The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors gas tank removal from 1949 3100

Need to remove the original gas tank from behind the seat in a 1949 3100 for cleaning and to get at a dented cab corner from inside. Seat is out, but frame for seat is intact in cab. What's the easy way to get the tank out, or, is there no easy way? Thanks for your advice in advance.

Pull the seat frame and then it'll be easy to pull the tank. Two bolts, one on each tank strap. Plus the wires to the tank sending unit, the fuel line under the cab and disconnecting the filler neck.

While you have it out, I suggest getting it boiled out, which should cost you around $30 at a radiator shop.

Thanks NM51, but pulling the seat frame looks like a lot of complications, being welded to the floor & all. I can see that if the frame was out of the way, it would be fairly easy to make the disconnections for the tank. I was wondering if there is a way of getting the tank out, but leaving the seatframe in place?

The seat frame is bolted on each side. Remove the bolts, raise the seat frame to clear the assembly. You will still have the welded piece on the floor, but the seat frame itself will come out allowing access to the tank.

I second getting the tank boiled out or a new one. I ended up having to get a new tank as mine was so bad the local radiator shop couldn't clean it. If you end up getting a new tank, be sure to ask about the threads on new tank. My new one came with metric threads.

Awesome! Thanks for your help. I need to get a better light (or glasses) to see the bolts and then the frame will be out of there in no time.

A couple thoughts on taking out your seat frame. On a '49, if you take off the seat bottom and back, you will see four nuts sticking up from studs at the four corners of the frame. These bolt to the adjustor sliding mechanisms. However, there are also clamps at each side that bolt to the cable that operates the adjustors. This can be a pain to try to unbolt the cables and put back together. Instead look for the nuts that hold the adjustors to the cab. There are two at each end of the two adjustors, (eight total). They are under the front corners pointing down and behind the cab/seat frame (the welded in sheetmetal part) in the rear pointing towards the box. These rear ones are between the gas tank and the sheet metal frame. If you remove these bolts the whole frame plus the adjustors will come out. Note that you need to move the seat to the forward position so that you can tip it back to clear the front studs and then move foward to take out the back ones. Good Luck.

Nifty 50: Thanks, I'll be looking for that setup tonite!

Thanks for the advice from everyone on this one. It turned out that there were just four studs, one sticking right up in each corner of the frame, w/ a simple 1/2" nut on each. They came off easy and then there was a tensioner on each side for the cables.The screw holding each of those came off easy and then the cable slipped up past the rigid frame and, just like that, the whole seat frame, with all cables intact, was out of the cab! Removing the tank will be a piece of cake. It turns out that the cabcorner ding was easier to get out than I ever imagined. (I caused the damage myself, backing up my daily driver in haste and forgetting that the '49 had just been moved to a new spot on the side of the driveway. The chrome bumper cleared the 49's running board, but not the cab corner, pushing it straight in just under 2" deep at the apex of the curve and 6" wide. Ouch!) The metal is like new, no rust and solid as the day it was made in California. Unfortunately, the damage was below the bottom of the gas tank, so removing it wouldn't have helped. I persuaded the dent to come out w/ the rounded end of an old splitting maul handle, coaxing it out by pressing against the very solid riser under the gastank and behind the seat. That got the far edges out and then it was on to 12" piece of soft pine w/ a 22 oz framing hammer w/ knurled face to pound out the rest at an angle from where that pesky seat frame had been. The knurls were needed on a very humid day to make good contact w/ the end grain of the soft pine. It is about 97% done and could have been finished, but the last swing went wide w/ the sweat flowing freely and it left a knurled imprint on my left pointer finger's big knuckle. Another ouch, but completely satisfied w/ great progress made.