ok, of course I could buy an RCI fuel cell...but what fun would that be? i've studied two "write ups" and think i'l go about this my own way. materials at disposal are a 4x8 sheet of 1/8", 20' of 2x2(3/16"), and various other metal laying around my garage.
the factory skid had to be cut off because it had been smashed up so far the bolts were unreachable.
suggestions are welcomed because im out in my garage screwing around right now, checking back on here if i think im about to something up.

floor cut out:

this took alot longer than it looks. if you have a hardtop the wiring rides along the tailgate down there. look out for it, i almost overlooked this.
i went through 3 cut discs and 2 sawzall blades, plasma whould make life alot more simple. (the tub itself is easy to cut, its all the supports and crossmembers.

my new rear lower corssmember:

this is level with the bottem of the frame, the tank will actually rest on this as its lowest point. i MAY use the ends of this to remount the shocks after i cut the main corssmember out.(feedback?...its about ~4" lower and ~7" back, the shock will extended roughly the same by eyeballing)

this is what i was talking about^ :

The write up's im following:
TJ this has alot more pics is you click "this index" at the bottem of his page.
YJ

this way is 40 degrees compared to the origional 60 degrees

Shock Absorber angles

tank in:



tailgate closed:


i think im done for the night...tomorrow ill be adding atleast one more crossmember, adding tabs to hook ratchet straps to, figuring out the shock situation, and cutting a skid for the bottem(...maybe). Later this week ill be heading over to Nationwide Laser to get a top cut and bent for it. i mean if im losing my back seat it'll atleast look nice.

i plan on it being bolt on/off so i may even get it powdercoated depending on how much they want for it.

Nice job man ,keep it up .Did you figure out where your going to put the whole to pump gas in?I plan to do this to my jeep but havent figured out where would i put the hole to pump gas, i was thinking of putting a mini enclousre on top of it, then maybe try adding a back seat.Hopefully its not to high.I Love how jeeps look like without the gas tank in the factory location.But keep it up.btw how much of a body lift you have?

i cut a hole on the inside of the tub to line up with the factory filler. i just need to shorten the hoses, looks like it'll line up great. ill post pics later tonight.
i need to pick up some longer lines- i snapped the plastic barb on the breather hose so im just going to get some new hoses while im at lowes.
im also going to replace the snap together fuel to be on the safe side...its stretching to reach. the electrical connections have plenty of slack throughout the body so that dosent need to be messed with.

im going to try a back seat one day, ill try and remember to put something on here if i do.
the body lift is a 1.25" JKS.

decided on my bracket design, made the passenger side, and welded it up:


cut hole for filler hoses. i should just have to shorten them:


trimmed a little more tub and put another corssmember in (some type of upper crossmember to replace the floor supports will be needed):


the barb on the breather hose broke so i had to get a new one. of course lowes dosent carry a 1/4" T so i had to get the fancy "make your own" with a blank T and some threaded ends. the breather tube has 1/4" ID...the fuel line however does NOT...i either measured or wrote it down wrong, but it looks to be 3/8". i will comfirm this tomorrow.

Nice Straps ,on What is it sitting on did you make a crossmember just for it?On my gas tank those two things at each end are not connected to anything what exactly are those things for?Nice Job on The T connections

i have it fully welded now, but here's a pic tacked.


it looks like its only going to stick up 5 1/2" before i put a cover on. i used 2" tubing so if you used 1" or flat stock it could be as low as 3 1/2"...i like the beef of the 2" tube though.




it turns out the fuel fittings are different sizes on each end. one is 3/8 and the other is 5/16. i went ahead and ordered the stainless braided stuff from jegs. summit was out of one of the fittings so i opted for jegs even though they cost a hair more.


Russell #799-632050


Russell #799-610020 you will need 2 of these


Russell #799-640860


Russell #799-640850

hmm...i think now would be a pretty good time to do the 15 to 19 gallon fix...

scrap being made into tabs for the ratchet straps

tabs on + some paint

Talk about serious skills,i need to learn how to weld.Its coming out better than i expected.Did you think about putting a flat piece of sheet metal underneath to avoid the slight liltle rocks hiting it?

yea, the thought has crossed my mind

sorry, i missed that part. those are breathers, i will run mine up by the filler neck. they came this way from the factory on mine; i just broke the T part dropping the tank and figured at $0.88 a foot i may as well spend $3.

after getting inside my tank and feeling around...there is no hose...just a hard plastic on with the "tank full ball". this upset me

On the tank full ball there should be a hose running off of it.

