How To: Relocate a Fuel Tank

Hey guys, I'm Kevin Tetz working with LMC Truck to bring you some tech information and how-to videos that we hope make your truck restoration project even better.

In this video we're gonna walk you through the process of relocating your fuel tank from in the cab to under the bed of the truck. There's a lot of good reasons to do that. You can open up storage behind the seat. You can get rid of that nasty fuel vapor that we all know and love with these vintage vehicles.

Now, you don't need to pull the bed off of your truck to do the fuel tank conversion, but we wanted to show you exactly what we're doing and exactly how we're doing it so we pulled ours off. To get you a better view, we pulled the tank out just because it was coming out anyway.

Now, in pulling our tank out from behind the seat we found out that it had a leak in one of the seams so it puts an exclamation point on the good reasons that there are to pull the fuel tank out from in the cab. And this thing's leaking all over the floor. We're gonna get it out of here.

LMC Truck gives you plenty of options for relocating your fuel tank, including the 17 gallon tank with the fill neck in the top so it goes through the bed floor. The interesting thing here is that they've machined a returned vent which can be an EFI return or just a tank vent. The point is you've got options, including a larger 20 gallon with the side fill. If your fuel tank won't fit in between the frame rails they offer a strap kit as well as anti-rattle and anti-squeak components so your tank doesn't jiggle and rattle and squeak going down the road. Fuel delivery, well you need a sending unit. These will match your factory gauges and give you options for connectivity. If you need a fuel cap again there's more options, including this keyed one that gives you more security. But, you're probably not going to use everything we've got laid out on the table here, but it's nice to know that a company like LMC Truck has got all the pieces and parts that you're ever gonna need, regardless of the direction that you go with your project.

Our spare tire occupies the same real estate as the tank does, so it's outta there. The tire carrier came out easy once we cut the frozen and rusted mounts off. That's kind of to be expected with the vehicle this old. This crossmember goes away to make room for the fuel tank and it was riveted in. We cut the rivets off and it was fairly simple.

None of this project is really that complicated and it's all for the most part bolt in but I'm gonna give it a four out of five just because we're dealing with so many different components and systems all at once.

For tools, you're going to need basic hand tools. Maybe some pneumatic or electric cut-off tools, but it's not that complicated. Just make sure that you've got a good full toolbox or you know a buddy that does.

Now keep in mind this is a temporary mock-up of the tank. If your bed's already on the truck then you're not going to be able to get to these nuts and bolts. You might want to think about a captured nut setup. Once you're done, for now, just use a simple nut and bolt to hold it in place. You're just going to cover up the holes to make sure nothing falls down in it. The sending unit needs to be carefully inserted into the tank. For our setup, we've chosen the traditional rubber hose and clap hook-up. LMC offers the different Quick Connect version for inline fuel pump delivery setups.

It's really important to have all three tabs underneath so you've got an even clamp load on your rubber gasket, but you'll know if you do. More importantly, if you don't. All right, it's seated all our tabs are in place. Sender's installed. Now we've got to ground it. We lucked out with an existing frame hole, so we don't have to drill. The important thing is to have a bare metal contact for a perfect ground. Now we've got something to pour fuel into when it comes time to start the truck. Nice. Just make a jumper wire to the original fuel sender. That way our in-dash gage is gonna work. Now the only other thing that happens back here is to run the fuel feed line to the sending unit and the vent to the vent bung. Everything else happens out of the hood.

Now, my buddy Jeff has pulling off the original fuel pump, because, although it works we're not sure how many miles it's got, or how much life it's got left in it. So we're gonna replace it with one we got from LMC Truck just to make sure it doesn't become an issue. The old fuel pump comes off with SAE hand tools and we got lucky because the gasket came off stuck to the pump. All the rubber lines are getting replaced, but this steel line that goes from the pump to the fuel feed is getting reused. The rest of it, well it's pretty straightforward. It's just swapping out the pumps.

This is a simple project to do, but make sure your fuel pump shaft is installed correctly before you install your new fuel pump. LMC Truck even offers a pre bent and pre-cut filler plate for this '66 C10, putting the icing on the cake of the tank relocation project. That's how easy and simple it is to relocate the fuel tank from in the cap to behind the rear axle.

Don't forget to go through the LMC truck catalogs or go to lmctruck.com for more ideas on how to make your truck project even better.

For now, i'm Kevin Tetz. Thanks for watching.