I came across some old project photos, thought I'd share what I did and what I'd do differently. I know Chris has covered this once or twice already, so take it for what it's worth.
This was 10 years ago so I've forgotten a few details. Any questions ask and I'll try to remember. I do specifically recall that working with braided line blows.
I had dual tanks, first one pump went out then the other. I decided rather than replace them, I'd remove them and put a cell in the bed. First bad idea.
The poly cell didn't stand up to weather that well. It took a couple weeks for the top to cave. Not a whole lot longer before the cap o-ring cracked. Next rainstorm and I was FUBAR.
So, I tore everything down, rebuilt the TBI, blew out the lines, and scrapped that tank.
Time to do it right, under the bed and between the rails.
Obviously first you have to pull the bed. Get it out of the way. I also bought a new fuel cell to use.
The rear frame crossmember will work for rear support. There's a small tab in the middle you heve to shave off (line marked).
For the front supports, I had to make a crossmember out of 1x tubing. Cut to fit and bolt to inside of frame. The rise of the frame is just about right to set the cell brackets level.
I wasn't good about taking photos during the mockup, but it's extraordinarily simple. Just use the fuel cell and brackets to determine fit. Here is the cell bolted in place. The U shaped brackets shown holding the cell down in the top most picture, are the same as what is holding the tank up in this application.
Plumbing & wiring is one place I could have really used some experience. Back then I didn't understand a TBI system nearly as well as I thought I did. I have no idea if the fuel cell sending unit was compatible, but the gauge never worked.
Not pictured is the pump. I ran an external Holly Blue pump that I fried every few months. I think I went through 5 of them. Never could determine what was wrong. The last one gave up in front of my house. I coasted into the driveway and there she has sat for about 7 years.
Here's a couple shots;
We set the bed back on and cut an access hole.
I used a boat deck plate to clean up the bed. I put weatherstripping down to cover the corrugation of the bed, then ran black rtv around the edge to seal it up.
The red cell cap is horrible. After a while it becomes very hard to lock in place. The o-ring still goes bad after being covered. In hindsight I should have used this on top;
I was happy with the ground clearance of the cell
Once I get a few major projects out of the way (building a room addition onto our house being the current and most major) I'm going to breathe life into this truck again. It's been killing me to have it sit there.
When I redo this, I know what to do better. As I get older I learn that the more you can keep stock, the better. With that, I'll pull out the fuel cell again and put a TBI K5 tank in its place. I believe the 31 gal fits (at least I hope so, that's what I have in the garage). This way I can use the factory wiring, pump and fuel lines. I'm becoming familiar with the K5 setup on my '89, matter of fact I have the tank in it dropped now.
If nothing else, I hope this helps someone decide what to do or not do.
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