f150 donor, but I couldn’t find a non fuel injected sending unit! I bought the manuals and parts list CD and found out the OEM parts were a plastic tank with a sheet metal cradle. The latter is a unicorn and not a realistic immediate solution. I will eventually get a rear tank, but I’d like to get on the road and remove the 1gal tank bunjee corded in the engine bay. Can anybody help me find a readily available and viable midship tank solution?
So a 4wd 1977 (late made NONE High boy) will/should have a OEM plastic side tank, held up by the metal cradle/skid plate. A repop poly side tank and sending unit can be found, the cradle not so much. Time to get crafty with some metal and a welder and build a cradle that bolts on. A 2wd truck will have a metal side tank held up by 2 straps.
Just a heads up Rich, those first three links are a plastic replacement for the 2WD metal tank. They bury that pretty far in the description. I was excited because I had not seen a reproduction of the 4x4 tank before and was looking at the link to see if they had parts for the tank too.
Thanks for the heads up. Well dang I thought I was on the mark, I know someone sells a repop poly tank for a mid ship plastic tank, at least I think so. I guess I need to dig a little deeper.
@77&79F250
That is a nice list of supplier links you posted.
@Caseydooley
Food for thought here:
I put my '77 F250 2wd cab onto a '77 F350 2wd chassis. Both were CrewCab pickups and the cab donor was a short-box.
My pickup is now a '77 F350 longbox CrewCab pickup with in-cab fuel tank, and a steel belly tank from the shortbox F250.
I modified the mid-ship belly tank frame hangers to be moved rearward to accomodate the added length of a NP205 transfer case.
Don't Forget: - the mid-ship belly tank brackets have a safety strap which goes around the front of the tank, so it doesn't become a torpedo in a head-on crash.
Fillernecksupply.com is another good source of fuel system components like the grommet for the roll-over-valve.
I wound up putting a '77 longbed box on my pickup which has two filler doors. The front filler door is used for the belly tank.
To get fuel from the filler door to my belly tank inlet, I simply used two exhaust pipe pre-bent elbows, cut and welded together to make an "S" bend, allowing straight run pieces of hose from filler-inlet to tank-inlet. Bing-bada-boom.
Remember liquid is approx 8-lbs per gallon so if using a 19-gallon belly tank a full tank will weigh approx 150-lbs, so make sure your mounting hardware is up to snuff for the weight the brackets are carrying.
Typically I like using an existing oem bracket or part, and then modifying to my spec and needs. I just figure the factory pieces are up-to-the-task.
That is a fine looking F250.
I almost purchased a '72 pre-smog F250 4x4 a couple years back, and passed just because I don't have the time to devote to a complete do-over.
The highboy's with the divorced transfer cases are very cool pickups.
I try to help where I can, when I can. If you have not ran a truck off a old metal boat gas tank (in the bed), remember those? Then you might be missing out. Here is how the new kids on the block do it. Smart thinking and easy to top off the "tank".
06-21-2023, 07:44 PM
