1976 & 1975 Chevy C10 fuel tank brackets different?

[Tantrix]

Hi all...long time reader, first-time poster.


I recently acquired a 1976 Chevy C10 long bed, and the gas tank was rusted through on the front bottom area. Well, today I pulled a great looking gas tank from a 1975 C10 for free. I got home and proceeded to install everything (fuel lines, etc) then when I went to put the bolts back into the brackets to mount the tank, all of the bolts lined up except for the 2 top bolts in the front bracket. No matter what I did or how I situated the fuel tank, the 2 top bolts on the front bracket wouldn't ever line up with the holes like they were drilled slightly off-center by about 1/2 inch.

Instead of pulling all the fuel lines again and using the front strap/bracket off of my old tank, I just put all 4 in the rear bracket, the 2 bottom ones in the front bracket and torqued them down.

Am I ok leaving it as it is? I would guess 4 bolts in the rear and 2 bolts in the front is plenty to hold up a 20 gallon fuel tank.




I still can't figure out why the 4 in the rear lined up perfectly and in the front only the 2 bottom ones lined up.