New member, and a 72 Camper Special

[leetmo]

There was no skid plate. It’s a 72 with a stepside wooden bed. The original metal tank was hanging by one strap, seemingly arbitrarily located through the boards.

[tgreese]

This is cabinets attached to the factory Thriftside bed? An 8' Thriftside is a rare bird. Not an aftermarket bed? The tailgate looks not-Jeep to me. IIRC the original Thriftside tailgate is very similar to the CJ tailgate.

According to the parts book, one strap is correct for all truck models '62-73. My '77 has two straps, but it still attaches to the underside of the bed. I'd guess with a wood floor in the Thriftside bed, that's what it has to hang from. What condition is the floor? If rotted or broken, the strap position could be the work of the PO.

The skid plate and a skid plate kit are also listed in the '62-73 parts book. 4.131-1 and 2. Not pictured, but you can find them by looking in the alphabetical index.

[tgreese]

Ok, IMO that's an aftermarket bed.

thriftside (600 x 402).jpg

Looks like the factory Thriftside bed has a steel floor. Thus your tank attachment likely goes along with the bed installation.

[leetmo]

Yeah. My bed must be aftermarket. I thought it was a thriftside with the wheel wells taken off for the toolboxes.

My bed doesn’t have the 45 degree slant at the top, just straight up.

I’m not going to bother with a skid plate right now… I’ll just inspect it periodically for any rock dings and scrapes (it’s not going to be an off-road truck).

I’m also going to keep the old tank. It doesn’t leak but it needs a cleaning real bad. Once I get this truck going I’ll put some acetone and all of the old nuts and bolts from this rig in it and drive around with it in the bed for a week

[tgreese]

My CJ-6 tank was similarly rusty. I sealed the inside using Hirsch tank coating per their instructions, and it's been fine since.

The whole process took a day in mid-summer. Wash with industrial detergent (generic power washer detergent from HD) along with a box of small drywall screws. Agitate a lot. Drain, dry, etch, coat. Takes a little effort to seal the tank for cleaning - I used an expending rubber plug from McMaster-Carr to seal the filler neck. Worked good. https://www.mcmaster.com/products/plugs ... ion-plugs/

BTW your new mounting frame looks very sturdy and should work well. I expect MTS makes these tanks thick/strong enough to hang from the original mounting strap even when full.

Also FYI - the bed style is in the VIN at character 6: 1, 2, 3 for Thriftsid, Townside and stake bed resp. Described in the '72 TSM

[leetmo]

Thanks for the tank cleaning tips! My neighborhood has some good washboard roads so the agitation part should be easy.

My VIN shows a 2 for that digit, so it was originally a thriftside.

The tank mounted up just fine, making sure the carriage bolts I used go through the metal spans on top of the wood bed. No clearance issues with the sending unit or vent. And it doesn’t move.

This truck came to me with three tanks though. There was another tank on the other side of the driveshaft. I plan on installing that again after cleaning be making a similar bracket. But, instead of running a valve and two EFI fuel pumps, I’m planning on installing a simple transfer pump to the primary tanks filler neck, using the vent as an overflow back to the second tank. All venting will be done from the second tank.

There’s another behind the axle that is mounted (hanging) precariously. I’m going to remove that and put a spare tire mount in its place.

[tgreese]

Mmm. Perhaps I was not clear. 1=Thriftside, 2=Townside (usual slab-sided bed), 3=stake bed.

There has to be several dozen Townsides for every Thriftside. And most Thriftsides are the "short" 7' bed. Jeep never made a 6' short bed (like Ford and Chevy) AFAIK.

If I knew nothing else than it was a '72 with an 8' bed, I'd predict a Townside. I don't recall ever seeing an 8' Thriftside in my former life with Jeep, and I saw a lot of Jeeps. They existed maybe until the late '60s?