Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Tank does lood good. Definitely going to need some kind of adapter plate for the stock sender. Without knowing any measurements of the 6 tank holes or those on the adapter plate Classic offers, visually the Classic Instruments SN41 1936-56 Ford Fuel Sender Flange Adapter might work for the Clipper Stewart-Warner sender.

I measure the Clipper sender to be right at 2 inches across opposite hole centers. There is a link to one vendor selling the Ford adapter plate in post #19 but several other vendors also offer the adapter and Classic does make other versions.

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Km lifestyles made the sender for my 1947 custom super clipper. You have to count the number of holes and let them know what they are so they will know what sender to make. The only problem was the sender was an exact reproduction which had a cork float which had shellac on it on it. The shellac promptly dissolved because of the ethanol in our gasoline. I called them and recommended to them that in the future they should coat the cork float with the fuel tank sealant used inside gas tanks. In my case I went to JEGS and bought a fuel tank sender float. I was able to attach it to my sender and there's been no problem.

They built my '37 115 sending unit, start to finish, and it had a brass float; cork was original I understand.

Regarding the fuel sending unit, does anyone know the correct OHM for full to empty for the Custom Super Clipper? Also, there has been a reference to the float arm length from model to model. What would be the correct length for the Custom?
I have the original in the car and my mechanic replaced the cork float with brass, but never had the sending unit refurbished.
Now that I've found a new tank, want to make sure once it's installed that everything is up to standard.

The ohm range for the Stewart-Warner gauge used in the Clippers is the obsolete S-W range of 100 ohms at empty and 0 ohms at full. Unlike the K-S gauges used in later years which are the thermal bimetal type and relatively slow in response, the S-W gauge is magnetic and will instantly respond if the sender signal is erratic. A poor contact at the sender will result in jittering at the gauge so make sure when doing the test that moving the arm results in a smooth change on the meter with no drop outs or large changes in ohms that settle back down as the float continues to move. A tiny jitter at the gauge will go almost unnoticed but any large dropouts will be instantly seen. If your gauge is steady now chances are the sender is in good condition.

One thing to be prepared for when mounting the new tank is getting a good ground again. For whatever reason -- probably paint or a rusted surface somewhere -- when several have replaced tanks a good solid ground was not re-established between the tank and body. In spite of numerous attempts at cleaning or remounting, in some instances a separate ground wire has had to be installed between the tank or sender and body sheetmetal for the gauges to work properly when driving. Just keep the tank ground in mind if you later have intermittent issues with the gauge.

This photo of a Clipper Custom sender is slightly misleading because of camera angle but the ruler end is tight against the hump in the sender directly under the first bend. The arm length between the bend at the resistance unit and the bend at the float is just over 5 3/4". When Wat_Tyler has time to pull a 17 gallon sender we can compare the two lengths and find any differences.

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Don't forget to kick Wat in his @$$ to keep him motivated.

Thanks, Howard. Very helpful.

Thanks for the lead! Checked out their website and its a gold mine!
May I ask how much they charged you for the fuel sending unit? Did they refurbish your original or build a new one to spec?
Just curious.
Dave

Here is some information for the 20 gallon 1948-50 tank.

Dimensions of the main tank body:
Length 37-1/2", Width 21-1/2", Depth 6-1/2"

Filler neck length 17-1/2"

Sender:
Outside diameter 3-1/4"
Bolt circle diameter 2-3/4"
Tank opening diameter 1-7/8"
Bolt holes at zero, 70, 120, 180, 233, and 300 degrees with zero at the front