Gas Tank and Turn Signal Switch

[johny]

Want to install new gas tank in my '49 Kaiser Special.  What modern tank best fits?  Also, looking for turn signal switch for same car preferably NOS or one very similar.  I have posted this also on the parts wanted section.

Johny

[Doc]

You may have to consider getting the tank refurbished at one of those national gas tank renewal places.  Two notes relative to that:  it's pricey ($300+ depending on tank and condition) and before you remount the tank confirm the pickup tube is still open and that the baked on sealer inside the tank at the bottom hasn't interfered with the open end of the pickup tube in the tank. (experience here!)  It's easier IF the pickup tube can be removed before the renewal process. One further note: there is a baked-on external coating as well and you'll need to be aware of sending unit grounding issues.

[Dragon]

You might also check with a company that cleans radiators.  I had a radiator place clean and reseal my tank for less than half the price of the companies that restore gas tanks.

[Doc]

A note of CAUTION!  (this may or may not apply depending......) Radiator shops in general just apply a coating after cleaned and it is not baked on. Experience again speaking....I had three like this where a few months to a year later, the coating flaked off and plugged up the pickup tubes. This has been discussed numerous times on the internet, me not being alone. Unless the tank is very bad or leaks, get it cleaned and just place a transparent filter outside the tank so you can monitor the situation....a few hundred miles and a few cheap filters and you may be ok. On one of my '51 Frazers, it was impossible to be cleaned at the radiator shop because the tank had been sealed.  I had to cut a sizeable hole in the top, soak in MEK a few times and scrape all the old sealer out. Lots of work but the tank is almost ready for reinstalltion again. 

[Doc]

The turn signal switches seem to be fairly plentiful on ebay.

[Logan]

I had a radiator shop do mine about a year ago.  I don't think they put a seal on it at all, just cleaned it out.  It doesn't seem to have any issues, but is there anything I should worry about seeing as how it's not coated?

[Doc]

If you do not have a transparent filter in the line you can periodically view, if you have any symptons of fuel delivery probpems, you might consider the tank area first. What I have done in the past where the filter is not transparent, I remove it and saw it open and take a look.  The pickup tube in the tank is the thing that can become plugged or restrictive.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Several restoration places that do trucks have found that current gasoline formulas with their increased alcohol and/or oxygenated chemicals are eating away at old tanks.  "Gum" and other fine residue stuff that used to cling to tank walls are being loosened by the new formumas and the stuff gets sucked into fuel lines, filters and carb.  They are even talking about new manufacture tanks made out of materials that are compatiable with current gas (but may not be useable when formulas are set to change later this decade).  There are liner materials out there that come with lifetime warranties (consult your state consumer protection agencies for your state's legal definition of "lifetime" here to compare it with the liner company's definition).  You may have to do some digging to find the right stuff but it will be worth it.