Petrol Tank Welding Advice

[malcolm]

SO what price are new tanks for these things (for those of us that haven't followed the earlier links). I'd have gone for one of those. Once a tank gets pinholed in one place it tends to be really thin in a lot of areas so a big hassle to have to keep botching every year.

I'd go a tank whenever it's available. Not sure they are still available for my car.

 

[marknotgeorge]

TD Fitchett in Redditch would be the best bet for a new Spitfire tank. They own the tooling for TR7 tanks (and sell them to the other suppliers), so I'd imagine they'd be the same for Spitfires.

 

[zardoz]

For future refference, In a petrol tank there can be petrol trapped in the seams, even after a tank has been properly cleaned.
I'd use the old one as a model and fab' up a new one.

 

[shenion]

Recomend that you use Frosts tank repair sealant as a back up. dosen't matter if tank still rusts as it puts a liner inside of the tank. The bonus is that condensation dosen't form inside of the tank.

Have not tried Frosts.

Good idea, it is common for motorcycle tanks to "goop" them. It is a two-step process and acid wash and this nasty goo. Not really DIY as I hear it is caustic stuff. Good precaution, once rust starts, it will be downhill unless completely stopped.

 

[premmington]

I'm as tight "as two coats of paint"

I've repaired fuel tanks before, lots of times. I go for filling with water then purging with argon. Fact is, fibregalss repair is about as easy as you can get.

Truth is, when its thin-pin holed. New tank (second hand tank) my well be the best way forward.

http://www.remmington.plus.com

 

[loiner1965]

Hi guys, I cleaned off some layers of paint from around the suspect area, filled the tank with Caustic Soda Solution. Result was, the old fibreglass repair that a previous owner had done was dry (no leak there then). However, on the other side a nice wee hole appeared so I'm pleased in a funny sort of way...not pleased that I've got a hole in my tank but pleased that it can be repaired.
Now I like the idea of the soldering repair, sounds like I may go down that road....I'll keep the Mig under lock and key on this ocassion.

Wozz, liked your earlier post "Fly me to the Moon" nice one

try durafix aluminium welding rods on ebay...google durafix and watch the demo,,,,easy to weld and low temp too

 

[malcolm]

try durafix aluminium welding rods on ebay...google durafix and watch the demo,,,,easy to weld and low temp too

Durafix doesn't stick to ferrous metals sadly. Though that's a good thing as ferrous metal can be used as a mould to contain the runny durafix.

 

[loiner1965]

Durafix doesn't stick to ferrous metals sadly. Though that's a good thing as ferrous metal can be used as a mould to contain the runny durafix.

on the video it says you can weld to ferrous metals but not stainless steel......useful stuff all the same

 

[buzzy bee]

Hi

For leaky tanks, if you decide on fibreglass, don't fibreglass the outside, do it from the inside, I have done loads of Crop sprayer tanks, from the inside they never leak, from the outside they allways leak!

I have never done a fuel tank though, does petrol react with fibre glass, it is pretty good with alot of chemicals, the only spray that you couldn't use with glass fibre was sulphuric acid, it had to be stainless, it even use to eat mild steel!

Cheers

Dave

 

[piman]

Hello Dave,

'I have never understood (perhaps a chemist can explain?) why you can run concentrated sulphuric acid in mild steel lines but not dilute, that eats mild steel?

Alec

 

[buzzy bee]

Hi

I have never really though about it, the acid the sprayers used was 77proof. must be what it is diluted with mixing with the acid, h2so4 would become something different, god knows??

Cheers

Dave

 

[Mad Mick]

Give it a wide berth,like about a mile,if you don't want to come out with a face looking like a smouldering sunflower,or worse,regards,Mad Mick.

 

[Drains]

Hi



I have never done a fuel tank though, does petrol react with fibre glass,

Dave

Petrol is OK with fibreglass, but Ethanol, now used as a percentage of gasoline in the US is causing problems in fibreglass boat fuel tanks.

 

[bc30se]

Guys I don't have time to read all of this, so forgive me if I am writing something that has been already written.. anyway...

the nice method for welding petrol tanks is to fill them with co2 gas. How... I did it several times with a friend of mine. Of course, we usually give the tank some solid cleaning beforehand. Afterwards, we attach a hose to the car exhaust and link it to the tank. Try to make it as tight as you can... start the engine, wait for the tank to fillup with gas.. weld... should be ok

 

[aametalmaster]

should be ok

SHOULD BE OK SHOULD NEVER BE USED UNLESS YOU ARE POSITIVELY SURE AND CHECKED WITH AN LEL EXPLOSION METER. THERE ARE NO SECOND CHANCES IF IT ISN'T RIGHT....Bob

 

[shenion]

If you are going to fill it with something, why mes with exhaust? You have a nice big bottle of inert gas with your MIG. Use that; turn wire feed to 0, put torch in tank and fill. Argon is also heavier than air so it will sit in there.

 

[bc30se]

SHOULD BE OK SHOULD NEVER BE USED UNLESS.....

What I want to tell is that it worked for me several times. I am aware of the risk and I don't force anyone to do it.

Still, some time ago I had my motorcycle tank welded by another "specialist". He dipped it in caustic soda - that's what he claimed - still not sure if he was telling the truth... anyway when I got the tank back, it didn't smell of petrol at all...

If you are going to fill it with something, why mes with exhaust? You have a nice big bottle of inert gas with your MIG. Use that;

Firstly too expensive, secondly, we had one gas cylinder only - which was needed for welding.

 

[aametalmaster]

I don't mean to pick on anybody here and there is no dumb questions when safety is involved. But i do work in a refinery and i am the guy getting the tanks, pipes and pumps ready for welding or cutting so i do know a little about fumes and fire. So take extra precautions and remember there are no 2 tanks or jobs alike so what may work on one may fail on the other one. Just my .02...Bob

 

[Wozzaaah]

If you are going to fill it with something, why mes with exhaust? You have a nice big bottle of inert gas with your MIG. Use that; turn wire feed to 0, put torch in tank and fill. Argon is also heavier than air so it will sit in there.

If the gas is regulated at 15 L/m it would take around 5 mins to fill a 60L tank and even then I'd be unsure whether all the fumes had been purged. I can see the exhaust method being a quick way of filling a tank with co and co2 but I still wouldn't want to mess about welding one, life's too short.

 

[shenion]

Exhaust will fill it with nitrogen, water and CO2. Nat what you would want.