1953 Fuel Tank

[Alexander Feiman]

1953 Chevy fuel tank ($97 on ebay) compared to 1953 Studebaker Coupe. Also a fuel pickup from Tanks Inc. I put these pics on forum to show a replacement fuel tank that will work with minor tweaks.

[unclemiltie]

thanks for posting, as tanks are getting impossible to find and the new gas seems to like to rot them this will give us another option

[swvalcon]

Alexander. Call Tanks Inc. and talk to them by phone. I sent them a e-mail a while back about them making a tank for the stude's and they said they would be more than happy to convert one of their tanks over to fit if I had a good tank for them to use as a base. Just haven't had the time to get to it yet.

[Captain Billy]

I have an excellent tank from a 53 C.....offers?

[Deaf Mute]

That is not the story they told me this spring when I was up there. I had my '53coupe tank with me and we took photos and measurements of it with their tank #B1-A... that is an early '50's Buick tank. I suggested they could use that bottom stamping and just make a new top stamping. He apparently checked with his manufacturer (China?) and I got a call a month later telling me they couldn't do it. He said that there would be a $30,000 set-up fee to make a Stude tank.
I posted a thread on this forum at that time seeing what kind of interest there would be.... 5 tanks were requested at that time... no where near enough.
Consequently I purchased the B1-A tank and modified it to fit my car.

[Roscomacaw]

So. what was involved to make the B1-A tank work for you?

[Alexander Feiman]

I noticed a typo error in my original post it should READ 55 CHEVY - I haven't been around since I posted my thread but main reason I did was to show a useable substitute at low cost ($97 with free delivery , $20 for tank straps and $22 for fuel pickup) A side benefit is a little more room to run dual exhaust.

[sals54]

I have an excellent tank from a 53 C.....offers?

[Pat Dilling]

For my 53 I used the Tanks Inc tank designed for the 49-52 Chevy. I tried the 53-54 tank and could not get the filler to work. The 49-52 tank is deeper than a Stude tank but it has not presented a problem. I fabricated a simple frame work out of 1 inch square tubing and flat strap so I could mount the tank in the manner Chevrolet did with straps under the tank as Chevy did. It has worked fine for 8 years and 30,000 miles. I used their in-tank fuel injection pump as well.

[Deaf Mute]

Here is my old tank & the modified B1-A tank from Tanksinc. As you can see, I was able to clear the frame with their original filler, so I just brazed a freeze plug into that opening., I drilled a new hole (DOUBLE CHECK LOCATION) and trimmed a piece off of the filler tube that comes with the tank & brazed it into place (TRIPLE CHECK THE ANGLE YOU WILL NEED) and then cut and brazed three mounting tabs to mount the tank to the Stude frame and trunk floor. I decided not to move the sender location & ended up drilling another 4" hole in the trunk floor. I also had to drill a hole into the tank for my pickup tube. (In retrospect I could have purchased the GM sender that has the pickup tube in it and saved drilling another hole and more brazing on the tank.) I connected a Schrader valve to the tank's pickup tube and pressurized it looking for leaks before mounting it in the car.

[RadioRoy]

Nice work. Looks like it'll fit just fine.

[Deaf Mute]

The tank fits fine & I had the '53 out for another drive this afternoon. In order to avoid the dreaded ethanol, I have to use BP Premium, so I put another 10 gallons in the tank and cruised a bit. A lot of "thumbs up" when I passed the local Farmers Market.