thats what i thought too
there is definantly nothing on either hose(well plastic piece...not sure of the terminology). both the filler and the overflow coming into the tank about 1.5-2" and are solid plastic.

in and waiting for JEGS to get my fuel hose/fittings here...




still need to work on the filler necks...i think i might take the head off, find the ID and just get some new ones if they give me trouble

Nice work of art , for those necks though they look like there struggling a bit, only suggestion i have is maybe cut the hose in to separate parts and you some elbows? I think I might Do mines tomorrow ,Depending on how much the welder charges me.I have to use some long thick metal block where the rear tub mounts are at each end.unfortunately my tub doesn't have the rear mounts so i kinda got to make a place to screw in to them.I was thinking once i get that block just drill two holes where the tub mounts are then drill a whole in the tub and use long screws with nuts and washers to hold it all together.

at the top of the page i have a link called "YJ". you may want to look at his build since it'll be more accurate to what your're doing. i dont know how much more it would cost since someone else is welding, but since you have no rear mounts, you could tie the frame into the cage like the guy on the "TJ" link did.

haha the hoses are stayin like that! i had put the carpet side walls back down to see where i needed to cut them. they go through the carpet back to the factory fill location. i havent dont that yet, but i will post up pics when i do. FedEx should get BY 4:30 according to my tracking, i wont be working on the Jeep until those get here since its back down to 30* again

i also posted this build on Pirate, there are discussions on there that we did not have on here if those would help you any.

also, if the welding pirce is high, summit has a nice fuel cell that will fit behind your seat and you dont have to do any of this.
but the only reason i didnt go this route is becase you need to buy a fuel ring($100) and cut the tank. you then need to get more russell fittings and hose to connect to the threads provided on the tank...probably another $100 after all said and done. if i need more room one day i will upgrade my setup up to this(ony mine will be sunk into the tub ) its just ALOT cheaper this route and i get the satisfaction of knowing that i did everything.

side note:
i opted to cut my 4x8 sheet down the middle at 27" and now my wood top workbench is now metal...so now i only have a 19" x 8' section to play with. i found it more important to stop catching my bench on fire than to not look at my gas tank for awhile. this should give me more time to decide on how i want the top to function.

the hose got here a little while ago, putting it together:




installed on the fuel pump:


got the hoses off. it felt like the rivet went through the plastic part as well, it actually only goes through the hose clamp. im not sure if i need to shorten these of not yet...its pretty close.

incase i need to get new ones the ID of the smaller hose measured 7/8" and the larger on came up 1 5/8".


i need to do some work on the drivers side shock, get those filler hoses finished, and it shold be good for a test drive.

Nice Work, why exactly did you use that vice grip thing , you couldn't get them in?Thanks for the link it really helped a lot. Keep it coming

because braided hose is a to work with!
billavista has an excellent tech section on fittings/auto plumbing.
the vice just makes life a little easier.

last night i started it up and drove it around for a little bit

today i switched my ratchet straps back to the origional black ones because i can make those alot tighter. my exhaust pipe was pretty close to my passenger shock so i went and picked up a hanger thingy from advance so pull it away.
i noticed when i close my tailgate with the top on the wheelwell area where i cut(right above my new upper crossmember wants to flex a little and make a creeking noise. i got some caulking and let loose the whole tube where my body rests on the crossmember and boogered the corners of it. its hardening right now so ill see if that fixes it.

its also parked up on a cinderblock right now, i know thats not much flex, but it gave me a good enough guage to see that my track bar should still have planty of room.

its raining and the jeep is in the driveway so i didnt take any pics today.

oh and i did end up having to get new filler hoses

the larger one is 1 1/2" ID and the smaller one is 3/4" ID (i bought a 5/8" and a 7/8" and made the 5/8 fit...its definantly a little small though.)
re aligning the plastic trim piece was an EXTREME PITA!!! it might just be for me though because i cut the hoses the exact length and had no room for play.
i found that a chop saw makes the cleanest cut...the walls on my 1 1/2" are 1/4" so pruners were out of the question.

thats looking really good so far. I was going to see about having a shop do something similar... but its a lot of work it seems. Right now my tank is sitting in the tub and will probably stay there. someday maybe we'll sink it.

the only problem ive ran into is the upper shock mounts. you dont have much room on the frame, and the crossmember where they used to be mounted on is gone. mine were at a pretty hard horizontal angle and bent my bracket/broke my weld... im going to see about coming up with something better.

redid the shocks with a millermatic 251: