1954 Mercury gas tank

TJ

TJ

Well-known member
I thought I would post this information for future reference for those that own 1954 Mercury's. My Mercury started leaking gas at the top of the tank when it was filled up .After draining the gas and dropping the tank it was found to be leaking around the sending unit and had a lot of small pinholes on the flat surface of the tank. It was beyond repair after I took it to a shop that repairs tanks. No one makes a tank for these Mercs. What we did find was they do make a tank for a'57 Mercury. The basic dimensions of the '57 tank are the same as the '54 but it was deeper(hold stwo more gallons). The tank neck was also slightly different than the '54.
So to get the tank '57 tank to fit the '54 we used the neck from the 54 tank and lengthened the straps by 2 " to compensate for the extra depth. I also had to use an aftermarket sender as the original sender would not fit. I hope this helps anyone with a Merc that may encounter the same problem.
 
Did you have any problems with the new sender working correctly with the old dash gauge?
What type/brand of sender did you use?
Is the car still 6v, or 12v?
If you had a problem, how did you fix it?

(this problem comes up a fair amount, inquiring minds want to know)
.
 
Last edited:
dmsfrr said:
Did you have any problems with the new sender working correctly with the old dash gauge?
What type/brand of sender did you use?
Is the car still 6v, or 12v?
If you had a problem, how did you fix it?

(this problem comes up a fair amount, inquiring minds want to know)
.
Click to expand...

The car is converted to 12 volts. I used a sender from "Tanks" with part # TAN-ORG. The accuracy of this sender is questionable and I set I the float so it shows empty when there is still about 3 gallons left. It 's the age old problem with aftermarket senders. The '57 sender is held in with a lock ring and the ohms are not correct for the stock gauge. A possible cure would be to look at a stock '57gauge and see of it would fit in the earlier dash. If so you could change the gauge face to the earlier face. I did not explore this possibility, but probably should have done it.
The adapter by Speedway is set up to put a newer sender in an old tank and will not work on the later Merc tank. Even if you could reverse it ,it's too large to sit on the tank flange and would leak fuel. Even with the aftermarket sender I had to use the Dremel to remove to lock ring and drill holes to mount the sender. The project was a big pain in the rear, but now I have a good solid tank. Why they make a tank for a '57 Merc and not the earlier Mercs is a mystery to me.
 
TJ said:
The car is converted to 12 volts. I used a sender from "Tanks" with part # TAN-ORG. The accuracy of this sender is questionable and I set I the float so it shows empty when there is still about 3 gallons left. It 's the age old problem with aftermarket senders. The '57 sender is held in with a lock ring and the ohms are not correct for the stock gauge. A possible cure would be to look at a stock '57gauge and see of it would fit in the earlier dash. If so you could change the gauge face to the earlier face. I did not explore this possibility, but probably should have done it.
The adapter by Speedway is set up to put a newer sender in an old tank and will not work on the later Merc tank. Even if you could reverse it ,it's too large to sit on the tank flange and would leak fuel. Even with the aftermarket sender I had to use the Dremel to remove to lock ring and drill holes to mount the sender. The project was a big pain in the rear, but now I have a good solid tank. Why they make a tank for a '57 Merc and not the earlier Mercs is a mystery to me.
Click to expand...
You used this when you converted to 12 volts ? https://secure.cougarpartscatalog.c...68-Mercury-Cougar-1967-1968-Ford-Mustang.html
 
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