If Gas Tanks Could Talk!

[lalessi1]

WTF? My new gas tank came in yesterday. To bring all up to speed, my car has been running out of gas with 5-6 gallons in it, obviously a pick up tube issue? Well I pulled the original(?) tank today and put in a new one from Auto City, not perfect but close enough. Anyway I had the chance to get a better look inside my old tank... the solid looking pickup tube had a "sock filter" on it... it seemed to come out straight from the connection on the front of the tank hanging out in the middle of the tank under the sender, not on the bottom. There seems to be no modifications to the tank at all! I don't have a clue what could have happened. The Auto City tank picked up looked (inside) like what I expected the old one to look like.WAY CONFUSED AGAIN!

[hiball3985]

Thats bazaar  Makes you wonder if it was a factory screw up and how often did the original owner run out of gas 

[RICH MUISE]

The fact that the pickup tube still had the sock makes me think somewhere in the past someone did some cleanup,,,,,maybe got a little carried away with bending the tube out of the way and forgot to push it back?? Possibly used gravel inside to remove rust and that's what bent the tube?? Possibly had a large dent on the bottom of the tank that bent the tube up and did not go back down when the dent was repaired (or self repaired with the weight of the gas) Just thinking out loud here. My old tank is still around the old house somewhere..I'll have to take a look inside again, but I'm 95% sure it did not have the sock filter left.

[lalessi1]

My understanding is that 57s didn't have a sock filter. The straps looked like they were a little banged up but the rubber? mat on top of the tank was there with a lot of  "original" dirt. The vent line had been replaced at some point... Never thought about the tank getting bent but nothing seemed amiss,  the car has been in minor fender benders too...The tank was surprisingly clean though so maybe the tube was bent out of the way for cleaning? I can only imagine it was a factory problem creating ALL kinds of problems for some poor souls...me included!!!

[lalessi1]

Thought I'd post pics for  ...Gas tank 3 shows the sock... (slow day in Lynnland!)

[djfordmanjack]

Lynn, I have observed many cars and tanks, that were mangeled. In my thinking , when a car is not moving under its own power anymore, oftentime they'll see heavy equipment and a brutal fork lift under them. design has it that the tank protrudes from the chassis. the tank in my Country Sedan had been replaced recently but was totally mangled and bent by fork lift, as was some of the rear pssgr floors and floor braces. I have personally seen collector cars getting moved by fork lift at the shipping companies. You wouldn't believe how they treat cars. when I was in Paramount they dragged a freshly painted 55 T bird around with ONE front wheel on the lift and the rear wheels locked up in what was probably Park and no ignition keys. Shipper broke the ign lock in the all original survivor 57 Hemi Dodge wagon of my friend.

[hiball3985]

I know my eyes aren't what they use to be but I don't see any signs of damage being done to the bottom of the tank.

[lalessi1]

There are a couple of minor scrapes on the rear part of the tank that angles up. The larger flat part of the bottom as well as the top seems to bow out, the trunk floor looks a little bowed up too. A friend told me he has seen guys use air to expand  tanks that had been bent in, closest thing to an explanation for me....