50 AD on Monte Carlo frame - gas tank?

[Mgicm]

HI
Trying to see options on a 50 AD mounted to 77 Monte Carlo frame. Seems there is only about 27x24 inches to put a gas tank up to the front of the bed (underneath). I dont want to pay hundreds for a aftermarket tank. Anyone know of a car/truck with a small tank that may fit there?

Otherwise i will have to go with a tank in the rear of the bed sticking through the bed.

thanks GP

[mr48chev]

Evidently you are still pipe dreaming this as that Cab isn't going to fit well on that chassis without a lot of modifying somewhere.

Also the kickup in the rear of the Monte Carlo frame is going to take up most of your bed space anyhow.

I put one of those frames under my old 51 Mercury coupe back in the late 80's and they are quite wide outside of frame rail to outside of frame rail down the sides unless you plan on pulling the frame rails in several inches on each side or plan on doing some trimming to the bottom of the cab or space the cab up about six inches above the frame. You would probably have to space it ten inches off the frame to get the rear kickup over the rear axle to clear the bed without raising the floor of the bed as I had to cut the complete hump over the rear axle of the 51 Merc out and raise it several inches and build a new floor back there to fit.

Sometimes what looks easy and cheap ends up being a ton of work to keep it from being a cobbled up mess.

[G&R's57GMC]

Back in the late 70's a friend used a '58-'64 X frame from a Chevy Impala under a '50 Ford F 1 pick up . I don't know if he shortened it to match the wheel base but the end result was a great ride and it made installing the Chevy drive train a no brainer.

As I recall he mounted the body so the running boards were even with the chassis but I don't remember if he made any bed floor mods. I think he used the Chevy fuel tank with the rear filler coming out behind the license plate.

Fast forward to today and Air Ride is available for that chassis and makes it handle and ride even better.

[mr48chev]

This would make for a good ride but if he sticks to the stock length short box bed he will have to stretch the wheelbase on the Monte Carlo frame 3.3 inches from the stock Monte Carlo's 112.7 inches. I had to stretch the frame I put under the 51 Merc about that much and did it by cutting the welds between the side rails and the rear subframe section at the welds and pulling the subframe out of the side rails the right amount and welding it back after making sure it was square in all directions. I never took any photos of that frame that I can remember though.

It would make a good driving truck but as Mgicm says he wants to maintain as much capacity in the bed as possible he is going to have to space the cab and box up pretty high to do it and may defeat his whole plan for the truck in the process or set the box down where he wants the fender wells to fit on the tires and raise the bed floor accordingly and probably have room to put the gas tank on top of the frame rails behind the rear axle with a flat bed floor.