M38A1 gas tank interchange?

Tried doing some searching, but came up without a whole lot of answers. A few notes about civilian models, but not really an answer:

My gas tank repair failed finally, and I'm not in this for a full military restoration: I can neither afford it, nor would I drive my jeep afterward! I'm not in the business of owning shiny things R)

It seems like average price for a new reproduction tank is ~$350-400, and they're all labelled "Authentic ....".
My question is this: do the civilian 10gal poly replacement tanks fit in the tank well? (Mine's an early 53).

I assume at least the grommet/seal around the filler neck will be different, and the filler neck / cap will be the narrow one, not the large opening military type, but otherwise, will my 24v sending unit bolt in?

 

The M38a1 has a drop down portion that increases the fuel capacity. Early CJ-5's/6's don't have this and did not use the fuel tank "well" as used in military models so you would need to support the tank. In other words the civilian models are essentially flat on the bottom where they sit in the tub. Can't answer whether the M-38a1 sending unit will fit in the civi tank but would think it would fit in the F-4 models better as iirc the M-38a1 had a small diameter bolt up to the tank (top flange to fuel tank). Again, this is iirc and only the ones I have seen so there may be variations.

 

Can your stocker be repaired? There's a local radiator shop here that also repairs gas tanks.

 

Ditto on repair.

My m38A1 tank looked like swiss cheese, but a few hours of work and it has now held up for over 20 years, to my amazement. The key is to get the surfaces super clean, such as by sandblasting. Then soldering or fiberglassing will work. (Remove all trace of fuel and fumes first!)

 

It looks like the poly CJ tanks aren't that much cheaper, and I lose a bit of capacity. The jeep already burns plenty of fuel, and I don't own any Jerry cans. I think I'll have a go at repairing it (again). I've been successful with some swiss cheese tanks on my old plymouths a long while back, maybe my second go at it will turn out better!

Mainly the issue is that the leaks are at/around the seams, which I've found to be harder to repair than large flat areas, honestly.

 

If you are going to solder, liquid tinner's flux (muriatic acid) can help get a good clean bond in the narrow cracks and seams.

 

I went through this as well. My original A1 tank was shot. I sucked it up and bought the repop tank because I wanted the fuel filler to be correct.