stillakid54

On my recent 70 C/B ambulance restoration it was obvious the fuel tank was full of old liner and rust. Attempts at cleaning it out during restoration were limited by the baffle in the tank, and trying to run it now, the fuel filter clogs up with brown sludge within 30 miles. I live in a city of over 1.5 million people, and there is no one cleaning/relining old tanks.
Can anyone give a suggestion on locating a new tank. A post here from ten years ago stated they were not available. Would a 70 Cadillac tank work?
Any thoughts much appreciated.

shermanatortron

I am in Anderson, SC and am lucky to have a radiator shop that also cleans and relines fuel tanks in town for my 71 Ninety-Eight.

I can't tell you 100% as I have not owned any of the other vehicles but the Buick Electra and Cadillac de Ville shared platform and I thought I read somewhere that they do indeed have the same fuel tank. Other Cadillacs would not necessarily have the same fuel tank though and that was 71-76 model years so this info may or may not apply to 1970 as well.
Hopefully someone with more knowledge responds to this too.

cfair

From 65-70, many parts on big Old’s swapped across those years. If you know/are a good welder, you may find that the 25 gallon gas tanks from an 88/98/Starfire from one of those years can be welded to your tank inlet tube and you’re done. Not to be ignorant, but 25 gallons takes up the same cubic space no matter what year you’re aiming at, my suspicion is Olds varied the tank neck length to meet the changing needs of bumper locations and body shapes that they changed every year at that time. Don’t expect Chevy or other GM brands to swap in, they competed in those days much less than cooperated.

GM did big generational change in 1971, so a lot less stuff swaps going forward from 71. Not sure quite where you are, but here in CA, there are a couple of places you should know about for body parts and stuff like gas tanks:

1) GM Sport Salvage in Stockton. They used to be in San Jose, but moved a while back. They focus on A-bodies/Cutlasses, but have some random big car stuff around from being around for years. I have no idea how much of their big car stuff made it from San Jose to Stockton.

2) Turners Auto Wrecking in Fresno. They have a pretty deep selection of old cars slowly going back to earth. See my post from a few years back on what they had then. Probably hasn’t changed all that much.

3) Not sure if he’s still in the business of old car parts, but see if you can dig up Larry Camuso in/near San Jose. He at least used to specialize in old big cars. But that’s going back 15 years. He was associated with GM Sport Salvage long ago but I think they went separate ways.

4) Out of state, I had good luck at French Lake Auto Parts in MN. They had a bunch of mid-60’s big Olds’s which fit my needs last year. Not cheap, not unfairly high prices either. They know what they have and how rare it is, but I didn’t find them too aggressive last Summer.

5) DVAP and the others in AZ. Haven’t been, but need to go. Deserts are a good place to dig for automotive gold I’m told.

6) Hess Brothers way up north in Red Bluff, CA. They had 6 - 8 random big Olds from mid-60’s a few years back. Scanning EBay, the stock doesn’t seem to have evaporated. No harm in giving them a call for whatever you might be looking for.

Hope this helps.

jpilk99

I may be late to the party here, and I have a '72 98 2-door, but I bought a tank spec'd for a 1969 Chevy Caprice; (among others). It fit width'wise between frame rails and exhaust, though was a little tight front to back. Height was no issue. Did have to have the filler tube adjusted, cut the old one off and fit it onto the new.

Olds64

Let us know the part number, where you got it and provide pics if you can. You and I are late to the thread but inquiring minds need to know.👍