I bought a tank on ebay also for 160.00 and 25.00 for shipping from Metropolitan Restoration Ser and a sender unit for max and after I fix the rear of the car I will put it in thanks for everyone's help. Also I bought straps on ebay for 20.00 and it came with 2 that are the same as I took off and it came with 2 different straps that have a threaded bolt welded on the end and the other end is bent up a right angle with a hole in it what are they for thanks

I removed my 55 Gas tank and took it to a radiator shop - only $80 to "cook" out the crud, and install a new pickup tube. Of course, most of these mom and pop shops (the fella has been around over 50 years) do not exist anymore - but it sure saved me some dough. Obviously, mine was clogged/deteriorated enough to be real problem. The $80 also included the epoxy coating.

Dan

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

I just put a classic car tank in my '56. Shipped fast, nice tank, made in Canada. Everything was where it was suppose to be. Installed a new sending unit from Tee-bird. Not to impressed with that unit. Had a plastic float (probably not a bad thing) but reading is about a 1/4 tank off. Need to take it back out and bend the float rod. Should have checked that. Also gasket didn't seal. The one that came with the tank did. I painted mine with galvanized paint before installing. Came out just fine. Went to Lowe's and got some of that rubber material that one puts under a camper shell on a pickup and put it on the straps and one pad that goes on top of the tank. Mine old one had sat in storage for 27 years and was beyond cleaning although the outside looked fine, was really full of all kinds of gunk .. Good luck ..

Doing Fords for 45 years. '56 Customline Victoria

E.J. in Havana FL

I bought one of the tanks off EBAY for about $160. No complaints. Fit perfectly and works great.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1956-56-Ford-Fairlane-Customline-gas-fuel-tank-F31D_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6763QQihZ003QQitemZ130210710159QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

About $200 with shipping but all new! Chuck in NH

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

The link above is for Classic Car Auto  Parts up in Minnesota - their phone number is 218-326-0463.

They've got a tank listed for a 55 sedan at $188.00

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

I called the t bird parts and they had a tank for 285.00 so i will look around for a better price.

This is the best offer I've seen for tanks outside of the odd listing on ebay 

http://www.classiccarautoparts.com/gastanks_ford.html

Not cheap but better than the mark-up at one of the restoration supply outfits.......

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

You are right Ted the tank was hit on the left side and pushed up from the bottom. I wasted a afternoon shaking out hand fulls of tar and crud from the tank. owell guess i will look for another tank thanks for the help everybody.

If the tank has been pushed up or crushed from it's bottom, then there's a good chance that the fuel pickup has been pinched tight to the bottom of the tank.  If the tank has simply been sitting dormant for a good period of time with a small amount of fuel in it, then the bottom may just be full of 'tar' or 'resin' from evaporated and aged fuel.  Does the tank smell sour? If so, then the fix will be in pulling the tank.

On another note, be cautious of blowing air from the filler neck side of the gas tank side to clear the line.  I did this and cracked the fuel line on the inside of the tank when the tank ballooned downwards from the pressure.  Mud daubers had filled up the vent tube so it wasn’t working either which compounded the problem.  Blowing air from the engine side of the tank should not bother the tank as long as it’s done with the gas cap off.  I agree with 55birdman in that the tank likely needs to be pulled to be either properly cleaned or replaced.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

I tried putting a wire where the line goes in to the tank and it went in pretty far and felt like it hit something solid. I thought it might be a screen.