1980 fuel tank is a mess

[720LA]

Hi,

 

I have a relatively rust-free 1980 720 that needs a ton of work. I think I want to keep it though, for all the obvious reasons. It's light, easy to drive, great visibilty and there's just something about it that's adorable.

 

Having said that, the gas tank is really pissing me off. It was full of rust. I did the nuts and bolts and shaking and draining and doing it again and doing it again thing. That was exhausting! Put it back together and then found multiple pinhole leaks. Cleverly plugged em with screws and rubber washers. That worked. But I have two fuel filters - the original by the tank and an inline up in the engine compartment - and they both keep filling up with rust.

I either have to cut the tank in half and weld in new metal (really don't want to do all that welding!) or find a replacement tank.

I'm under the impression that this tank was only used in 1980. Does anyone know? Or is there another tank that I might be able to easily adapt? I'm sure I can take some measurements and go to a pick-a-part yard and find something close that I can make work, but I thought there might be a Datsun fan somewhere that knows just the right tank.

 

Please?

Scott 

[Wormdrive66]

Have you thought about using a sealer? I have used it on motorcycle tanks and it worked perfectly.

 

http://www.kreem.com/fueltankliner.html

[datzenmike]

When I did my tank I used several hand fulls of clean gravel. It has various sizes and is very gritty. The gas was red/brown in color and I could only go 20 miles between fuel filters. Have never had a problem since.

 

I hope you didn't use rubber washers because gas dissolves it and fast.

 

You might want to blow out the fuel lines also.

 

The tank is the same for '80- Oct.'82 2wd and 4x4 trucks, but must come from another king cab. It's basically a long wheelbase tank but has a notch in the upper front to clearance the extended cab.

[720LA]

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated.

[wayno]

All 2wd kingcab tanks are interchangeable, just find another tank, if you cannot find another tank, remove what you have, pull all the screws out that you put in, find a way of plugging the holes, maybe duck tape will work, then buy the best quality tank sealer out there, not the second best, the best, as you only want to do this one more time.

[wallaccx]

I picked up a brand new tank through Autozone a few months ago, for just a little over $100 when you catch it on one of their 20% off sales.  They even shipped it to the house for free.