Reply to "gas tank"

As you guessed, they are there to keep the thin steel of the tank from shifting and wearing against the mounts and restraints. As a full 24 gallons of fuel jacks the tank weight up to around 175 lbs (the fuel alone is 163 lbs), this is a good idea. Unfortunately, in early cars at least, DeTomaso used open-cell foam that absorbs water. This resulted in a few of the unpainted tanks corroding through from the outside.Contact-cementing new strips of rubber in any area that might conceivably touch other parts will adequately protect the tank. I'd suggest 1/4" thick pieces maybe of industrial belting, NOT foam rubber of any type. Also note that the tank position can be adjusted outboard a bit, to afford more header clearance even if your car has the L-type outside fuel filler.