Keg Tank

[Sixxer]

Hello there, just figured I would post this little DIY here. I wanted to remove the cab mounted gas tank, for gas smell reasons and the original tank was taking up prime real estate for a subwoofer. Not wanting to $200+ bucks on a rear mounted under chassis tank and being a member of killbillet.com a beer keg was the obvious choice haha.

Several goals of this project...
1. Under $100 dollar budget
2. Must have a fuel level sender
3. Must look awesome and rat-roddy

All parts



First holes drilled, the main one needed to be big enough to fit my arm through to tighten the fuel line fitting from the inside. Hole saw size is 3 1/4.
The other smaller hole is for the fuel level sender and is 1 1/2"





Here is the fuel fitting, and two nuts that will be used to tighten the fitting to the keg. The hose barb is 5/16 to match the existing factory fuel line size. I drilled the hole as low in the keg as possible without putting the fuel line at a sharp angle because the top and bottom of the keg is domed.



Also in this photo you can see one of the holes that will mount the keg to the bed.



Inside view.



Fuel level sender - as is out of box... will need a few modifications.



Did a few 90 degree bends so it clears the kegs pick up tube and also set up the float so that when the keg is a little above 1/4 the gauge will read empty. I did for several reasons.
1. The way the keg is shaped mean that it will stay full for a very short period of time because of the round shape. It will stay half for awhile but then as it goes lower it will start going fast again. So this way I kinda have a better warning to get to a gas station.
2. Because of the kegs domed shape top and bottom I couldn't place the fuel outlet as low as I wanted. So Empty is actually sooner than later.




Installed



I used 5 10-24 Machine screws, #10 washers and 10-24 KEPS nuts from the back to bolt it together. I used the supplied cork gasket but also threw some RTV on it as well.



Next step was to fab up a filler neck and cap. I wanted to reuse my old cab and neck so I made this mount. Cut down the filler neck to the the proper height and gave is a small curve to match my mounting ring.



Bolted it down in place with 8 1/4-20 phillips head machine screws, washers and 1/4-20 KEPS nuts. I used a healthy dose of RTV between the keg and the mount and cleaned up the splooge after it was tightened down.



Mounted and almost finished. Tomorrow I'll wire up the fuel sender and run the new rubber line up to the old hard line.





And I know people are going to ask about the bed... yes it is made of street signs on top of 3/4" plywood, sealed and painted satin black. I've posted it on here several time but everybody always asks. I work with the police for my day job, don't worry. That's actually how the idea came about. I have them with permission and under clean circumstances.

[chev-obsession]

thats a badass idea!!!!

[Captainfab]

Nice job

I would suggest a little different mounting setup though. Something like two straps holding the keg down and keeping it from moving. I would be concerned that with the taking off and stopping of the truck, the sloshing of the fuel might work those two bolts until they break. That wouldn't be good.....

[rwgregory]

X2 on a better mounting setup. Also, how is the tank vented? Unless your gas cap is the vented variety a full tank sitting in the sun will either cause something to leak or may blow the gas cap off completely. Just food for thought...

[CenValyCali]

Hey that looks great. Do you have links to the parts you used? Please and thank you.

[jonzcustomshop]

pretty neat!

now all I need is a beer tap and I can siphon your gas

seriously though, will gas leak from, or eat away at the old tap location?

[Ghostwhite]

Originally Posted by jonzcustomshop

pretty neat!

now all I need is a beer tap and I can siphon your gas

seriously though, will gas leak from, or eat away at the old tap location?

It would depend on the grade of the seal in the end, it is basically just a spring-loaded ball pressing against a seal. Very strong spring too. If I was home it would probably take me 20 mins to drive over to our Bud distributor and talk to them, they rebuild the kegs sometimes.

At least if it did leak, you would always have half a talk left

[Sixxer]

Thanks for the comments guys! I will be adding belts as soon as I find some that I like. As you can see in the picture the gas line isn't even hooked up yet so it's still an on going project. The bolts are mainly there to keep the keg from swaying left and right, something that belts couldn't do. Haven't thought about gas corroding the keg tap area, nobody else has ever had problems with it and I searched the interwebs top to bottom before I started this project.

[TheDark1]

Awesome... Now if I could make one out of an old Jack Daniel's barrel I'd be pumped.

