I'm cutting up a 1971 Plymouth Satellite /6 for parts (rust case).I just pulled the gas tank and it has been encased in fiberglass matting and resin,which was done I assume to stop a leak. The only two things that are strange is that this is a orig. 28k mile car and the job is done so cleanly and precisely it almost looks like it was factory done. Has anyone ever seen a factory tank wrapped in fiberglass and resined over ?? Thanks dave

I've never seen the factory do that and I doubt they would have bothered - stamped steel is a lot cheaper - but I've done it myself when I couldn't get a new tank and had them last another 10 years. I much prefer a new (not used) tank - most of the used tanks I found were no better than what I started with.

All it takes is one load of badly contaminated gas to eat through a steel gas tank - I lost 3 tanks at the same time from that; it also toasted the sending units.

I know it seems unlikely that the factory would do this, but the tank was on the car w/ factory hardware and nothing on this car is unoriginal. Just ripped off the 1971 installed heater hose and rad. hoses, so you can see why I would be questioning it ??

I suppose it could have been done by the dealership... but I've never ever heard of a gas tank comming that way. I've found that the fiberglas tends to break down with time and exposure to the gas.

Ford did use polyethelene tanks for awhile, but they passed too much HC to meet the new standards and they went back to steel.

I'd pressure test the tank before I'd try to use it anywhere else and I'd try to look for sealant on the inside too.

Are you sure it isn't some kind of sound deadening treament?

Say, what options does that Satellite have? How is the fender trim? Rear defog? What color is the interior? How is the dash pad? What kind of radio?

The only options this car had were an auto tans and AC. No rear defogger, no trim, radio delete car.Car also had missing floorboards, trunk floor, firewall and wheelwells. To give you an idea of the rust, I removed the vapor seperator unit from the inside of the wheelwell without unbolting it- just pull and twist a little.

By the way, I will be posting photos of the seats(which I am saving ) on here as soon as I can. They are nice and have a color combination on them that I've never seen on any 71-74 Satellites/Coronets.

My '98 Dakota has a polyethelene , or some similar plastic, tank. I can't remeber for sertain but I'm pretty sure my 92 Voyager did as well. I don't know about the '05 Liberty; I haven't had occasion to get under it yet.

_________________
David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.