Bob Drake Gas Tanks

Richard in Florida

Richard in Florida

Well-known member
As near as I can figure, the only thing that keeps me from using my perfectly good stock gas gauge sender in a Bob Drake '52-'54 Ford gas tank is the diameter of the sender hole in the top. The hole in the Drake tank is about 1.7" while the stock hole is about 1.9". Believe it or not, the Drake screw hole pattern is identical to that of the stock sender.

I'm sure this divergence exists with other Drake tanks, as well.

Has anyone tried enlarging the sender hole in a Drake tank? Seems to me that with a little planning and preparation virtually all the junk generated by the enlarging process could be captured and removed. Most of what remains could be flushed out, and anything left after that would be caught in the filter installed right at the tank outlet.

The only other option is to live with the incompatible Drake sender, always afraid I'm about to run out of gas.
 
If you have all the components in hand and can make the determination exactly what has to be removed and the mounting holes are the same, go for it!
Not having a Drakes tank I don't know how the mounting flange is attached to the tank so you might want to consider
the possibility of inadvertently removing a sealing surface.
On a stock Merc. tank the flange is spot welded and then solder sealed.
A tip- if you grind/rotory file the hole, cover the tank with blankets or drop cloths (makes it lot easier on your and the neighbors ears)
 
If you're doing any kind of grinding or similar operation, it might be best to have a low pressure air line feeding air into the tank through another fitting and a shop vacuum sucking the air and the chips or grinding debris out while you're doing it.
 
51 MERC-CT said:
Not having a Drake tank I don't know how the mounting flange is attached to the tank so you might want to consider the possibility of inadvertently removing a sealing surface.)
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A wise thought, indeed. Thanks. If and when my Drake tank shows up, I'll look at that very carefully.

A tip- if you grind/rotary file the hole, cover the tank with blankets or drop cloths (makes it lot easier on your and the neighbors ears
Click to expand...
ANOTHER gem of a thought. I have some great neighbors so that really applies.
 
PeteVS said:
If you're doing any kind of grinding or similar operation, it might be best to have a low pressure air line feeding air into the tank through another fitting and a shop vacuum sucking the air and the chips or grinding debris out while you're doing it.
Click to expand...
Excellent suggestion. Thanks.
 
When you get the tank try the stock sender. As I recall I believe my neighbor used the stock sender in his Drake tank. I'd ask him but he has gone to the big swap meet in the sky.
 
TJ said:
When you get the tank try the stock sender. As I recall I believe my neighbor used the stock sender in his Drake tank.
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I will of course check that first, but based upon the special lipped rubber gasket that came with the Drake sender, I'm not holding my breath.
 
It seems that almost every aftermarket supplier of 52-54 tanks gets them from Drake and being out of stock is normal for them on a regular basis.I started and moderate this site:http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=332 and have heard the gas 52-54 gas tank woes since day one.We have had some guys use these:http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-1955-Fo...Parts_Accessories&hash=item3381fabc78&vxp=mtr and swap filler necks,if you don't want to weld you could use a gasoline rated connector hose to connect the filler necks which a lot of vehicles use.Big difference in price too.
 
Richard-

The same "quirk" exists with Drake's '36 tank and I did the same thing you are thinking about.

To minimize metal shavings from getting into the tank I sat the tank (with some weight on it), on a couple of saw horses with the filler opening on the bottom. I crawled under the tank and ground out the hole and let gravity do the rest. That was three years ago and I haven't had any problems to date.

Tom
 
If at all possible enlarge the hole & use your original sender. you won't be happy with the after market sender.
 
Just thinking outloud... cut the sender mounting ring from the old tank & screw it on to the new tank sender mount ring, to use as a guide for enlarging the new tank hole.

keep us posted..
 
flatheadfan said:
To minimize metal shavings from getting into the tank I sat the tank (with some weight on it), on a couple of saw horses with the filler opening on the bottom. I crawled under the tank and ground out the hole and let gravity do the rest. That was three years ago and I haven't had any problems to date.
Click to expand...
This thread just gets better and better! Thanks for that one. WAY better than my scheme which is too silly to describe.
 
jdl said:
Just thinking out loud... cut the sender mounting ring from the old tank & screw it on to the new tank sender mount ring, to use as a guide for enlarging the new tank hole.
Click to expand...
I understand your thinking but I want to keep the original tank as a backup just in case. Thanks, though.
 
I had to do something similar..

I took a piece of flat bar and "eyeball" centered it and tacked into place on the "backside" of the hole, then took a scribe compass to find my center of the hole, and drilled through for a holesaw bit.

Now if you could get by with a 2inch hole, it may work out for you
 
Mike B said:
I took a piece of flat bar and "eyeball" centered it and tacked into place on the "backside" of the hole, then took a scribe compass to find my center of the hole, and drilled through for a holesaw bit.
Click to expand...
I really like this idea. A holesaw brings neatness, and neatness counts. On top of that, here's another opportunity to buy a new tool!
 
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