One common thread that truck builders are faced with is what to do about the gas tank. For the majority of trucks we cover in CCT, the gas tank is located behind the seat inside the cab-not exactly an ideal spot. We don't quite know what it is, but there's just something about sitting atop a Molotov cocktail that doesn't sit easy with many. Not to mention that the tank takes up precious cargo space in the cab. All in all, it suits most truck owners to move the tank out back.
Several aftermarket companies offer direct bolt-in kits for rear-mount gas tanks for specific-year trucks. However, with the ease, style, and quality of those kits comes a price tag. A lot of guys can fork over the dough for a product like that, but other guys are in the "budget-build" business-which means alternate means are in order. What many guys do is settle for a tank from a junkyard that they adapt to their truck. However, there is another option that is budget minded, yet driven to the truck market.
Chevs of the 40's sells an aftermarket universal 171/2-gallon stamped-steel gas tank that is designed to mount between the rear framerails of a truck. Although the tank is universal, fitting it into your ride is made easy-due to the fact that tank straps are included in the kit. All one has to do is decide where to mount the straps, along with a few other things. On top of that, the tank includes a fuel pump pickup and a filler neck. The best part is that the kit retails for roughly $200. With a price tag like that, one must think that the tank is a "cheapo-depot" special. Quite the opposite. Like we said before, the tank is made from stamped steel. It's also baffled and vented-and it's reinforced to prevent oil canning. In a nutshell, this is the ultimate way to move the tank out back and stay within budget. Even if you were to go to a junkyard, by the time you buy the tank and all the necessary components you would be spending upwards of $100. With this Chevs kit it's all packaged together for a simple, cheap, and quality job.
To show in detail how one would go about installing one of these tanks, we headed over to Sam Head's shop to watch as he installed one in his '53 Chevy. Notice how easy the job goes down and, most importantly, how ideal this setup is for anyone's build.
This is as basic as it gets: a stamped-steel 17 1/2-gallon tank. The cool thing about this Chevs of the 40's universal tank is that it comes with the necessary pickup, filler neck, straps, and hardware-and it is baffled and vented. It's also reinforced to prevent oil canning. | 
Before Sam got to work, he taped up any opening in the tank-that way nothing will accidentally fall inside and cause a major headache down the road. | 
Because this is a universal gas tank, some alterations to the frame may need to be made. However, being a universal tank is what makes it so great, as it can be used in a number of situations. In this case, Sam's '53 Chevy truck has an aftermarket crossmember to mount coilover shocks, which prevented him from being able to mount the tank between the rear crossmember and the rearend. In order for the tank to fit, he had to make some room, therefore the bottom inner lip of the rear crossmember needed to be trimmed. The piece you see lying on the ground is what was trimmed away to make room. |
Because the tank has nothing to rest up against at the top, Sam needed to build his own upper reinforcement braces. First he started out with a 1-inch strip of metal, roughly 1/4-inch thick, and marked it to the correct length. | 
Next, a 1-inch mounting tab was bent into the strip. | 
From there, the proper holes were drilled: one hole at one end of the strip, and the other hole in the fabbed mounting tab. Once the first strip was made, a second identical strap was then made. |