Does anyone know it the stock tanks on the 1994 F250 7.3 IDI were aluminum or galvanized / zinc coated (internally) ?. My old tanks seemed to be metal coated but I would like to know with what .
Also I am looking at purchasing an aftermarket tank and wonder about the same with those .
Generally, the proper replacement tanks are what's called "nitern" steel. Some sort of OEM approved nickle coating.
Galvanized tanks would be very bad for a diesel because the diesel takes off the zinc and redeposits it inside the IP and the injectors. I just went thru this 2 months ago replacing my tanks and I sure didn't feel like blowing 3 bills apiece on plastic tanks which would be best. I found the Spectra Premium tanks to be spec'd Nitern steel which works with diesel and replaced mine with those.
I know as a fact they weren't galvanized as I drilled a 7/8" hole in the high spots on each tank and MIG'ed in 3/4" steel nipples for the vent system. (Got tired of fighting the foam, and mig'ed 3/4" nips into the newly gutted fillers also and ran a 1" hose from tank to fill.)
Anyway, if they were actually galvanized, the welding would have been a damn mess, so they are indeed nickle coated as advertised.
Rock Auto was the cheapest I found them and had both tanks, and strap kits to my door for 230 bucks.
__________________
Jared.
updated sig: '94 F-350 XL, 7.3IDI turbo, ZF S-542, 4X4, SRW, 8ft fisher, utility body w/ lift gate, new(2003) and freshly tweaked IP, boost and pre-turbo pyro, aftermarket AC, Holley blue pump, ATS 3" elbow and DP, straight 3" exhaust. 13lbs at 2700rpm's, if you stand on it.(Not too often or kaBoom) 1150* on the pyro and as LOUD as it wants to be. 240,000 miles and counting. This is just my work truck.
I did some more searching and found this thread - FUELTANK
So I guess the original tanks must have been aluminum or nickle
( Ni-terne ) coated .
I have considered plastic too but the cost is over my budget and I don't know how well the seal on bulkhead fitting installed on the bottom for a drain plug would hold up .
I am planning to install ( braze ) drain bungs on the new tanks . I am interesting in that venting and filler modification , Do you have some pictures or diagrams ?
I'll get some pics of the tank vent job later today and get them posted here.
__________________
Jared.
updated sig: '94 F-350 XL, 7.3IDI turbo, ZF S-542, 4X4, SRW, 8ft fisher, utility body w/ lift gate, new(2003) and freshly tweaked IP, boost and pre-turbo pyro, aftermarket AC, Holley blue pump, ATS 3" elbow and DP, straight 3" exhaust. 13lbs at 2700rpm's, if you stand on it.(Not too often or kaBoom) 1150* on the pyro and as LOUD as it wants to be. 240,000 miles and counting. This is just my work truck.
The front tap welded to high spot at rear of tank. (3/4" steel nipple and elbow. Not galvanized, needs some paint tho.)
The rear neck. ( I forgot all about that custom double adjustable hose clamp, lol.)
The rear tap just to left of fill piping.
4 pics max per post
__________________
Jared.
updated sig: '94 F-350 XL, 7.3IDI turbo, ZF S-542, 4X4, SRW, 8ft fisher, utility body w/ lift gate, new(2003) and freshly tweaked IP, boost and pre-turbo pyro, aftermarket AC, Holley blue pump, ATS 3" elbow and DP, straight 3" exhaust. 13lbs at 2700rpm's, if you stand on it.(Not too often or kaBoom) 1150* on the pyro and as LOUD as it wants to be. 240,000 miles and counting. This is just my work truck.
Both factory fills are gutted out like this one. It allows for the giant nozzle and full speed fills.
I'll put some notes in another reply, hopefully these pics work.
__________________
Jared.
updated sig: '94 F-350 XL, 7.3IDI turbo, ZF S-542, 4X4, SRW, 8ft fisher, utility body w/ lift gate, new(2003) and freshly tweaked IP, boost and pre-turbo pyro, aftermarket AC, Holley blue pump, ATS 3" elbow and DP, straight 3" exhaust. 13lbs at 2700rpm's, if you stand on it.(Not too often or kaBoom) 1150* on the pyro and as LOUD as it wants to be. 240,000 miles and counting. This is just my work truck.
The fittings are 3/4" steel, not galvanized, just regular black steel pipe. I figured they would be fine from years of using these materials for piping around heating oil.
I used a 1" stepper drill bit and stopped just right to fit the pipe nips into the tanks and fills with a tight fit. The welds are a little crappy(mig on windy day), but they don't leak. The nips are inserted about 1" into the top of the tank for air space.(expansion) I've since then stuffed these tanks and get no blowout.
The blue hose is Goodyear High Miler heater hose. This isn't exactly what I wanted to use, but when I ordered the 2" fuel hose, I asked for 1" as well, and the chick on the phone said, "Oh yeah, no problem, we got that." Yeah sure! They didn't have anything near 1" and I already put the fitting in the tanks naturally. So the only thing I had around was this blue stuff, so I used it to get the job done. I checked it a few times so far to see if it's breaking down from the diesel, and so far it looks normal. Still on the hunt for true 1" fuel grade hose.
The piece inside the fill necks that the original center hoses fit on just pushed out real easy and I collapsed them to get them past the necked down end of the filler pipe.
Before, the tanks would foam, click off the nozzle, spill over during filling, and take 10 minutes to get 14 gallons in. This really sucked hard in the rain and/or cold.
After, I stuff in the big nozzle, pull it all the way and lock it, and almost 20gals goes in at full blast. Now it takes maybe a minute or so to fill each tank and I don't have to babysit the damn nozzle.
At first, I was going to use 1/2", then decided on 5/8", then said to myself, "If it's worth doing, it's worth Overdoing."
Kinda glad I went this route as I like to hit the big truck nozzles now.
__________________
Jared.
updated sig: '94 F-350 XL, 7.3IDI turbo, ZF S-542, 4X4, SRW, 8ft fisher, utility body w/ lift gate, new(2003) and freshly tweaked IP, boost and pre-turbo pyro, aftermarket AC, Holley blue pump, ATS 3" elbow and DP, straight 3" exhaust. 13lbs at 2700rpm's, if you stand on it.(Not too often or kaBoom) 1150* on the pyro and as LOUD as it wants to be. 240,000 miles and counting. This is just my work truck.
I just recieved my new SpectaPremiium Ni-Terne coated saddle tank . I want install a drain bung . What is the best material to use for the bung (black iron , brass , or copper ) . I initially was palnning on brzing in on but then started wondering about the heat from brazing destroying the Ni-terne coating . I sort of thought about using a plumbing floor flange fastened with JB Weld but that just might be a permanend solution (tank probably flexes some ).
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