So back to the gas tank and trunk. This is the trunk/fuel cell I started with. As this will be a street car/daily driver I wanted to have a functional trunk with enough room for a full size spare tire, tool box, jack, tire changing tools, plus enough room for a suitcase or 2.

Fuel Cell by M Patterson, on Flickr

I had decided to go back to a stock tank so I bought a new 18 gallon tank but as mentioned there were interference issues between it and the rear coil overs. It looked like I had a couple of options short of going back to the fuel cell (which ain’t gonna happen). Some guys have cut the spare tire well completely out, plated over the trunk floor and run a Satellite/Coronet gas tank on their Valiants/Darts. I’ve also seen where others notched the spare tire well and moved the tank forward.

I looked at several tanks for adaptability and if I could have gained another 5 gallons or so of capacity, I’d probably would just have bought another tank and sender. Of the readily available tanks I looked at that would work with the flat trunk floor I’d only gain 1 or 2 gallons so the decision was made to notch the spare tire well and use the tank and sender I already have. Of course relocating the tank led to a few “down stream” issues that also had to be addressed.

The Valiant tank is designed to wrap around the spare tire well, so moving it forward requires part of the spare tire be removed.


Z T 1 by M Patterson, on Flickr


Z STW 1 by M Patterson, on Flickr


Doing this requires a custom fill pipe and cutting and welding (which thankfully I’m still be able to do). Losing the spare tire well is not a problem as it’s too small to hold a 28” tall tire anyway.
I found a rear cargo floor pan from a Jeep that’s big enough to cover the tire well and has reinforcement ridges rolled into it. By retaining part of the spare tire well and putting a hatch in it, I could have a nice storage compartment for a jack and impact wrench. The new floor was trimmed, fitted and welded in place and sealed.

Z C by M Patterson, on Flickr

Z TF by M Patterson, on Flickr

I used spray on urethane bed liner instead of undercoating on the bottom of the new floor pan. For inside of the trunk I used a tintable bed liner without the texture material. The green is not even close to a match (which I expected) but it’s paintable so that will be addressed down the road.