[Sixxer]

Edit: I originally posted a link to a Stant Replacement VENTED gas cap. After a little research and testing of my original gas cap I have found that at least the cap I have that came with my truck is vented. When I pull out my old tank today I will look for any other sort of pressure release valve.

CenValyCali - Here's a parts list

Equus #9982 Fuel Level Sender, this is 0-90 ohm unit. I have aftermarket gauges in my truck so I need this Ohm's for it to work correctly. If you wanted it to work with you factory gauge (awesome!) you would need a 0-30 ohm sender
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...0824&ppt=C0391

5/16 Hose barb fitting, jam nuts, thread compound and hose clamp - Ace Hardware

5/16 Fuel Line - O'Reilly Auto

All the hardware is listed next to the pictures and I wanted it all to match with phillips heads - my shop or Ace Hardware

Your original filler neck and cap assuming they all come vented which I will look into later OOORRR you could go with one of these! This is what i orginally wanted but I don't believe they are vented to you would still need to work that out and this didn't fit into my budget.

http://www.moparsupercenter.com/jaz-...0-250-03-.html

After some more research here is a solution to the vent issue... If you don't have a vented cap you can just to this mounted to the keg.

http://www.diguniverse.com/MARINE-AN...ARE/36262.html

[protrash64]

Cool project.......I've never seen the inside of a keg before!!

[edflores]

I wanted to do this, but with the keg standing up. That way, it looks like I'm ready to party!!
Great job.

[Sixxer]

Haha if I told you the first thing a scrambled for was a flashlight after I drilled the big hole just see what they looked like inside, would you believe me? I just got done connecting the new rubber line from the keg to the trucks hard line, removed the old tank and straining the gas into the new keg. Everything seems to be holding fine with no leaks. Woot! Now Im gonna get started wiring Running wires for the fuel sender as well as running and looming new wires for my bag compressor located on the underside of the bed.

[Sixxer]

Originally Posted by edflores

I wanted to do this, but with the keg standing up. That way, it looks like I'm ready to party!!
Great job.

That was one of the options I considered! Somewhere I have a picture of a 50's pickup with a keg standing up as a tank, I'll dig it up for you.

[Sixxer]

[edflores]

Awsome. Thanks!!!
I already have a keg laying around. I have a 64 C10 thats gonna be a short bed in a couple months.
It was either that, or an old gas can to use as the cap/neck, to a blazer tank in the rear

[Sixxer]

Originally Posted by edflores

Awsome. Thanks!!!
I already have a keg laying around. I have a 64 C10 thats gonna be a short bed in a couple months.
It was either that, or an old gas can to use as the cap/neck, to a blazer tank in the rear

Sounds good keep us updated with some keg pics if you do it!

[CenValyCali]

A couple of old leather straps would look good holding that thing back.

[lakeroadster]

As you no doubt know the mount for your keg tank needs to be built strong, a full keg is heavy, be it filled with gas or brewski's.

How about making saddles out of 2 x 8's, cut to fit the contour of the keg, then fasten the saddles to the keg with some straps that bolt to the saddles? Then bolt the saddles to the bed floor using some steel angles?

[Dzlhead]

Awesome idea!!! I work at Miller here in Milwaukee, infact on our keg line. Fyi, we consider a full keg to weigh 161 lbs. That keg is clean..... you might not drink tap beer anymore if you saw the inside of a dirty one....

[raycow]

If you mount the keg upright, can you get a sender that has enough travel and still clears the inside wall?

Ray

[Sixxer]

Originally Posted by Dzlhead

Awesome idea!!! I work at Miller here in Milwaukee, infact on our keg line. Fyi, we consider a full keg to weigh 161 lbs. That keg is clean..... you might not drink tap beer anymore if you saw the inside of a dirty one....

Oh god, now you got me thinking haha

Originally Posted by raycow

If you mount the keg upright, can you get a sender that has enough travel and still clears the inside wall?

Ray

Thats a good question, I will find the instructions and see if the say the maximum tank height. Cause I know I remember reading a minimum.

[REDNOSE65]

I've been looking for ideas for a gas tank. I always liked the keg tanks.
Thanks for all the details!!!

[CenValyCali]

Great write up. Can you weld on that or is it aluminum?

[Sixxer]

Originally Posted by CenValyCali

Great write up. Can you weld on that or is it aluminum?

Kegs are either stainless steel or aluminum, mine is aluminum. I've never learned how to weld either of those but I'm sure you could find someone locally to weld on a bung or filler neck for cheap.