'70 F100

[Maverick]

The fuel tank came out of the shed as the shed got cleaned yesterday and today I thought about installing it. The outside of the tank looks really good -- think it might have been replaced. BUT, when I peeked inside, it was very rusty and dirty. It can't be installed as it is.

Thought about cleaning it, replacing it, or installing a Mustang tank under the rear of the bed. But, there doesn't seem to be any '70 F100 replacement tanks available. Lots of '73 and up but none for '67-'72. So, that's out.

Installing a tank at the rear would get the tank out of the cab. There's a "how to" article on the Ford Truck forum and its a lot of work. That guy built a square frame out of 1" square tube to mount the tank. Then the filler is under a little door in the bed of the truck, not that convenient.

Found this article online: http://www.ehow.com/how_4494363_clean-car-gas-tank.html Think it should work OK. So, I ordered 5 gal of Evapo-Rust from Northern Tool for $79. It should be at the store for pickup within 10 days. Its the least expensive option.

I use Evapo-Rust to clean small parts like fasteners that aren't that suited to the electrolysis rust bucket. It works very well if you're not in a hurry. It'll de-rust just about anything in 24 hours. Now it'll be an option for cleaning bigger parts.

Plan will be to wash the interior with strong detergent and water, rinse, dry it, dump the 5 gal of Evapo-Rust in, seal the tank, and let it stand 24 hours with each of the six sides down. I expect it'll come out squeaky clean.

[Maverick]

Another nice day so some things are in process that need nice weather.

Pulled the starter out of the shed, cleaned, tested, and painted it and will install it when the paint dries.

Got the fuel tank out, put a half bottle of dishwasher detergent in it and filled it with water. I'll empty and rinse it out tomorrow, then let it dry till the Evapo-Rust comes in at Northern Tool.

Set the inner fenders, radiator support and radiator in place for a test fit (space for an electric fan?) and to see if any of the '70 F100 or '95 F150 radiator hoses are going to work. CRAP!!! The outlet at the bottom of the radiator is on the passenger side. Guess I didn't really look at it before. Ordered this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/1968-1979-Ford- ... #vi-ilComp No tax or shipping makes that radiator a pretty good deal, I think. I mentioned in BP's thread there's a Champion aluminum radiator in the Maverick and I really like it. It dumps a BUNCH of heat till the thermostat closes. You can feel the air off the fan change temp as the thermostat opens and closes.

Hope to sell the good F100 radiator on Craigslist. The good news is there appears to be lots of room for an electric radiator fan. I'll check the dimensions on the Taurus fan on the Maverick after the new radiator arrives.

Paint on the starter should be dry so guess its time to install it.

[Maverick]

Well, another surprise ... the inside of the fuel tank is REALLY bad. So bad, I'm thinking of other fuel tank options. (Actually, a brain trust of Walt, his bro Ed, my bro Willy and I are all noodling on options.) Here's a peek inside the tank thru the sender/pickup hole with flashlight shining in the filler tube.



That black stuff is like 1/16" thick old, dried out undercoating. I put one piece in a little Evapo-Rust and another in a little lacquer thinner to see if anything would disolve it. Evapo-Rust had little effect but lacquer thinner broke it down into fine granules.



Here's the nasty float and pickup.



So, lots of possible approaches and I haven't decided on one yet. Maybe spelling them out will help me settle on one.

I could buy a few gallons of lacquer thinner, put one in at a time with some sharp pebbles, and work the the slurry back and forth over the whole inside of the tank. Probably have to repeat that a few times to get it clean and then have a few gallons of contaminated lacquer thinner and stones to dispose of. Then do a rust treatment. Down side is the tank is still in the cab.

Bro Ed had a good suggestion for rust treatment. (Don't know why I didn't think of it BEFORE I bought 5 gal of Evapo-Rust. ) He suggested de-rusting the inside of the tank by electrolysis. Just need to stick the sacrificial rod thru a rubber plug in the filler tube and let it perc. I'm sure it would work very well. Ed does that for motorcycle tanks.

Did find replacement fuel tanks for the '70 F100 but the price, $260-$300, eliminated that option.

Could put a 22 gal '70 Mustang tank behind the rear axle under the bed. The spare tire normally goes there but I have the side mount spare tire bracket. Its a fair amount of work. Have to make a frame of 1" square tube and somehow move or replace a crossmember. I can get the Mustang tank for $100 shipped. The filler cap would be in the truck bed.

Have a few options for a filler cap. Most guys make a door that lifts up to expose the filler cap. Or, could use a marine flush-mount cap in the bed. Or, Willy offered to make a door. Or, Willy might have an aircraft flush mount filler cap. The aircraft cap would be cool.

