Rusty tanks

AllKiller · Post by **AllKiller** » Tue Apr 05, 05 10:50 am

Have to agree with Terry, take it out, drain it, leave for a day or two to air dry with sender removed, weld it or solder it, then get it powder coated, end of all problems. worked for me tank still looks like new 9 years later and no leaks.

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Tue Apr 05, 05 5:13 pm

It is at this point that it must be said that the MMA or the Forum in no way advises or suggests that anyone welds a petrol tank, ever ! we know it can be done but the chance that an explosion and serious injury could occur undertaking this task means we have to distance ourselves from this practise.

On a sobering note, a friend of mine blew his face off doing just this after draining, flushing with water and leaving to dry/vent for a week

latil · Post by **latil** » Tue Apr 05, 05 5:25 pm

Alex ,you may know already but companies like Serck no longer undertake petrol tank repairs. They quote an EC regulation take makes it illegal to repair tanks on a commercial basis, they still do diesel tanks though.

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Tue Apr 05, 05 8:01 pm

I had one go as well. That had been flushed with water all day long. Never again.

AllKiller · Post by **AllKiller** » Tue Apr 05, 05 8:57 pm

Question, If its been flushed with water and dried or vise versa what is it thats causing the explosion ?? dont get it.

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Tue Apr 05, 05 9:05 pm

Vapour, it is almost impossible to clear a tank of all the fumes whatever you do..

Holly · Post by **Holly** » Tue Apr 05, 05 9:26 pm

I've only ever welded a diesel tank, gave it a week to 'air' and it was no problem - some surface diesel did ignite, but it wasn't in an explosive way.

latil · Post by **latil** » Tue Apr 05, 05 9:59 pm

I took the tank out to weld the trunk floor. 3 Months later I've cleaned up the underside where the tank had been weeping for years against the floor. When I welded the residual petrol left in/on the surface kept vapourising and igniting-there was no underseal or paint in the area,first thick white vapour then it flashed to flame. It smelt like old fuel in a car on full choke. Outside , tank off 3 months previous if that had been in a tank it would have exploded . DON'T risk it a new tank is cheaper than a funeral

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Tue Apr 05, 05 10:32 pm

Sounds quite scary to me. I think I'll go with the chemical approach if I got any leaks which I probably have.

Silly question, how do i check for leaks once removed, just fill with water and slop about to see if any drips? Or is it easy to see if its been leaking?

MrNorm · Post by **MrNorm** » Tue Apr 05, 05 10:43 pm

As I mentioned, if you want to weld it you need to fill it (and keep it full while you're welding) with water, or run exhaust gas through it. Or you can get clever and use argon or another inert gas.

In theory!

But I would be very wary even then - if you don't know what you're doing for sure I would err on the side of caution. (I don't - hence I'm not sure what I'll do about my small hole)

latil · Post by **latil** » Tue Apr 05, 05 10:50 pm

Look for stains/residue around rust scabs.Don't put water in it unless you've got some way of getting it all out again,it will get in around the bafflles and seam spotwelds and need a lot of heat & time to get properly dry. I usually put in 1/2 pint of paraffin , then hold tank so it runs over suspect area-soon shows and it won't evaporate quickly.

AllKiller · Post by **AllKiller** » Mon Jun 06, 05 11:24 pm

Found this Interesting, Competition Engineering, sell weld in fuel sumps for older cars to improve flow to the pump.

They say remove the Tank and get it cleaned by a Car radiator repair company, that will remove all fuel and vapours

Then before cutting or welding insert a large piece of DRY ICE to prevent the possibility of it exploding, this they state is only after having the tank
Professionally cleaned.

I suppose the Dry Ice removes all the oxegen in the Tank

INTERESTING EH ?

Cannonball · Post by **Cannonball** » Mon Jun 06, 05 11:41 pm

fill it full off water, tie it to a tree and waft the gas axe across the inlet hole it may have a bit off a belch then its ready to weld dry/empty

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Tue Jun 07, 05 6:20 pm

Just adding my two penneth worth, brand new (and in most cases better) Charger fuel tanks are readily available on ebay.com for about ?85. Down side is shipping, but if you know someone bringing over a container or vehicle....
This is the route Im going (quoted $125 via USPS), as I believe repair, repair is a hiding to nothing!

AllKiller · Post by **AllKiller** » Tue Jun 07, 05 8:29 pm

No, not repair. I want to fit a fuel sump for my bigger fuel lines to the pumps