VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 1930 Chevrolet 1/2 Ton Fuel Tank Capacity

wondering what the capacity is on the 1/2 1930 Trucks

went to fill up my 1930 1/2 ton Canopy Express, and tank was about empty. barely any fuel on the bottom of the tank. stopped at 8 gallons
as the fuel was about 1/2 inch from the fill port/top of the tank.

the tank is under the front seat, fills from the passenger side. approx 26' wide x 13" tall. it sits inside the frame rails up high. yes it is boxed in and you sit over the tank

looking at manuals most of the sedans and cars have 10-11 gallon tanks. this tank is smaller or so it seems. maybe due to its location and mounting.

Chevrolet claims the truck tank held 10 1/4 gallons. Some tanks have been run dry a few times and are sucked in a bit so don't hold as much as it should.

Thanks Chipper
i am going to take some basic dimensions and see what kind of volume i come up with
right now the fuel gauge is pegged at full, there is approx 6.88" of fuel in the tank, and i put in 8 gallons, when i put in the gas i looked in the tank and there was barely any fuel in the bottom of the tank, i could see the fuel in the middle of the bottom, maybe an eight of inch deep.

tank looks to be original.

pulled some numbers on the tanks this morning, laid it out in 3d CAD and did offset for thickness of metal, etc and took an internal volume of that.

volume = 2328 in3

gas takes approx 231 in3 per gallon

2328 / 231 = 10.1 gallons completely filled

i put in 8 gallons, drove home about 2.5 miles and measured the depth of the gas from bottom of tank to top liquid level. approx 6.88 inches from the bottom, updated model to project volume at set depth.

volume at set depth is approx 1853 in3

1853 / 231 = 8.0 gallons

so would have to say pretty darn accurate :)

Looks like you nailed it.

I have a 30 roadster pickup with tank under the front seat. pretty sure the tank is the truck's original tank. the gas cap is kind unique and for that reason, not sure its original. its brass. one can't grip it like caps of the 40's and up, one has to use the thumb and forefinger to rotate its pair of ears counterclockwise. mike mccagh