The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk fuel tank under the bed

I have a question that has had me stumped ever since I got my truck this past winter. I have a '47 Chevy truck, first year of the Adv Design, with the gas tank under the bed.

All of the parts catalogs only have replacements for '49-'55 1st series with the tank behind the seat.

Does anyone know where to find an under bed replacement? Or know of any other tank that fits well? Mine is in bad shape, and while aftermarket would be okay, I still would like it in the stock location. Thanks.

Hi Thriftmaster,

I haven't seen reproduction under bed tanks for our truck, maybe someone else will chime in with a resource. There are used ones that pop up from time to time but you don't really know what condition they are in until you take a close look. One currently available here:
GAs Tank
Something like that could be a gamble but who knows? You could hang something suitable and safe down there while you wait for the right tank to become available. I am interested in what others have for sources also.

Catchy handle, Thriftmaster! Where'd you come up with that? He, he, he.

Anyway, I have a '48, and luckily, my tank was good. I know there are places that "rebuild" gas tanks - coat the insides and out with some kind of stuff. That might be your best chance at getting a working tank for your '47. In all the years I've been hunting parts for mine I haven't seen a tank for sale.

Bob Adler has a field full of AD trucks, and he might have what you're looking for, but I don't know about the legality of shipping a used gas tank. Here's the website for his place: http://adlersantiqueautos.com/

It is a little long huh? lol...I'll use my real name since there might be a few other '47 Thrifty's.

Thanks for the research though guys. I haven't removed mine from my truck yet, but the bed wood is rooted through, and the truck has been sitting for 10 or so years, so I just figured it's trash, but I should try cleaning it out and see just what the inside looks like.

There's a guy that has a '51 I think that comes down to our local cruise in, and he has a late model tank of some sort under the rear of the bed and the filler is in the center rear of the bed floor. I prefer the stock location for the filler neck, but wasn't sure what other models had a similar size tank.

Wayne, we make tanks to fit in the factory location but only for our own projects since this leaves the underbed spare tire area open. If you want to use the rear of the frame then a Blazer tank is one commonly used. If your tank is beyond saving a sheet metal shop can easily make you one since you already have the frame mount brackets. Here are a couple pics of a tank we made for a 48. The first photos show the factory tank in the truck (bottom is gone) and then the nearly completed replacement which doesn't have the filler tube or sending unit hole at the time the picture was taken. Scroll down to first few pics on page one. http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d41/coilover/

Thanks coilover, and nice pics too. I plan on making the truck a "farm-style" looking truck, using it as a truck but with a slight hotrod feel. Hard to describe, but I have the vision in my head.lol So it'll have a couple boards along the bed rails and up by the cab...sorta like the orange one in your pics, but being cut off closer to the rear. Here is a better descrip:

|-----|
|-----|---
|-----|-----|

front<----------->rear

And I want to mount the spare on the inside of the bed attached to the bedside. It would have been nice to just have a new "drop-in" replacement so I wouldn't have to worry about any of the old tank issues. But it's never that easy now, is it? LOL I'll drop my old tank soon and check it out really good.

In the meantime, I want to get my Camaro to the track one more time (Aug 31st) to run it (1/4 mile drag) before it gets pulled off the road for disassembly, re-wire, and paint, new interior, new suspension...I guess restored. But it's going to take a lot more money than the old truck. But the truck will require a little more "fab" work. Oh well, we'll see which one gets finished first. Thanks again guys.