last year Miss Vicky started stalling after a short time on the road everytime I gassed her up,
the tank was leaking pricey unleaded and the gauge showed empty when the tank was half full
...
everybody discouraged me from cleaning and sealing the old tank,
so the options included either an original '55 Ford tank for 370 Dollars excl. tax and duties from the States
or a Mustang tank for 190 Euros incl. sending unit and freight from Germany
and then I came across an old Custom Rodder from 1994
rollover
and made up my mind quick 'cause I figured whatever works with a '51 should just as well work with a '55
I took a nice and sunny day and got ready - this is what we're working with, the air ride rear end of Her Majesty's Cruiseship
first, drop that old leaky fuel tank, which is simply held up by two straps and two bolts
test fit the brandnew Mustang 16 gal. unit (hey, it's only one gallon less than the original)
simply mark the perimeter, double check and swing that angle grinder
and yes, usually, you'd find a well on the right for the spare wheel to sit in but mine's been welded shut because I'm running a continental kit
BIG gaping hole
after the grinding I figured using a saw would've been the smarter move since that grinding dust blows everywhere - time to primer the edges
connect the fuel line and sending unit wire before you drop in the tank ('course I didn't) and bolt it down
...
the remaining thing to do is installing a vent tube with a safety shut-off valve somewhere outside the trunk
(and close that hole where the old filler neck was poking through)
last, connect the fuel gauge (25 bucks on Ebay including shipping) and you're set for accurate readings of the precious liquid in the trunk
...
and, yes, I oughtta do something about the electric spaghetti monster living under the dash ;-)
now you wouldn't guess what happened on that very first ride I took?
...
right, she stalled again after about an hour at highway speed
and she kept on doing this
...
over and over again
getting stuck at the side of the road almost got boring
...
then somebody suggested 'vapour lock' and sure enough, the fuel line ran next to the heater hose
(packed in water pipe insulation material here already)
2 x rollover
so the easy fix was to simply swap the side the fuel line ran around the carb
all it took was a banjo fitting and a yard of 5/8 fuel line
...
in the end, this didn't do it either,
because after a fire on the motorway one autumn day,
I found out that the choke wire just didn't have the strength to handle the ground
...
so a simple ground wire from engine to body did the trick
...
before the generator went
...
oh well, lesson learned
most of the times the Gremlin's in the li'l things
...