under seat fuel tank

I picked up some 2A seat frames to replace the bubba-fab seats and frames that were in my 2A when I bought it. The driver's side appears to be too "short" to properly fit over the fuel tank. The only thing I can figure is the fuel tank is not the original 2A tank. How much bigger are the other (3A, M38, 3B, ECJ5, etc.) under the seat fuel tanks?

It also looks like I'll need to drill some new holes to mount the seat. I'm assuming the seat is supposed to be centered with the steering wheel, but that seems to leave a pretty big gap between the seat and the driver's "door". Can someone post some pics of the driver's seat in relation to the fuel tank and the steering wheel on their 2A? I just want to make sure I install mine in the correct location.

 

I don't think this angle will help you, but I will get more at home tonight if these won't work (they are what is already in my photobucket). Unless modded the holes should be there for the seat frames.

Are you sure you don't have a 3A tub? The 2A and 3A seat frame are different, the 3A having a longer drivers side leg IIRC.

 

That helps a little. I'm pretty sure it's a 2A tub because it has the bow top pockets on the side (well it has one of them, the place where the rear one was the panel has been replaced.) The two holes for the front legs seem to line up okay. However, the back leg doesn't touch the floor because the fuel tank is too high and the seat frames rests on top of the tank. There doesn't appear to be anything under the fuel tank. It's seems to be resting on the floor.

 

There should be rubber strips under the tank.

Can you lift out your tank? Or crawl underneath? There are 2 ports on the bottom of the tank that are supposed to fit through an egg shaped opening. One of mine is plugged with a pipe plug, the other has the fuel line coming out. Maybe those are sitting on the floor for some reason?

There is only about an inch between the seat frame and the tank itself, but they shouldn't touch when they are mounted properly.

The seat back should rest right against the fender, there is actually a little 'catch' on the front of the fender for it.

 

More pictures:













Hope they help

 

Wow. Thanks for the great pictures. That helps a lot. I have the little "catch tab" on the fender for the back part of the frame to rest on, but because the seat frame is resting on top of the fuel tank, it doesn't allow the back part of the seat frame to drop down far enough for the rear seat leg to touch the floor or for the other rear side of the seat frame to touch the little catch tab on the fender wheelhouse. Basically if the fuel tank was 1" to 1.5" lower, everything would line up properly (I think).

I'll have to check again to see if there is something under the tank that is not allowing the tank to drop down far enough. I'll check those ports on the bottom of the tank. Maybe something is under there and I don't know it. The PO said he removed the tank and cleaned it out and re-installed it. Maybe he didn't get the tank back in properly.

 

can someone measure this distance for me?

 

I can measure when I get home, but I believe it is ~ 3-4"

For the record that is all sand in the jeep from last weekends run, not rust R)

 

3.5" at the front of seat frame to edge of door.... gets close to 4" at the back of the door opening.

 

Thanks for the seat to door measurement.

Here's what I got:

The tank is about 7/8" off the floor. There appears to be a piece of rubber under it, which raises the tank up off the floor. I assume this is correct. Maybe to reduce potential of sparks or something from metal against metal??

The tank itself is 6 3/8" high, 18 5/8" long, and 24 1/2" wide.

The seat frame front leg is about 8" high from the foot to the bend in the leg. The width of the seat frame is about 21" wide.

When I set the seat into position, the rear leg is about 1/2" from touching the floor and the other side is about 1/2" to 3/4" from resting against that little tab on the wheel housing / fender.

 

The strips of rubber under the tank should only be 1/8-1/4" thick or so, not much at all.

 

I just layed a big fat swirly of silicone and let it dry before I installed mine.

 

so...the rubber under the tank is the problem. Now, do I: 1) remove the tank and take out the rubber and replace it with something much thinner, or 2) add a spacer of some kind to the rear seat frame leg and part that rests against the fender tab??

 

I would remove the rubber, and replace it with something thinner, strips of old thick floor mat or mudflap maybe? If it is that high I would think it is messing up how it fits in the fuel filler opening.

 

Yes, it's doesn't exactly fit correctly in the filler cap opening either. The edge of the cap is kind of against the tub a little. You can still get it on and off, but it's closer than it should be.

 

Swap it out and you should be able to get an original grommet on there too

 

whatever you use under the tank, make sure that it doesn't retain/soak up water.
You want to try and keep it as dry as possible under than tank (in theory anyway)

 

I would approch this with the tank out first. Then fit the seat. If you have any of the original mounting holes along with the stop on the rear fender well. The "anti squeak" strips for between the floor and tank will only be about an 1/8" or so. I've just used a "rubbermaid" tote top cut into strips for this and has worked well. The key here (with the proper fitting tank) is to keep metal to metal eliminated and to make sure water drains out. I've heard that the repo tanks are a problem with the fitment issue out the side ( not in the middle of the body mounted fuel port)

 

Great Idea Gary...

FWIW my aftermarket tank fits fine. I never thought of using an old Rubbermaid lid, I have a couple laying around.