Olaco (?) Fuel Tank and Straps

I purchased my parts jeep, GPW 107810, very cheaply and it has given me so many great items, including axles and the windshield that I’ve just restored. One of the great scores from this jeep is the fuel tank. I can only think it’s a reproduction because it’s in such fantastic shape, rust and dent free.  It has the typical late-war indentation for a generator to be fitted between the seats and all of the features are correct.  I have seen reference to late-war fuel tanks without the Olaco mark, so maybe it’s original?

I stripped off the old paint and primed her. The cap and filler insert are from my original tank.

The tank did have a few issues. The filler sleeve was too tight of a fit inside the tank and would not pull out without great effort. This was fixed by taking down the metal on the sleeve guides. A second issue was a screw broken off in one of the sending unit screw holes, as seen above. This one fought be quite a bit, and the end result isn’t too pretty, but it’s now clear and tapped. Finally, there was a lot of fuel residue and sludge inside. Here’s a look at the inside now.

And here she is ready to install. 

I have a mix of fuel tank straps, but only two of them is original F-marked.

Here’s the welting on the long straps, which I’ll keep.

I’ve replaced the 3 inch welting on the two short straps. Here’s the Fuel Tank Strap Kit from Ron. It comes with both staples for Willys and rivets for Ford. The rivets are much longer than the original and the split does not go deep enough, so it’s difficult to snug the rivets down tightly enough. 

Here are the two short straps, complete. 

Interesting markings on the head of the bolt for the front strap hook. It’s the same head as for the rear seat spring clips.