'39 pickup: what's this gas tank from?

tamnalan

tamnalan

Senior Member
This tank was mounted in the cab, under the seat in my '39 half ton pickup. The filler routes through a cab hole on the passenger side. Sorry... the shoes are not for sale.

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My guess would be a tank from a '39 1 1/2 ton truck. Don't know about '39's for sure but the '40 pick ups had the tank under the bed and the big trucks had the tank under the seat like the one you have.
 
SO, I would guess your cab came from a 39 big truck at some point. The pic-up did indeed have the tank under the bed . I have the same set up but mine did start life as a 2 ton tanker now sitting on a 37 pic-up chassic. I thought I would keep the seat tank and have duel tanks ,but really how much longhauling an I going to be doing:o . AND with all the idiots on the road today ,,do I really want to be sitting on 15 gallons of feul . I still have it in there because I can,t find the parts for the 1/2 ton seat riser. eventually I will have a body guy fill the hole in the side of the cab. Mike
 
Thanks! I have a repro Bob Drake frame tank too but not sure which one I'll use. This one looks like it has more capacity, and I would like to add a pintle hitch to the back with some frame bracing that might not fit well with the stock tank location.

I have an old jeep too.. I'm used to sitting on the gas tank.
 
I have a '37 p/u Im collecting parts for. Its going to have the tank in the back on a '38 car frame. I was going to make a tool box under the seat with an old tank from a '36 1 1/2 ton.... Mark
 
It's been a while since I pulled the seat out, but I'm pretty sure they did. The tank is the same height as the seat frame in my pickup.

I have a rusty old 39 pu truck that may have a seat frame - seems it would be hard to remove, but I'll look at it.
 
It does get a bit damp at times! I'm originally from central Montana, where it's pretty dry.
The toolbox idea is a good one.
 
tamnalan said:
Do the seat springs rest directly on the tank then?
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I can only speak about the under seat tank on my '40 big truck but the under seat tank had posts on the top of the tank that the seat went over. The picture you posted seems to show one of the mounting posts I'm referring to.
 
Tank looks almost like the 32 pu under seat tank, On my last 3 pus I cut the top out and used it for storage, battery box and electrical components. Put the real fuel tank in the back of the chassis.
 
Here's a photo of a 38 big truck tank. IIRC, the bottom cushion had plywood like the pu's and it sat on the tank but was positioned by the corner pegs. Sort of Armstrong power seat.

Gordon
 

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Appreciate all the inputs! I might try to re-use that tank. It still had fuel in it when I pulled it out last Sunday. I think this truck last ran in the late 1970s.
 
My 1939 pickup has the tank under the seat a d the filler on the right side rear corner. It has one seam in the middle and the top and bottom halves are rounded on the edges. The sending unit is in the top center and the outlet for the gas line is in the bottom on the right one third side. I think taht maybe your tank is a replacement from a big truck as these 112" commercial chassis with the stake/platform bodies were rare.
 
I don't know what the difference was between the stake body and the platform body, but new it was almost $100. I think that the spare tire was carried where we look for the gas tank now. The rear fenders were stepped for the body width and the body was about 6" higher than the pickup bed floor. I don't know if the running boards ran full length or if they were the stubbys.
If anyone out there has any information on these rare bodies , I would like to hear what you have to offer.
 
The seat bottom sat on the seat riser not on the tank. The seat bottom was hinged at the rear and there were three holes in the riser and two in the hinges to offer two seat locations for fore and aft movement. The seat back was hinged at the top with a 1" x 3" x seat width board on hinges that was moved to offer fore and aft adjustment of the seat back.
 
malpais said:
BTW, I grew up in Ohio. Never needed a humidor for anything when I was there.......
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It was not Thomas Jefferson that said "common sense is not so common". It was Volrtaire

"Common sense is not so common."
* Voltaire, Dictionnaire Philosophique (1764)
 
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