OLD Steel Johnson 6gal Gas Tank question

[nrgeek]

I have a 89 johnson 28hp and a old metal gas tank I bought .. don't like the plastic ones, they always leak on me over time .. anyway ..the old johnson tank has this connection below , can I take off the two small pins labeled and have it still work , just cut them off , work with the fitting shown in the pic ?? If not do they still make sending units for these old tanks to upgrade them to the newer fitting ?

 

[nrgeek]

Ok I figured it out after finding this page https://www.oddjobmotors.com/tt4_singlelinetanks.htm those pins are supposed to push in, one is stuck .. makes sense now .. been a very very long time since I had a tank that had that connector.. like 35 yrs as a teen .. I will leave this for others that have the same problem

 

[Johnny]

I'm with you man !! the modern tanks of today are increasingly turning into CRAP.
All my motors are pre-1960 and the steel tanks are appropriate not to mention
more safe and reliable than the plastics.

how does the inside of that tank look ?
there are several threads on this forum on how
to clean and refurbish them. as mentioned many times, new
hoses and clamps will prevent possible fuel delivery issues.
they are not scarce, but worth preserving.

 

[driz]

I just went through a couple mercury tanks. I recall seeing those fittings all over the place on the net, possibly even in Walmart so they are pretty common. I got a whole hose assembly from Iboats.com and it was a lot cheaper than elsewhere by nearly half.
I went all over mine with a 4.5" stainless cup brush on a grinder then gave it a coat of POR 15. Great stuff for things that you can never get all the rust off of. I used that as a primer coat then scuffed it with 220 sandpaper. Shot it with topcoat of red PPG base coat followed by some POL clear coat(a bargain at $20/qt) . It's a real PITA cleaning up one of those old tanks and not exactly cheap #-o but at least in the end you have something solid. I replaced those rusty screws that hold the outlet on the tank with stainless I got at lowes. One great feature of this old stuff you don't have to try to figure out if it's SAE or Meteric =D> +

 

[nrgeek]

If you follow the above directions .. cork float was mentioned to seal ..

cork sending unit .. dry it good and seal it with superglue, I used the gel since it was easier to work with . easier to brush it on.. my sending unit / float wire was a lil rusty .. steel wool and coated the wire with super glue as well.. the plugs and o rings appear to be getting hard to find .. limited quantities out there, from what I'm seeing .. I spent 25 bucks for plugs and o rings .. best price could find w/shipping..the gasket that joins the gauge and fuel connector to the tank .. seems to be a bunch still out there.. but easy to make that one yourself.

The inside of the tank was rust free.. as far as I could see, still may seal down the road with por 15 to get more life

So total I spent for the tank, and parts to refurb, was about 45 bucks total .. that and some new red paint .. well that I had already compared to the crap plastic tanks , I still came out on top