Which gas tank is closest to original? Quanta or Spectra?

[resq302]

Like the subject says..... what gas tank would be closest to original in appearance?  Quanta (gastanks.com) or Spectra?

[Ghoste]

I've never seen them side by side but I've heard nothing but good about the Quanta. 

[bill440rt]

I have Quanta tanks in my cars. No problems. 

[resq302]

We have Quanta in the charger and challenger but quite possibly need a gas tank for the GTX if we can't get the dent out of it.  I know someone had suggested Spectra and I want to say I've heard of them before but not seen their stuff.

[ACUDANUT]

I just put a new Spectra in my 70. Looks and fits perfect.

[resq302]

I know the repro's appearance differs from what the original lead / tin coating had and was hoping to try and find something close to it.

[Ghoste]

That might be something you have to try and duplicate on your own.

[resq302]

Don't know if that would even be possible due to that type of process not being used today!

[Ghoste]

Someone must know a way to duplicate the look though.

[Ghoste]

Or is it replicate?

[resq302]

The originals seemed to have a lead/tin coating which I am pretty sure is now outlawed due to EPA regulations.  I have no clue how they would even be able to duplicate it.

[Ghoste]

You aren't after the actual coating though correct?  Just the appearance of it?

[resq302]

The only way I am aware of getting it to look like it did originally is to have the correct coating on it.  Similar to the fuel filler tube situation.  Once the coating is gone, there is no way to get it back.  IF there is a process out there that duplicates the look of what it did from the factory, Im sure it must be the best kept secret known to man at this point (aside from the Kennedy assassination)

[Ghoste]

I'll ask in our restoration shop today.  You are probably 100% correct but just in case one of those guys knows some technique then I'll pass it along.

[resq302]

I am going to try and get some of this dent out over the weekend hopefully.  My goal is to try and get it all out, however, I don't have my hopes up too much!

[resq302]

I'll ask in our restoration shop today.  You are probably 100% correct but just in case one of those guys knows some technique then I'll pass it along.

A big  .   Thanks!

[bill440rt]

That tank is fubar'd, Brian. Not sure how you would get it out without altering the outside, unless you somehow pressurize it from the inside "popping" it out. Are you sure you want to fool with that? Do much danger & risk for my taste.

I'm not so sure about this lead/tin coating on tanks. I know the filler tubes had a coating. The tanks were galvanized steel.
To correct my previous post, after thinking about it the one in my '70 was NOS (this was before the fancy-schmancy gleaming repros came out). No lead coating, but it is galvanized. 

[Ghoste]

I've seen compressed air used to pop out dents in tanks before but I've also seen it balloon them too.

[resq302]

Bill, either way, I don't want that dent in the tank on our car.  So its either fix it or get new / NOS.  Since you have the best to compare, how does NOS one  compare to the repro finish /  appearance wise?

[resq302]

As for compressed air, I don't know how well that would work.  Im sure I could get a rubber plug to seal up the two large holes but this tank (unlike our chargers) has two vent nipples on the upper front driver side of the the tank.  WAY too small to put a plug in there.  I'd compare the orafice opening to that of a 1/16 drill bit hole.

[Dino]

You'll never get the entire dent out, the crease on the side is too sharp for it.  If it was in the center you could, after venting the tank, warm the metal with a heat gun and then use compressed air cans upside down to pop the dent out.  It's not going to work here though and to be honest I would not mess with a tank either.  The metal is going to be weaker on the edge so I'd pitch it.

[resq302]

Yeh, that was my reality thinking of the situation but I figured I'd give it a try.  Like you said, the crease is WAY too sharp to ever totally get out 100% but I figured if I could get it so it was less noticeable till I found a nicer one.... eh well.     Lets face it, I have nothing to lose by trying!   

[Dino]

Yeh, that was my reality thinking of the situation but I figured I'd give it a try.  Like you said, the crease is WAY too sharp to ever totally get out 100% but I figured if I could get it so it was less noticeable till I found a nicer one.... eh well.     Lets face it, I have nothing to lose by trying!   

That's true!  You can get a vacuum suction cup and gently pull out the dent while you tap the crease with a delrin, plastic or rubber hammer.

[bill440rt]

Bill, either way, I don't want that dent in the tank on our car.  So its either fix it or get new / NOS.  Since you have the best to compare, how does NOS one  compare to the repro finish /  appearance wise?

Of COURSE you don't want a dent in the tank!     Right. Two options: repair or replace. Since repairing it will never get all that damage out & be undetectable, you're only option is to replace it. The danger factor in repairing that tank is not something I would gamble with personally.
Believe it or not, I saw a NOS Charger tank on eBay maybe a week or two ago. Maybe you'll get lucky with a B-body tank?? Do you NEED a NOS tank??
The finish on mine is similar to the repros, has a bit more marbling to it (galvanized). The repros are sparkly shiny, but still have a galvanic coating on them. I clear all my tanks anyway, it preserves the finish and it still looks good after many years.

[Ghoste]

Would that marbling be consistent with a process?  That is to say, if facility "A" did it a certain way, their marbling would always look about the same whereas facility "B" does it slightly different (time in solution, temperature whatever) so theirs would look a little bit different always?

[resq302]

The "marbling" or galvanizing would not be the same for each tank due to it being stamped out of a roll of galvanized metal.

[Ghoste]

Which is what I was thinking.  Meaning no two original tanks would look that similar, right?

[resq302]

Do I NEED it? Not really, however, with everything else on the car being 95% original parts, I'd prefer to.  This is one of those cars where I might put a repro in and continue to try and find an original or NOS one since this car is so rare and has so much going for it.  I'd hate to detract from it with a repro part.  

Some production stats on this car:  

• 1969 was the LAST year for the GTX convertible as the road runner convertible was outselling it by a margin of 4:1
  Total production : 701
  362 came equipped with the 440 Super Commando engine and 727 Automatic trans
  About 50 painted with the T3 Honey Bronze color (unconfirmed)
  47 left known in existence, as of 2002,  according to Barrett Jackson auctions who sold one of these in 2006.

[ACUDANUT]

When I pulled my original tank out and put in the spectra, the only difference was a factory decal that you cannot see, once installed. The decal was on top of the tank.
N.O.S. stuff is overrated imo.

[resq302]

Do you happen to remember what the factory sticker looked like or maybe have a picture of it?

[ACUDANUT]

It was a green label and too me it did not matter. You could not see it anyway, when installed.  It was not a big deal imo.  Who wants a rusty 43 old gas tank anyway. 
No one is going to drop your tank and say oh, this is not original.  I'd say... well, neither is the gas. 

[resq302]

I was just curious as I found a sticker on the top of the gas tank I pulled out of the GTX also.  Was either blue and white or greenish blue and white if I remember correctly.

[bill440rt]

Here's that NOS Charger tank I saw before:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-MoPar-1968-70-Dodge-Charger-Gas-Tank-/270489967782?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3efa755ca6&vxp=mtr


LOOK! A label! 
I guess if ya gotta have it, it's worth $900 bucks.
No B-body ones, though. 

[Ghoste]

Might be easier to just reproduce the sticker.

[resq302]

Might be easier to just reproduce the sticker.

Or remove it from the one that is on the tank now and change it over!   

[Ghoste]

There you go!