Knock Knock

Next, we slid the new filler neck in from the taillight side of the mounting panel so we could leave the cap on it and install the taillight to check for clearance from the back of the taillight to the filler cap. Make sure the filler is on a downward slope toward the gas tank. With that looking good, mark the flange position on the filler neck and take it all apart. Slide the flange on the filler neck to your mark and make sure there is room enough to thread in the 90-degree fitting for the vent tube. Now, we can tack the flange to the filler neck.

This is what the filler neck looks like after everything checked out, it was welded and got a coat of paint put on it. Notice the hole for the vent tube fitting.

We had to come up with a way to connect the new filler neck to the old filler pipe going to the gas tank, so after some thought we decided to try using a 2-inch mandrel J-bend from a local muffler shop to redirect the old pipe.

After some good "eyeballin'" we figured that the old pipe was going to have to be cut a little below the mounting bracket. With the remainder of the old pipe being held back in position in the car, and the new filler neck bolted in place, hold the J-bend on the outside of the quarter-panel at the same angle as the new filler neck and mark in the bend area of the J-bend where it would meet up with the old pipe. Try to make the cut through the J-bend as square with the side of the tube so that after its cut, the opening isn't oblong. It needs to fit well to the old pipe because they are going to be welded together.

We did all the cutting "long" so that we had room to trim more off if needed. We installed everything again to check the fit. I know this will sound far-fetched because nothing ever happens this easy, but everything fit perfect! It's almost like we planned it that way. With a few hands holding everything together, mark across the seam in the tubes to verify their position to each other, and then remove the tubes. We lined up our mark with the tubes on the bench and tacked them together. We reinstalled it and everything still looked great.

The new tube assembly was close to the original mounting bracket inside the quarter-panel which made it easy to utilize it again. We cut the bracket off the discarded filler neck piece and ground off the old brazing. With a little tweaking, the bracket fit the contour of the J-bend. We put the bolt through it and held the filler tube in place and tacked the bracket to it.

Since everything fit and looked good, ace editor Grant Peterson was itchin' to get his hands dirty. So, he tried out Brett's new TIG welder and welded up the filler assembly.

The one thing we did have to trim (now that everything fit) was the end of the new filler pipe that was butted up to the new filler neck. 2 inches got cut off. We had to do this so there was room for the new 2-inch diameter gas hose to be installed. Make sure you use gas hose because it's designed to withstand the chemicals in gasoline and won't break down over time.

With the lenses and bezel back on you would never know what lurks behind, just how it's supposed to be. Check the swing of the assembly again with everything together. We found a few spots that needed just a little more trimming.

You can also adjust the height with the washers that are supplied, side-to-side would have to be adjusted by slotting the mounting holes in the tail light housing. The only fabrication left is to weld up the stock gas door.

This is the toggle switch for the motor. It can be mounted in the dash, under the dash, or wherever you want it.

This is the relay panel that comes with the leads to the motor and toggle switch wired up. All you do is connect a power and a ground. The panel is meant to mount under the dash. This '55 has an aftermarket A/C unit installed and space under the dash is limited. It would be easy to mount it out of the way in the trunk. You would just have to make longer wires to the toggle switch and shorten the wires to the plug.