TELL ME WHAT WATER OR GAS TANK RACK THIS IS?

[General Automag]

The previous owner of our FJ40 had some type of rack mounted to the driver's side of our Cruiser. ...'SUCKS!
I'm not at the point where I can paint or patch the holes now, so to fill in the holes, I thought I would try to find what type of rack that was mounted there previously and install something similar. That's a terrible location for storage tanks in my opinion, but it's what I have for now. Does anyone have an idea of what rack would work or what was mounted there previously?

You can see from the pictures that top holes are about 15.5" on center, the outside bottom holes are 18" apart on center, and the holes on the bottom are on 3" centers. It looks like the rack itself had straps or pieces that were 4" wide. You can see the vertical marks on the 41-year old paint.

I have no knowledge of the various gas or water cans that are available, so your help is much appreciated. Thanks!

(If this thread should be posted in another area, please let me know)

 

[doug720]

The mount holes and wear look like they are from a set of old ******** Cepek GI metal gas can racks. They have a lip at the bottom that can's crimped edge sits on and a threaded mount to secure the round tube handles on top. Have not seen any for a long time, but I'm sure someone still has a couple of sets out there.

Doug

 

[General Automag]

Thanks; I'll search around for those. I just hate to put any more holes in the body if I can help it. You can see where someone started to drill a hole but stopped. Having a tank like that on the side will just get ripped off on some of the tight trails that we drive on. Out West is completely different from here in the South and on the East coast forests.

Do you know what the PO used to "plug" the holes? They seem to be some type of fairly hard rubber, but then again, they could be 40+ years old. There should be some type of grommet or plug out there, maybe from McMaster-Carr, but unless you know what the parts are called, they're hard to find.

 

[Mark Harley]

Just get some AUTOMOTIVE christmas tree fasteners.
Plug the holes and you will be good to go!

http://www.apexfasteners.com/fasteners/plastic-molded-products/xmas-trees

 

[Erik N]

A good auto paint shop should be able to mix you up a rattle can of matched paint. A coat or two, dusted out subtly into the panel, could hide that well enough that it might not bother you anymore...

 

[6x6pinz]

Not sure but from the pics it appears the 4" straps did not run parallel with each other. if that is the case I would assume a homemade rack. In any case I am not sure what would have been there.

 

[AA1PR]

I have also seen small holes like those brazed up

 

[General Automag]

Yeah, the holes can be patched up fairly easy, but we're not at the point where we want to do any body work at this time. Time, money, ...

Has anyone seen any pics of older models that may have had cans like these? I still haven't found a good pic of a "GI" can mounted with these type of racks.

From the measurements of the holes, I found this ******** Cepek mount that looks to be what was mounted on the side previously: http://connecticut.locateanyauto.com/auto-parts/********-cepek-jerry-can-holder-gas-can.html. It looks like the guy had two mounts.

 

[doug720]

That is the mount I described. I had a pair a long time ago. They worked well and the ones I had were made of steel not aluminum. I don't recall exactly how the top mount worked, but I seem to recall a wing nut and bracket?

Looks like you found one.

Doug

 

[Revco]

Blitz and Con-Ferr also used to make similar mounts. I used to work at a LC shop specializing in FJ40's, we had a stack of those Cepek mounts on a shelf.

Here's a N.O.S. Blitz mount on eBay. You could also easily make a couple of them yourself, or have a local metal shop make a pair.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-BLITZ-J...237?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58958ba9ed

 

[General Automag]

THANKS AGAIN!!! 'Awesome info here. I think I'll try to find two of these to match. Does anyone have a source or good pics of what the particular cans look like that would fit on these racks? I know it's a long shot trying to find something so old, but then again, our rig is now 41!

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

These are the old style non CARB cans, no longer openly available I believe in the US. I picked up on here in NEW condition for $5 bucks a few months ago. Kool mounting system.

 

[1911]

Has anyone seen any pics of older models that may have had cans like these? I still haven't found a good pic of a "GI" can mounted with these type of racks.

Does anyone have a source or good pics of what the particular cans look like that would fit on these racks? I know it's a long shot trying to find something so old, but then again, our rig is now 41!

I've seen quite a few of those in photos on IH8MUD, search in the 40 section: http://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/