This project starts with removing the gas tank. It's probably not necessary to remove the rear bumper cover to do this, but since I was taking the car apart anyway, it made the job a lot easier. The gas tank was in surprisingly good shape. There was some moderate to heavy rust near the outer corner tabs, but it was structurally sound.
Here is the tank on my work bench about four years later. You can see it's not in bad shape, just some rust. I used a pot blaster to remove the rust and remaining galvanization, and then etched the tank with phosphoric acid. I covered it with a couple coats of rustoleum primer, and top coated with their metallic paint. Hopefully that will offer some decent corrosion protection.
Before painting the tank, I cleaned the bladder using lacquer thinner, soft brush, and shop towels.
I had the tank straps powder coated, and with the tank painted and cleaned, I was ready for installation. I ordered the anti-squeak pads and spent an afternoon installing the tank and fuel lines. I realize the picture to the right isn't very good or illustrative. I was pressed for time to get the body on the frame before my lease was up and I moved to my new shop. So I apologize for the picture, and debated not even putting it in. However, I wanted to illustrate that the tank and lines are installed. The project pauses here until I get everything together for the TBI installation. That will have better documentation.
This project was started before I decided to document the build. So there are not many pictures of the early portions of the project. When I was planning the fuel system, there were several things I considered:
STOCK CARBURETOR UPGRADE: I bought Cliff Ruggles' Quadrajet rebuild book with the intent of modifying the existing carburetor. I decided to investigate a throttle body application after a discussion with a friend that installed one in his car and had great results.
THROTTLE BODY INJECTION: After doing some research, I was interested in a TBI, but somewhat put off by the price. I found a used Holley Pro-jection 4 Di system on E-bay for $500. I know it's old, and the fuel maps are primitive, but for a daily driver it should be fine.
FUEL LINES: My feed line was OK, but the return line was too small (1/4") and the vapor line was very rusty. I've looked at purchasing pre-bent lines, but ended up buying steel line and making my own.
FUEL PUMP AND SENDING UNIT: The stock sending unit return line is 1/4", so I'm using a sending unit from an 82 crossfire, but putting a larger capacity pump on it.
Modifications: One
- Increase fuel return line to 5/16"
Upgrades: One
- Installation of Throttle Body Fuel Injection system
Fuel