Relocating gas filler behind drivers tail light?

[draggin86]

Hey guys i have a fuel cell on my truck i would like to put the gas filler behind the drivers tail light. Has anyone done this if so how was it done. i found some pictures of a k5 blazer i believe that did it with some hinges. not to much info tho. So if any of you have some ideas on how to do it please let me know!

thanks
Billy

[bigblock73]

do a search here (it was discussed somewhat recently), or PM N2trux...it was his Blazer you likely saw.

[3r!c84]

its kinda a do it yourself theres no set way of doing it.
but ive seen pics and it dont look that hard

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by 3r!c84

its kinda a do it yourself there's no set way of doing it. but ive seen pics and it dont look that hard

Yes, and no. You are correct that it was a build as you go deal. You are truly incorrect that it isn't that hard.

The guy that did this for me has been building hotrods for 20+ years. We considered several different options for adapting existing hinges, but ultimately conceded that nothing "out of the box" was going to work without serious modifications.

With that in mind, a sheet of metal was brought out, and templates were made. The design was played with for function and form. Once the basic shape was worked it it was transferred to metal and cut out. This was done for both hinges because they are slightly different.

Once the hinges were designed, attachment points were created. This took several trial and error attempts. Once it all felt like it was going to work, filler panels were created. In the pics, they are held in place with screws. When the final body work was ready, some of the panels would be welded in place.

What you don't see is the work done to the filler neck. It required extensive mods, but I didn't get any pics. We tried several ways to keep it closed, and never got one that was 100% functional. The last version utilized magnets, but they needed to be changed for a magnetic strip.

If you attempt this at home, I hope you have really good fab skills. That mod has 30+ hours of shop time involved by a really skilled fabricator.

Good luck.

[BGRAFX]

there is a thread on here. I saved the pics...

[draggin86]

thanks guys! those are the pictures i saw.. i wouldnt quite call it easy either. you have to take into concideration the room you have to work with, routing the tubing the the filler it self. Im sure it would be easy to rig it up, but i want it to look nice too when you open it up.

[vtwinsport]

Might want to take notice of the hinges on lower side of tailgate. Looks like the standard hinges were modified to make that filler work, FWIW

[BGRAFX]

Ken I didn't realize this was your truck. Nice custom touch hiding the gas tank cap behind the light

[N2TRUX]

"Was" is the key word. It is now owned by jdurant.

Couple more pics...

[BGRAFX]

Joseph-take some pics of your blazer for us. Any way to get the specs of the brackets or the filler hose maybe mass produce them.

[draggin86]

Thank you so much for those pictures that helps a lot to get an idea of how you guys make it work!