Okay, here's the step-by-step on what I did to get rid of the factory
fuel tank in my '82 Wag... I'm writing this from memory, so I may append
this later on. Oh, yeah, and I hope to have pictures of the finished
product soon, assuming the film turns out okay... I'll post them when I
get 'em. First of all, before you begin messing around with the fuel tank in
your fsj, remember that you're dealing with explosive materials here!
People seem to forget this when they're moving around a piece of metal
with 20+ pounds of gasoline in it.... First of all, before you start
removing anything, make sure you have the necessary parts to undo what
you're doing. In other words, measure all the hoses going to your tank,
and buy new, preferably more than you think you're going to need, since
this still won't be enough. And don't forget to make sure that all hoses
are rated for gasoline. There's nothing like having to replace fuel
filters every few miles, because they keep clogging up with rubber. I
found I needed the following materials to install my new tank: - 10 feet of 5/16 fuel hose
- 12 feet of steel strapping, stronger than the cheap plumbing type
- 3 feet of 1" id fuel hose
- 3 feet of 3/4" id fuel hose
- 3/8 - 16 tap
- four stainless steel 3/8 - 16 X 1" bolts, with nuts, washers,
and lock washers (I used stainless only because it will last longer)
- 12 feet of 2" wide baler belting
- and one free day
The first trick involves removing the old tank, which was barely held
in, due to the frame on my truck rusting out. You will need to lift the
front and/or rear of your truck, if it's stock height, since the tank will
be about 2-3 in. higher than the bottom of your frame. After supporting
the tank with a jack, I attempted to remove the bolts along the frame,
which proved useless, since the only thing left on most of them was the
heads. From there, there were only 3 bolts holding the tank in, along the
inside, mounting it to the body. One is at the front, and the other 2 are
toward the rear. It may take some searching to find them all. Once these
are removed, lower the tank far enough that you can access the hoses going
into it. On my tank, there were 4 small hoses, 2 to the charcoal canister,
the return line, and the line to the fuel pump. Don't forget, there are
also 2 larger hoses, one filler hose, and 1 vent hose at the rear. You can
also remove the sending unit wires at this point, which should just need
to be pulled off. Once the hoses and wires have been removed/cut/mangled enough, you can
set the tank on the ground. If you didn't think to run the tank almost
empty, you will think of this now, as you struggle with the extra weight
of the fuel. Whoops. After contorting yourself into various unnatural positions, straining
muscles you didn't know you had, you can pull the tank out from underneath
the truck, being careful not to just drag it, as this could throw sparks,
which would be bad. Once the tank is free, get it as far away from the
truck as possible, as it is a curse, and best left to rot alone somewhere,
where it can no longer affect your fsj's frame. The replacement tank I found was out of a Do*g* Ramcharger, around '82.
It was a poly tank, like the factory one, but otherwise very different.
This was the best fit I could find for my spare tire area, and also
happened to provide about 14 more gallons of fuel capacity, which tends to
be a good thing for fsjs. You may have to put a small amount of fuel in
the new tank before you put it in place, so you can find out which line
goes to your fuel pump, in the event this line isn't labeled. Mine wasn't,
and resulted in a few hours of wasted time. After you've routed the hoses, then you can jack the new tank into
place. By the way, the spare tire carrier is fairly simple to
remove, just a matter of finding the right cotter pin and removing it,
then beating away rust with a hammer until the assembly falls out. So, with hoses routed, jack the new tank into position, and hold it in
place with the steel strapping. To keep the strapping from rubbing through
the tank, I used baler belting, which is a reinforced rubber/canvas
material. You can find this at farm supply and hardware stores. Mine cost
about $.45 a foot. After cutting the strapping to fit, it can be bolted into place,
preferably above the frame. This is where the 3/8 - 16 tap came in handy.
Since I had to drill mounting holes for the new tank anyway, I tapped them
out with the 3/8 - 16 tap, and then started the bolts into the frame. This
way, it was just a matter of lifting the strapping up over the bolts,
rather than holding the strapping with one hand while trying to feed the
bolt through with the other. Tighten everything down, and remember that you may have a couple of
minutes worth of fuel in the lines, and then lots of air, until you start
pulling fuel from the new tank. ---
Eric Lusk |
