cheaper for a tank at rock auto

 

I've "resurrected" dozens of cars over the years. Personally in your situation I'd be inclined to find a complete tank with the sender and pump from a wrecking yard. It's the sitting that rusts the tanks, if it came from a daily driver with low miles it'd be worth saving the money and trouble IMO.

 

IME, it's almost always been less expensive to maintain/repair a vehicle VS selling and replacing. If it's a vehicle you like I'd say its worth it. Granted, I've been working on cars since middle school, and do all my own work short of machining so that makes a huge difference. Almost every vehicle I've owned has been a project car I've saved from a scrap yard or something I found in the paper for next to nothing. Blazers are pretty solid and the power/drivetrain don't have any inherent issues that make them overly expensive to maintain. (Not to mention they're quite abundant and can usually be found for a song) Lots of aftermarket support and easily adaptable to other drive lines. Why not keep it?

edit: That rust is fairly substantial, but its hard to judge exactly how bad from photos. I had a 56 Ford wagon that had a cross member rot out like that, only the cross member was also the mounting point for the lower control arms. I made a new cross member from some rectangular tubing and still made a profit on it without doing any bodywork and only had the front seat reupholstered. So it really depends on what you're capable of.

 

I second what Cracker said about going to a junkyard. I pulled some parts just last Saturday at the local (gigantic) "U-Pull-It" and a couple of the blazer's I looked at were without a gas tank. On the website it says gas tanks are $25 and up, that's much better than $115 for a new one.

 

The problem with used tanks is that you never know what may be or has been in them. Also a few yards will puncture tanks to drain the gas before putting them in the yard. I personally would spend the extra dollars for the new tank. I had a rusted tank when I bought mine and I replaced the tank with new and haven't had an issue since. To me a few dollars is worth piece of mind. If it were several hundred difference my opinion would probably be different.

 

As long as the tank doesn't have rust in it it should be fine. The only realistic concern is water in the tank, but just drain/rinse the tank (which you should do with any replacement tank new or used anyway) and leave the sender out for a day or so, so it can dry.

And, it /would/ be a couple hundred cheaper than replacing the tank and the pump with new parts.

Given that it sounds like you (OP) want to run it into the ground anyway I'd save the money for other stuff on the vehicle.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I was referring to just the tank alone not the pump as well. I guess I just like only having to do a job once and not worry about it anymore

 

I would recommend replacing the tank. Considering your are going through the trouble to drop it, might as well do it right. Also, depending how confident you or your friend are, you can try replacing just the pump motor itself. I did it in my 2000 Sentra. It wasn't that difficult, you just have to be careful and patient when dismantling the fuel pump assembly. Just my 2 cents.

 

Okay! I finally ordered my fuel pump. It is on the way. I have a question though. The guy who helped me out was a little too helpful and broke one of my straps to the fuel tank. See the photo to see what exactly broke. Online, replacement straps only show selling the other half of the strap (the one that connects to this one) via the broken piece. Suggestions? Junk yard?

Swells, thanks so much. I cleaned the fuel tank, no more debris inside of it. For the price of that kit I could get a brand new tank... We'll see. I'll get some opinions on it; not trying to kick the can down the road. I want to solve the problem asap

 

good, glad you were able to clean it, if it is clean and nothing else coming out I would just use it, but that is just me. And I would probably try a junk yard for the tank straps.