Willy also had a pair of approx 12 gal tanks out of a (or two?) VW bus(ses). He thinks they're only about 12" wide. They might mount on either side, under the bed, inside the frame rails. That's where the optional 2nd tank mounts of these trucks (left side only?). The aux tank out of WXO's '69 Camper Special is in my shed. Problem with the aux tank is it's in the way of dual exhaust. WXO removed the aux tank to install duals.

Could be that the VW bus tanks are narrow enough to run exhaust pipes beside them. If that worked I wouldn't have to move a crossmenber.

So, lots of options to think about. Sooner or later, one will start to feel right.

In the meantime, I doing some piddley things. Got the PCV valve hooked up and throttle linkage made. A V8 throttle pedal and pivot puts the lever on the driver's side of the engine, lined up nicely with the Holley throttle lever. A 9" swedged aluminum rod and some helm joint ends from Speedway connects the F100 throttle lever to the Holley.



Salvaged the F150 thermostat housing and installed a 180* thermostat. Need to pick up a vacuum tree to hook up the power brake booster and heater controls.

Radiator is supposed to arrive on Tuesday and its dimensions will let me go looking for an electric radiator fan.

[GMJohnny]

Maverick, if the tank is out, how about trying something to agitate the tank and make
the stuff come loose. At work, we've used air chisels or needle scalers to create intense
shaking to get mortar and cement off of mixers. I think if you put the tank upside down
on the ground with a two by four on top if it and hit the two by four full blast with the
air chisel you'll shake the gunk loose.... maybe? Perhaps after a lacquer thinner bath
overnight this'll help. Hope so.......

GM

[Maverick]

Air chisel on a 2X4 is a good thought. I'll try it as a first step. Some of the stuff isn't tightly bound to the tank. Even if I don't use the old tank I'd like to clean it up and try to sell it since they're so danged expensive.

I'm warming up to the idea of eliminating the in-cab tank and doing the rear Mustang tank. Some better ideas for crossmember mods were coming to me yesterday. Gotta get comfortable with the safety issues.

No tracking news on the radiator since it left the California origin on Thursday.

[Basement Paul]

Can't you just put a nice stainless fuel cell in the bed? You're most likely not going to be hauling stuff with this anyway, and it would look cool and carry as much fuel as you want. Well, I think they look cool...

-BP

[Maverick]

That's another option I thought about briefly. Centered in the front of the bed, a fuel cell might no be that convenient to reach.

Anyway, I decided today on the Mustang 22 gal tank and ordered it from Mustangs Unlimited. Most of the boards in the bed have been removed and drilling out the crossmember rivets has begun. Pictures coming.

I might still try to clean the F100 tank. Would like to sell it.

Radiator should be delivered tomorrow.

[Maverick]

The radiator arrived and fits perfectly. These trucks had an optional larger radiator that came with more of the radiator support cut out. The new radiator, like the one that my son put in, is the larger radiator. I'll cut the radiator support to expose the whole core.



There's lots of room, about 7", for an electric fan.



Finding a molded top radiator hose is a challenge because of the serpentine belt, which was never used in these trucks. The thermostat housing needs either a 45* or 90* bend up to clear the belt. Didn't want the 90* up and I MAY have found an upper hose that will work with the 45*. If not, it will splice on to another and work OK I think.

Think I found a lower radiator hose that will fit. Summit is handy for picking out odd ball hoses because they show pictures of most, give the inlet and outlet sizes, and lengths. Both hoses are are on the way.

The Mustang fuel tank arrived Tuesday. The two crossmembers that must be moved are out, cleaned up, painted and put in place for a mock up. The front one, just behind the rear end, will be flipped over to put the short side of the channel down for exhaust clearance, and moved ahead a little to make room for the tank.



It was previously centered on the hole in the frame rail.



The rear crossmember, previously centered on the rear spring shackel, is being moved back a few inches to make room for the tank, flipped over to provide clearance for the filler tube, and turned to put the flat side of the channel toward the fuel tank. Pintos showed that sharp structures pointed at the fuel tanks are a bad idea. The front cross member will also have its flat side toward the tank.



3/4" was trimmed from the bottom side of the frame rail channels to allow the tank to go up between the rails.



1.5" square steel tube, ordered today, will be layed in each frame rail to reinforce where the material was removed. Bolts will go up thru the lips on the tank, thru the frame rail and thru the bottom side of the square tube to mount the tank on the sides. Similarly, the back and front of the tank will be bolted to the moved crossmembers.

The 1.5" square tube will stick out 1/4" past the trimmed frame rail and give a flat surface to protect the tank from the edge of the frame rail. The tank will be surrounded by flat surfaces to reduce the risk of puncture in a wreck.

