I am extremely frustrated after spending over 4 hours getting the gas tank back on the car. The non-OEM straps were not pre-formed and I gave up on the last bolt.

Is there any trick to getting these straps formed around the gas tank?

Would it have been better to have bought the OEM straps? Are they pre-formed, contoured to the gas tank?

Simply, the strap has too much tension and is so close to the hole but the bolt is not catching the threaded hole. This is the bigger bolt at the back near the bumper.

I am losing patience since it has been two years since I have driven this car!!!

Any help or suggestion is appreciated.

I attached a picture of my car so you know that my frustration is worth it, or at least worth it to me to be this crazy.

Wow i never thought those wuld be that much trouble? I know it can be a bastard even with ther factory straps. Do you have the old ones handy to check for proper length? once you have them in the hooks on the floor, you have to make sure the loop is pulling toward the back of the car, and not straight down.the bolts are at least 4" long from what i remember too. Without being there to help you, this is on of those things that are hard to explain ?

Good luck.

This is not an uncommon issue. Here is all you have to do. Take out the old bolts, yes that sleeve will loosen up and come off the current bolts, go to the hardware store, find a stainless steel bolt 1/2" longer, put that one into the slot, reinstall the retaining sleeve and hook the strap on it.

Presto, back in business.

Just remember that the straps are two different lengths- one for each side!

and don't forget the pads.. or it'll wear right through!

Good to know. I'll be doing this soon, but going to reuse stock straps and pads. Why stainless bolts? I've got all kinds of bolts, I might just dig out a couple a little longer and go with them. If they last for another 36 years I'll be happy.

They don't rust.

Thanks for all the comments.

Grumpy: Yes it was a pain in the butt doing it alone. One of the straps got twisted as I removed the tank.

Rick WI: great idea! Thanks, I'll try that suggestion. I may not need that bolt as long. I don't want to also have the bolt too long that it hits the bottom of the trunk floor and really does not secure the strap. The bolt is the one near the bumper.

Eric: the non-OEM I got from NPD were the same lengths.

Skaal-Tel: I did buy the anti-squeak pads and placed them on top of the tank.

I did not want to, nor suggest anyone to reuse any hardware. Unless you really, really want everything to match. The old anti-squeak pads were dried out and some of it stuck on the tank. The straps were rusted and pitted. After I painted the gas tank it just made sense to me to do it right and replace the associated parts. Additionally, this project was not even planned. The car was losing power and stalling. I found the line attached to the fuel guage was weeping with fuel, and the fuel line from the pump to the tank was weeping fuel as well.

Thanks again. I am going to have to drive down next Saturday and hope to finish the damm job so I can start enjoying the car and the Summer.

You have not looked yet at how those bolts are installed yet have you? There is a retainer sleeve that will come off the bolt. The bolt head is then captured into a slot. When you slide out the bolt you will see what I mean.

I'm assuming your setup is the same as the 70-73's. Assuming this is true the only issue you may have is breaking the rust on the retaining sleeve that holds the bolt solid. You really really don't want to reaf on it too hard and turn the bolt in the retainer slot in the frame extension, then you are fubared.

Myself, if it was fighting me, I'd heat the bolt up with the small torch to break the rust. Hopefully it's not an issue. WD or similar can't hurt either.

It should be a very easy fix as long as the setup is the same as the early 2nd gens.

Thanks everyone. A week away from the car helped. I got the strap bolted on, it is not completely flush over the tank but it is bolted on. I used a floor jack to push the strap onto the tank and bend the end enough to bolt it on.

Got it all hooked up and now it does not turn over! But this thread can be closed.