The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Fuel pump, gas tank moved to under the bed

I have a 1950 3100 216. I moved the gas tank out of the cab and placed it under the bed. The fuel will no longer be gravity fed from the tank. Is the original fuel pump strong enough to move the fuel to the carburetor? Will I need and electric fuel pump to assist? If so, I’d like to hear your suggestions. Thx.

A good mechanical pump should work fine.

It will work, I have one on my 1954 3100. Been on there since 2008. I did put an electric one to feed when the truck has sat for a while.

In '47-48 the tank was located mostly under the frame with the filler neck coming out of the lower edge of the bed. All years '47-'55.1 panels and suburbans had that same tank location. Yours should work fine.

My 1953 3100 had the underbed gas tank, stock location for panels and Suburbans.

Just to be clear everyone agrees that an original mechanical fuel pump should do the job. No need to add an electric fuel pump. Thank you.

I put a fuel tank in the back of the frame of my 52 Chevy truck as well I have a 235 haven’t had any issues with the stock fuel pump.
I also added an electric fuel pump at the back of the tank I hooked it up to a toggle switch to the ignition switch so no power unless key is on I use it to prime the carburetor for the reasons my truck sits for long periods of time
I will turn it on for about 15 seconds along with the choke .
Be careful to not run the electric fuel pump to long it could and will flood your carburetor and gas will leak on your exhaust manifold.

That is a great call. I like the idea of the toggle switch. Do you know the make and model of the fuel pump you used?

K&N got it from Amazon

Installed the electric fuel pump back by the tank. See the picture attached. Wired it up with a toggle switch as suggested. Flipped on the switch and found two connector leaks. Also go fuel to the end of the line. Stainless steel lines are difficult to know how tight you have to be. But it was clear my problem was not the mechanical fuel pump, it was air leaks. Cleaned up the gas on the garage floor. Tightened up the fittings, connected up the carburetor and stepped on the starter and the engine came alive! Thank you again for all the input. This is a great group of friends.

Looks good nice engine bay what did you do as far as sending unit and fuel gauge?

I also replaced the fuel pump with a double-acting vacuum fuel pump to run the wipers.

The tank I bought from The Truck Shop came with a sending unit. I’m running with the original gauges so I to add the resister to drop the voltage down to 6V. I have not filled the tank all the way yet, but when I tested it outside the tank it seemed to read correctly. The biggest challenge I faced was reloading the filler spout to land dead center on the bed board. But as my dad always said, it’s just math and you’ll be fine.

I had an electric wiper motor when my kids drove this truck in high school. But I held on to the original vacuum motor. I never liked all the space the electric motor took up and the ugly switch. I’m just lucky I also stored away that dual diaphragm fuel pump. Can you even find these now? Thanks.

I looked for the dual diaphragm pump but was not able to find new or reman ones. Rock Auto has them listed but with a note that says Out of Stock.

Either way, my recent experience with new Chinese pumps has not been good. My glass bowl pump is currently at Then and Now Automotive being rebuilt.