Another 1.5" square tube will go on top and between the frame rails, centered on the rear shackels, to reinforce the frame where the rear crossmember was.

The moved crossmembers were originally fastened in with 7/16" rivets. The rivets will be replaced with grade 8 7/16" bolts. Bolts are on the way.

[Maverick]

Finally gave up on a molded top radiator hose and ordered a flex stainless steel hose for the top and a molded hose for the bottom that I think will fit. Would have preferred a molded hose on top too. Think one might be found if a thermostat housing could be found with 90* bend, clocked about 20* to the passenger side. Swivel 90* outlets are available (for $80-$100!) but none were found with a bypass nipple. Might see if Bro Willy wants to make a clocked 90* housing. He offered to make one but lost some enthusiasm when I mentioned the bypass outlet.

Willy changed my mind on fuel tank mounting. He said the rear frame on pickups can sway some and didn't think it would be good to bolt the tank solidly to the frame. Looking at the frame, I see what he means. There's no trianular crossmembers and the back two have been removed and are now bolted in. He thought I should use straps so a little wiggle wouldn't stress the tank; I agreed and found some used '71-'73 Mustang tank straps on ebay for $10 and $11 shipping. They are to arrive tomorrow.

Also coming soon are a 45* heater hose nipple, that should screw in without hitting the intake manifold, and a 2-way vacuum tree with one 3/8" nipple for the power brake booster.. 90* heater hose nipple would hit for sure and I didn't want the hose sticking straight up.

The Mustand tank is in its new home, surrounded by flat frame and square tube surfaces, and held up by a floor jack till the straps arrive and get installed.



The moved crossmember positions are different than what I described in an earlier post. Things worked better by moving the front-most crossmember to the back and the rear-most one just behind the rear axle.





1.5" square steel tubing protects the sides of the tank from the edge of the frame rail channel. The bar on top of the tank replaces a crossmemer that was directly in line with the rear shackels and, I suppose was intended to prevent the frame rails from twisting from weight on the shackels. Its probably overkill but there is lots of room for it, it didn't cost much and its easy to install.

Next, comes a new fuel line and some kind of filler tube and cap. The wiring should be redone in the back while the bed is mostly out. That means the tail lights, license plate light, and license plate mount will have to be selected. Once again, lots of options.

[wxo]

Nice looking setup, Maverick. The tank looks like it belongs there.

[Maverick]

Nice looking setup, Maverick. The tank looks like it belongs there.

Thanks. As you know, I wasn't eager to do this transplant because it's quite a bit of work. But, now that its mostly done, I'm glad it being done.

Forgot to mention it needs a electric fuel pump too. '95 Windsor timing cover has no provision for a mechanical pump.

Probably should scavenge an inertia switch from a Crown Vic. I watched a guy burn at a drag strip when a flywheel exploded and severed the fuel line from an electric pump.

[Maverick]

This picture of a very similar '70 F100 Flare Side shows how the side mount spare tire looks.

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q78 ... e/2013-03-

[Basement Paul]

"I watched a guy burn at a drag strip when a flywheel exploded and severed the fuel line from an electric pump"

That's an insanely rare case... I'm not too sure I'd worry too much about a flywheel breaking apart on this one. You could just run a pump up front on the frame rail too.

Tank looks like a great fit btw.

-BP

[Maverick]

Yes, a flywheel explosion is unlikely. More likely it would be needed in an accident.

I read the Holley Red fuel pump instruction sheet online expecting to find a recommendation for an inertia/rollover switch but it wasn't mentioned. They do recommend an oil pressure switch to turn off the pump if there's no oil pressure. That would probably be effective in a rollover accident. But, I'm not sure I want one of those because it would be nice to have the fuel pressure up before the engine is cranking. Could put in a switch to bypass the oil pressure switch. No shortage of things to think about.

I think the computer controlled cars run the fuel pump when the key it turned on and then turn the pump off if the engine isn't running in a few seconds.

[Maverick]

I plan to use a Holley Red electric fuel pump. The following mounting instructions are from Holley's instruction sheet.

The best location for mounting any electric fuel pump is the rear of the vehicle. The inlet and outlet of the pump must be mounted below the lowest point of the tank. This is necessary to allow for an adequate fuel supply. The pump is designed to push fuel and not designed to suck fuel out of the tank. It needs to be gravity-fed or if it’s pulling from the top of the tank, it needs to develop a siphon feed to the pump.

I've not used an electric fuel pump before, so I need some voices of experience. If I mounted the the pump below the lowest point of the tank I'd have to put a roller skate on it. I can mount it below the center of the tank and have it and the fuel lines protected. What do you think? Is that going to work OK?