VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 38 business coupe gas tank

Does anyone have personal experience with the fitment of the galvanized steel tank being sold by Chevs of the 40s to fit the business coupe? When I pulled the car out of the barn 20 years ago the gas tank was rusted through in a few places. Tanks were not available then so I had the pinholes brazed and coated the tank with Redkote liner. Recently, when replacing my fuel pump the gas coming out of the fuel line had a red tint. It may be nothing but it could also be the coating starting to fail. My thought is to buy one of the tanks from Chevs and put it on the shelf for installing, possibly next winter after driving season. Of course by then it'll be out of the warranty return window so I want to know first hand if they fit well. I could wait until then to buy one but the way prices are going up it will likely be more expensive by then and/or be out of stock. What say you? First hand knowledge of the fitment??

https://www.chevsofthe40s.com/detai...eel_3_Pass_Coupe_and_Sedan_Delivery.html

I would encourage you to determine the actual manufacturer of the tank and buy from them. I would also suggest that you want it to be under warranty at least when you install it.

I have been involved with 2 replacement tanks. The first was definitely not a positive experience. It was one that our local radiator shop got for my friend's '49 3100. At first glance it looked like it would work fine. It was a challenge when we installed it. The filler tube had to be cut and rewelded in the correct orientation. The mounts in the truck had to be modified because the replacement tank was more square than the original.

The other situation is not as bad but I am still trying to get things the way I would like. My other classic car has a replacement tank. It fits into place well. Access to the sending unit and the outlet connection are very close to stock and acceptable. However the inlet neck sits a little too high and to the rear. So the filler pipe was very difficult to install and seal properly whenever the tank was installed. It was leaking when I bought the car. It took me almost 4 hours to get it installed and sealed rather than the 15 minutes a correctly aligned inlet would require. Even now the filler pipe is not properly positioned in the opening in the body.

I purchased a gas tank for my 1938 Master Coupe from the The Filling Station. RV55
It worked perfectly. All the parts are included.

Check availability. Last spring I replaced the one in my 41. Ordered the steel tank and it was out of stock and would be for a while at the Filling Station. Then it was out of stock at Chevs of the 40s. Come to find out it was out of stock at the manufacturers too. I forget if it was Chevs of the 40s or Filling Station but one of them called me and offered a poly tank for the same price as the steel. Since mine is not a show car I went with that and could not be happier. As far as fitment it was great. As far as installation, well a teen-ager and a father that had not done this before were able to accomplish the 1 hr. task in about a day. Only regret I have is that I went with a generic sender and not the better one. It works but is more of a pain to get right than it should be. This may also be due to our learn as we go approach to this.

One thing we did find was that the tank we received had a vent that had to be mounted at a point higher than the tank. Not sure if this was due to it being a poly tank or what. We made a bracket and mounted it to the side of the fill tube.

doe it work well? if so, do you have photos?bI have a poly tank and it burps gas when I am trying to fill up, so I KNOW I MAY NOT HAVE INSTALLED THE VENT.
Thank you

I have the tank but it won't be put in until next week. It has 3/8 NPT threads instead of the 1/8 on the OEM tank and the fill neck is in two pieces requiring a hose with clamps to connect the ends. I don't know what the reasoning was behind the two piece filler but I'll deal with it.

Reason - cheaper and easier to make that way.

Probably right. It creates another possible leak in a difficult place to access if it does.

I have no knowlede of the poly tanks.
Does the poly tank have two out lets. The steel tanks do.
At the beginning of every season I drain the old gas out and put in new.
I also use the non ethonal gas.
Good luck.

I have no fill issues with mine. When we installed ours it looked like the vent would be need as there was no where else for the air to go as its filled if it did not go up the fill tube.

Got the tank installed today. All is well so far. Some advise if anyone wants to buy the same tank (sold by Tanks Inc. and resold by the various vendors). The outlet is 3/8 NPT instead of the stock 1/8 NPT so a reducer bushing will be necessary. The sending unit mount is coarse thread instead of fine thread in the OEM tank. No big issue but requires trying to find new screws when not prepared to do so. Using a two piece filler tube makes the fill opening pretty sloppy since all that's holding it in place is the rubber grommet. If the supplied rubber collar that connects the filler tube to the tank fails it's in a pretty inaccessible spot and will be a PITA to address. I would personally much rather pay a bit more shipping and have a one piece filler. Having said that I'm grateful that a replacement tank is available but in a perfect world......

As I noted in my post in this thread, I have yet to work with an actual “reproduction” tank. They are better described as “replacement” tanks.

Like Tiny described you have to take steps to make them work.