oil tank question

G50911 · 03:09 PM

question about oil tanks:

1) is there a trick to getting them in?
2) are they interchangable through out the years?

i had a couple tanks laying around for my 71 build. i used the cleanest one (i think from a carrera) and sent it out to get boiled and cleaned up. now trying to fit it in and no such luck. i removed the. passenger rear bumper and moved the support brackets out of the way and it’s super tight. i’m wondering if the later models are fatter?

here are some pics..

Trackrash · Trackrash's Garage

You are trying to fit a Carrera tank in a '71?

If so you will have to do some body work in the engine compartment to get it to fit.

Compare the tank in your picture to the original '71 tank and you will see. '72s had the forward tank and from '73 on the filler and filter were reversed on the tank.

The oil fittings are also different, but that may be a blessing in disguise if you are fitting a newer motor.

G50911 · 04-15-2018, 05:05 PM

exactly gordon. the car had a later model oil tank in it when i bought it so the body work was already done (basically cut up where the spout and filter go). i just can't seem to get the damn thing in. wondering what angle, twisting or kind of sorcery i need to get it up into the cavity!

Tea Tray · Tea Tray's Garage

I just pulled my ‘87 oil tank and it came out in kind of a weird way. I wish I could tell you exactly.... Try it at odd angles and go slowly...
Good luck.

G50911 · 04-15-2018, 06:07 PM

thanks tea tray. yeah that "weird way" is what i need to try and figure out

Trackrash · Trackrash's Garage

FWIW, I have a Carrera tank in my '71. It is a tight fit, yea, it is like a puzzle to get it in.

juanbenae · juanbenae's Garage

that's a 3.2 tank as it has the 1/2" pipe coming out near the fill pipe. I had no used for it when I bought a new tank and was shipped the Carrera tank like you have. I used one of those really small pipe cutters cutting it as close to the tank as I could then brazed on a cap. you can hardly see it unless you look.

I think that is a return to the intake side somewhere for the 3.2 FI. if you won't need that id consider cutting it off as if simply to be plugged it's fugly. i take it your car remains a narrow body? the 3.2 tank fit in my 75 but it did require some finagling.

G50911 · 04-16-2018, 07:34 AM

yeah it's staying a narrow body. i thought about cutting it off too but since i'm putting the 3.6 in it, i figured i'd keep it until i know i won't need. i'm gonna mess with trying to fit it in again today. hopefully i can figure out the sequence of lift, turn, twist and push to get it in.