Swap in a OEM 20 Gal Tank.... Easy Right?
ThisGuyUKnow
Full Time Jeeper
- Posts
- 2,785
- Thanks
- 1
- Location
- Harleysville, PA
- Vehicle(s)
- 1986 CJ7 Laredo 4.0,Nv3550,D300 Twin Stick,AMC20 3.31, 31 BFG
Honda vtx1800c
WRONG!
So background is although my FI generally has been a success I couldnt run the tank below half a tank.... as soon as I hit half a tank the car would start stumbling and die in traffic.. Fill up the tank seemed to go away. Turns out the 15 gal tank was really rusted inside. When I pulled the fuel filter it was pouring out the inlet like red mud.
So I hit up craigslist and found a oem 20 gall setup complete with skid, poly tank, sending unit for 300 bucks.. I figured that was reasonable considering how much the 20 gal conversions are online and this is an oem fit.
I googled 20 gallon tank conversion and didn't really find alot of info but i figured it was a factory option so what the hell why not pull the trigger. I hopped in the cj and drove to ST Louis to pick up this tank and drove back with only one break down from pushing the tank too low. That was the first PITA
Next I went to drop the 15 gal tank. SHould be easy right?
NO! jeep used carriage bolts on the rear bumper for the skid.. Works great when everything is new and shiny not so great when 30 years of corrosion are mucking up the bolts. So I had to cut these off. PITA 2
I finally got the tank on the ground and had a hell of a time removing the old hoses which were fused to various inlets and out lets. I tried to remove the hoses from the fuel vapor thing behind the rear drivers side turn signal and when it popped off i hit myself in the face and chipped my tooth. PITA 3
so I finally get ready to put this oem tank in .... It won't go in. It doesn't clear the tail pipe! I should have realized this before I tried anything by measuring but I didn't realize that instead of 4 bolts across the back like the 15 gal tank the 20 gal one has 5. I had just measured the clearance from the from the bolt hole closet to the end to make sure there was room. Soooo since I was already committed I cut the tail pipe off infront of the axle behind the muffler.. Not normally a big deal with old jeeps except I paid 400 dollars for a new exhaust when I did the FI conversion which as most of you would recall was not very long ago... Now I have to find a exhaust shop near by to fix or re run my pipe. PITA 4
I finally get everything in and guess what the bumper and hitch receiver which I to remove to get the tank under the truck which I was able to remove with the old tank still in now is being block by the new tank. So I had to drop it back down and mount that up. PITA 5
Oh and during that process I discovered that the sending unit that came with my new used tank was bad. Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
So I had to order one of those.
The process which should take several hours took almost a month seeing as I had to work around crappy weather and my full time job and every time I turned around i ran into a hurdle.
Other than all that once the obstacles were removed it fit well and the holes were already predrilled into the frame.
Jeeps are starting to not be as fun anymore
So background is although my FI generally has been a success I couldnt run the tank below half a tank.... as soon as I hit half a tank the car would start stumbling and die in traffic.. Fill up the tank seemed to go away. Turns out the 15 gal tank was really rusted inside. When I pulled the fuel filter it was pouring out the inlet like red mud.
So I hit up craigslist and found a oem 20 gall setup complete with skid, poly tank, sending unit for 300 bucks.. I figured that was reasonable considering how much the 20 gal conversions are online and this is an oem fit.
I googled 20 gallon tank conversion and didn't really find alot of info but i figured it was a factory option so what the hell why not pull the trigger. I hopped in the cj and drove to ST Louis to pick up this tank and drove back with only one break down from pushing the tank too low. That was the first PITA
Next I went to drop the 15 gal tank. SHould be easy right?
NO! jeep used carriage bolts on the rear bumper for the skid.. Works great when everything is new and shiny not so great when 30 years of corrosion are mucking up the bolts. So I had to cut these off. PITA 2I finally got the tank on the ground and had a hell of a time removing the old hoses which were fused to various inlets and out lets. I tried to remove the hoses from the fuel vapor thing behind the rear drivers side turn signal and when it popped off i hit myself in the face and chipped my tooth. PITA 3
so I finally get ready to put this oem tank in .... It won't go in. It doesn't clear the tail pipe! I should have realized this before I tried anything by measuring but I didn't realize that instead of 4 bolts across the back like the 15 gal tank the 20 gal one has 5. I had just measured the clearance from the from the bolt hole closet to the end to make sure there was room. Soooo since I was already committed I cut the tail pipe off infront of the axle behind the muffler.. Not normally a big deal with old jeeps except I paid 400 dollars for a new exhaust when I did the FI conversion which as most of you would recall was not very long ago... Now I have to find a exhaust shop near by to fix or re run my pipe. PITA 4
I finally get everything in and guess what the bumper and hitch receiver which I to remove to get the tank under the truck which I was able to remove with the old tank still in now is being block by the new tank. So I had to drop it back down and mount that up. PITA 5
Oh and during that process I discovered that the sending unit that came with my new used tank was bad. Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
So I had to order one of those.The process which should take several hours took almost a month seeing as I had to work around crappy weather and my full time job and every time I turned around i ran into a hurdle.
Other than all that once the obstacles were removed it fit well and the holes were already predrilled into the frame.
Jeeps are starting to not be as fun anymore
