TOY: Making gas tanks

[bwiencek@xxxxxxxxx]

OK - I've been thinking/talking about an extended capacity tank that takes 
advantage of my 2" body lift and since I'm installing the V8 and it'll probably 
get thirsty when using the HP - I had some thoughts on building one that I 
figure someone on the list may have some input....

First - anyone ever make their own ~21-24 gal tank?

What size steel/metal to use?  3/32 or 1/8" overkill?? I'll be armoring the 
bottom so puncture resistance isn't the issue.  I also don't want the truck to 
lean to one side ;-)

The first choice would be to lay the thing out on a sheet of steel, cut the one 
piece like a "+" and fold up the sides to make a box - that requires a brake 
and a cutter to acomplish that, but would require less welding.  The next 
choice is to have pieces cut for each side and weld them up creating the 'box'

Either way that's a LOT of feet in welding bead and it's got to take a lot of 
time to cover that area!  What about skip-welding the edges and then using a 
fuel resistant sealer on the inside and outside of the tank then something like 
this tank sealer (here- http://www.por15.com/tankseal_fuelpreserve.html ) to 
seal it up inside and out.  That way lay a 1" bead and 2" gaps between them and 
then run some sort of seam putty and the sealer over that.  Aren't factroy 
units spot welded together???  How are they sealed???

Any thoughts?  Ideas?

-
Brian