I know - but it still needs a filter......

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Dave: I gotta go with John on the cutting torch thing. In my jurisdiction, any "vessel" that has contained a flammable liquid or gas, is a no no for using a Cutting Torch or Welding on! Only if specific procedures are followed is applying heat or welding allowed..

Steve: Thanks for the additional info, but my 57 isn't a T. Bird.

Paul

I've got this AC "tin can" filter on mine that came on heavy trucks years ago - its a #GF62. They can still be purchased new.....and take a common replacement filter. Try Rock Auto and hunt the AC part number.

They have the same housing length as the T-bird AC filters and the same 1/4 npt inlet and outlet. The two top threaded holes are 5/16 UNF - and I took one of them and drilled it down into the housing enough to tap for pipe threads and a pressure guage. The simple bird standoff bracket and steel fuel pump / carb lines bolted right up.

The Mustang restoration parts suppliers have a couple of different replacement "cans" that are authentically labeled for Rotunda (and maybe Autolite too) to make it look a little "factory issue".

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

John, there ARE safe ways to do this.  Yes, I used a torch with NO consequences.  Old tanks can be welded and modified. 

I fabricated and installed a 'dish' inside mine for my (Mustang) EFI fuel pump.  Some guys do this outside the tank, but I prefer the modern method using a bayonet ring and a seal.  The pump works fine and the tank has no leaks.  If the pump ever goes bad, everyone has one for a Mustang.  It's a 10 minute replacement on the car.  - Dave

Royal Oak, Michigan (Four miles north of Detroit, and 12 miles NORTH of Windsor, Canada).  That's right, we're north of Canada.

Ford 292 Y-Block major overhaul by simplyconnected

There is a glass bowl filter for Flat Head V8's.  I bought it by accident once, it looked like a mini air cleaner filter.  It fit inside the glass bowl on my fuel pump.  I couldn't find any literature on it, and it didn't seem like it was supposed to be there so I never used it.  Might have been from MACS.  I've always just used a steel inline after the pump as a safety precaution.

I would be concerned about where the dirt is coming from.  I used to have so much junk in my gas tank that it would clog both the sediment bowl and the inline fuel filter, and the car would stall out while driving.  Even with all that, I never had any dirt or rust get to the carb.     

John: Lake Forest, IL



'57 Fairlane 500 - Looking better every day.

Dave:

I can't believe you are still around to write your hints if you opened a gas tank with a torch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Thanks to everybody for the information. Will check it out..

Paul

I buy repop gas tanks. It saves a lot of headaches.

Kenneth

Fredricksburg, Texas

There are a few issues going on, here.

What year is your engine?

Why do you have so much dirt in your tank?

Why not use an in-line filter (or two in parallel), so you can see the dirt.

I don't understand how all this dirt is getting past the screen IN YOUR TANK, unless it is coming from your steel gas lines.

Notice, we keep getting back to your fuel tank.

My '55 Customline tank yielded FIVE heaping handfulls of rust.  Rather than messing around, I bought a new tank with the proper tin coating, and installed stainless lines.
I opened the old tank with a torch.  It was a mess.  Witness marks revealed lots of varnish from gas left in it for many years.  The sides looked like the Grand Canyon with different levels of varnish.  The liquid level sender unit was shot too.

Whether you take the tank out or not, you need to flush it clean.  I would use a garden hose to keep the junk in suspension, and a pump.  If you get all the fumes out, you could use a shop-vac.  Do it in the middle of the back yard, in open air, far away from buildings.
When you are done removing the water, pour in some alcohol and slosh it around.  Alcohol sucks up water faster than Scotch, and it is easy to remove.  Even if you don't get all the little dropletts out, alcohol mixes with gasoline.  It WILL come out.

Hope this helps.  - Dave

Royal Oak, Michigan (Four miles north of Detroit, and 12 miles NORTH of Windsor, Canada).  That's right, we're north of Canada.

Ford 292 Y-Block major overhaul by simplyconnected

The only filter the original Ford pumps had was a fine meshed brass screen or strainer above the sediment bowl . The later Ford pumps had a rockwood filter. The early 60's had a metal canister below the pump with a cartridge filter inside. Some of the after market pumps such as Carter had a paper cartridge filter.

What make of pump have you got.

marv