My '68 has the in-cab fuel tank, and the other day it died on my as I was driving it. Turned out it was fuel starved. I took the line off right at the tank, attached a short piece of fuel line I had laying around and tried blowing into it. I couldn't blow into it at all. I then tried blowing air into it using compressed air and it worked. After using the compressed air I was then able to blow air into the tank easily by mouth. Hooked it all up and now it runs fine. So, I'm wondering how the in-tank pick up tube is designed. Did I just blow a bunch of crap out of the pick up that was blocking it, or did I possibly blow a clogged filter off the end of the line in the tank? Is my next step to remove the tank and clean it somehow?

 

Jeff, I would say you were able to dislodge whatever was blocking the screen covered pickup. Make sure that you have a good fuel filter in line, and you should be OK until you can pull the tank for a better cleaning. You may also drive the truck for many years without another insident like it is.

John

 

My dad had the same problem. After several years af blowing out the pickup tube he finally pulled the tank and cleaned it. I would pull the tank as soon as possible and give it a good cleaning. It will be well worth the time in the long run.

 

My truck died on me twice. Turns out the interior of the tank was rusted. Pull off your fuel filter housing. If yours is like mine you'll have about an inch of a fine rust powder in it. It just looks like mud. You'll also see that stuff in your carb bowls. It will also kill your fuel pump like it did mine. You can have a radiator shop hot-tank the fuel tank. A local shop here was gonna do it for around $100. I got lucky and found one in a salvage yard that was spotless on the inside for $55. This problem is universal to these trucks.

 

> If yours is like mine you'll have about an inch of a fine rust powder in it.

From experience, if there is rust at the bottom of the fuel filter housing either the spring rusted (not stainless steel) underneath it or the grommet on the filter was not jammed up into the housing correctly which let fuel by-pass the filter. Which is a good reason to run a second filter at the carb.

Not jamming the filter on correctly is a mistake I did "once" to my own truck when I was rushing. Now I give the grommet a light coat of blue grease before I jam it on so it does not grab and fold over.

 

The rust in my filter housing was from the fuel tank. The filter kept it in the housing. Very minute particles made it into the carb but the filter housing had 1-2 inches of the stuff in it. The first time I cleaned it out figuring it had been years of build up. It filled back up a week later. My truck had sat for 6-7 years and I think enough moisture condensed in the tank over that time to cause it to rust. I looked in it with a flashlight and you could see the rust. The bottom 8 inches of the tank were badly rusted. Now I have a new tank, new fuel pump and filter. Runs like a champ. These tanks are notorious for rusting. You can search the forum and find hundreds of threads dealing with this same thing. Some guys buy the POR kit which is a rust remover and then coat it on the inside. The radiator shop guy I was gonna use suggested to not coat the interior. He said he had seen where the coating has come undone and makes a worse mess. A lot of guys in this forum swear by it. I was lucky enough to find a clean tank in the salvage yard. So I'm just gonna make sure to keep gas in it and run some moisture remover throught it every now and then.

 

Gman, Sitting will cause a tank to rust, but I haven't found tanks that I have pulled in North Carolina to be rusty inside at all. I sold one from a 66 that looked almost new. I am sure weather conditions in other areas can make a difference.

I don't agree that in the cab tanks are notorious for rusting, certianly seems that some do, though.

John

 

jowilker, I'm Qman, not Gman. You're not the first to do that though. I live in CO and I'm sure over them 6-7 years the weather fluctuations from cold to hot and back caused a lot of condensation on the inside. One winter I left my shotgun in the trunk of my car cause I was bird hunting 3-4 times a week. It was in the case so I figured it was OK. One day I pull it out and the barrel is getting spot rust. I know it didn't get wet so it had to be the fluctuating weather. I said notorious because when I started dealing with mine there many a fella who had already gone through what I was with a rusted tank. And I'm sure in most of them those trucks had done some time sitting around. I'm sure if the truck was kept running and always had fresh gas in it then there was probably no problem. The tank I found in the salvage yard was out of a 72 that had been used until the day it was salvaged. That tank was brand spanking new on the inside. So I'm not speaking with facts to back me up. I guess I just make a generalization every now and then from what I have experienced with my truck. But thanks for letting us all know that there are still a number of tanks out there to be had. I'm sure there are enough guys that were glad to read that.

So minnesotajeff, there you have it. There are still many tanks out there that aren't rusted all to heck. The trick is finding them. Maybe jowilker can help you.

 

Sorry bout that dude, I guess when I looked at what FTE put up there, I mistook it for a g. I'm so sorry, I did not mean to offend.

Maybe the guys can help find you a perfect tank near your domain.

John

 

Not offended. And there have been quite a number of fellas think it is a G.