67/69 Project update.

The bed is now on the truck, and I installed the 90 gallon gas tank that was in the 69 before in the bed. I've got it plumbed up and even installed a sending unit that is supposed to match my aftermarket guages.

I let the tank sit for a while, knowing it would get dirty and rusty, but I had to let it breathe to feel safe cutting the hole for the sending unit. After making the hole, I poored two quarts of CLR into the tank, and filled it with my 2600 PSI pressure washer and drained it. Then I poored an entire gallon of Berrymans Carb cleaner in the tank and washed it around as best I could. It's a bit hard to "shake it up" being a 90 gallon tank.

The gauge moved with the ignition on, a good sign. I then proceeded to put $100 on gas in the tank. It's Super, at about $1.70 gallon. I figure I got about 55-60 gallons.

The gauge moved to almost a 1/4 tank :-) I knew this was coming, since the tank is L-Shaped. I can adjust the sending unit float arm a bit longer, that will help some. But, the shape of the tank means I'm going to have a healthy last 1/4 tank.

In any case, it's good to have some more weight over the wheels. I need the traction. The FE446 is running pretty good. Still some intermittent power loss. But it really hooked up on the last Dyno. Showing over 400lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels from about 2600-4800RPM :-) This through a C6 auto and a Dana 60 rear.


for those not familiar with the project:

http://www.thedreyerfamily.com/69f25.../67project.htm

some pics of the tank before, when running on the 69.

http://www.thedreyerfamily.com/69Gas.htm

The tank doesn't look as pretty white now. It needs paint, but I'll do that when I get the truck painted. I should be able to go more than 150 miles now. The last measurement was 8 MPG....I wish gas prices would go back down :-(

 

it looks great greg, the truck looks awesome as well, i like them white faced gauges. i wish gas prices would go down also i will be broke once my trucks running. keep up the good work.

 

What do you use to hold that tank down? Is it bolted directly to the frame (probably hits 650+ pounds full)?

 

Embarassed..there are currently (2) 1/4" bolts holding the tank to the bed. There are 2 more mounts at the front of the tank that I have not made holes for. It doesn't move easily when empty, much less full!

I'll probably run a strap as well after I put a tool box over the inside part of the "L".

I doesn't appear to be stressing at all now. It sure helped with the traction :-)

 

That's a nice little reserve, should get you to the next gas station. You might need to take out a loan to fill it up, especially if gas prices keep going up. 8 mpg is pretty good with that motor and that much weight.

BTW, I love your exhaust setup. Those are neat looking headers, and I like the cut-outs. I played the .mov file, was the exhaust plumbed when you taped that? Engine sounds awesome. I bet your neighbors love you.

 

The audio files posted are actually very bad. They are also with open headers. I need to get a good recording device to sample the new sound.

As I hoped, the 4 pipes create a nice harmony of exhaust notes. It really sings between 2000-3000rpm. below that it's a bit like your typical Flowmaster sound. Above 3500, it's just mean.

With the cut-outs open, it's mean and loud as expected.