Fuel tank thingy

[Beatie]

Edit on plug material
It’s a higher content carbon steel , it looks like it’s plated itself with brass so appears like brass and when you drill it it flakes not ribbons .
I would suggest HSS drill bit rather than high carbon as it might work harden and the only way is carbide then .

[Gray]

Mine had the same plug in and although I got a nos drain pipe I didn't put it in for ease of use but have it handy if I ever decide to.

[gs.davies]

I need something to seal this hole off in my tank. Will a 3/8 grub screw do the job? If so, what should I seal it in with?

[timmy201]

How about a bleed nipple off a disc caliper? It’s 3/8 unf and hopefully the right taper

http://www.minispares.com/product/Class ... H2428.aspx

[mk1]

A bleed nipple works fine. I put one in one of my tanks years ago & never had any issues.

[Peter Laidler]

If it's the brass bung type as shown by Beattie (previous page, then just clean and fill thread with soft solder. End of problem

[AndyPen]

I still have a couple of the original tube ones... somewhere!!!!

[Catmint]

you have to wonder how long it would take to drain the fuel through an 1/8" diameter hole!

Quite a long time I seem to remember from earlier in the year when I got shot of the dead petrol - had to blow through with the air line to clear it first. A bugger to loosen as well, I extended an old box spanner with a bit of tube and that worked.

[Andrew1967]

I fitted a NOS original to HOY obtained from a fellow forumer from Australia, if I remember correctly.

It is basically a 3/8 UNF bleed nipple with a piece of tube brazed on to it.

Copper-slipped it and made a suitable long box socket to allow tighten up and potentially loosening it.

[SMOKE GREY]

Here’s what’s the blanking plug looks like
It’s actually brass and came out quite well with an easy out .
The plug looks the proper job so obviously nothing to do with BMC

That’s a genuine plug , can’t remember the part number, got a bag of them somewhere.

[SMOKE GREY]

Here’s what’s the blanking plug looks like
It’s actually brass and came out quite well with an easy out .
The plug looks the proper job so obviously nothing to do with BMC

That’s a genuine plug , can’t remember the part number, got a bag of them somewhere.

21A352!

[winabbey]

To summarise some of this discussion, the initial drain plug part 21A352 (as per Beatie's post) was replaced by the plug with tube - part 21A1401.

This image courtesy of Somerford Mini - https://www.somerfordmini.co.uk/catalog ... 774_100807

Somerford Mini Fuel Tank.jpg

BMC Australia made its own equivalent of 21A1401 giving it part number AYA2150 for the threaded bit and AYA2149 for the assembly.

AYA2150 Drain Plug Fuel Tank.jpg

AYA2149 Drain Plug Compltete Fuel Tank.jpg

[gs.davies]

If ever there was an advert for the usefulness and the depth of knowledge available here, just see the post above.

Brilliant!

[AndyPen]

Really useful info, and just found this in the site's BMC bulletin - with dates

fuel drain pipe text.jpg

[gs.davies]

As far as I am concerned, those drain tubes are a total waste of time. The best thing to do is to glue the bleed screw in & cut it off flush.

Ok, Not a solution for the 10/10 conservator, but a great solution if you ever want to remove the tank again.

Right, finally got to the stage where I can fit the tank and the boot floor has the hole in the wrong place. Ho hum (M-Machine Mk1 Spec floor). What glue would folks recommend for this task? I've tried a calliper plug screw, that's too short to go all the way up to the taper and I suppose the nipple should be tight against that to seal it against leaks.

IMG_3246.jpeg

[mk1]

JB Weld followed by a 3/8 UNF grub screw. I have ones that have been like that for 30+ years & have never had any issues.

M

[Lakeland997]

To summarise some of this discussion, the initial drain plug part 21A352 (as per Beatie's post) was replaced by the plug with tube - part 21A1401.

I’m not sure that’s quite correct. The drain tube with pipe is pictured in the original Mini Cooper parts list and is labelled as 21A352
Confusing!

[richardACS]

I'm just getting to this issue at the moment, as mentioned by Andrew - it's there and would like to return same even though I can see they are a right pita. Dermott directed me to some for sale in Australia but their web site doesn't seem to be set up for selling abroad - pinged them an email but no response.

I'd like to know if the grommet is just a blank with a hole through or whether it is a thicker moulding that also acts as a supression rubber?

The slinger thingy however is still a hurtful point Andrew - my therapist has given up trying to get me through this

[timmy201]

There’s a few places in Aus that sell them. If you want to order a few to make it worth the shipping and fees I’d be happy to receive them and post them on

https://bmiparts.com.au/product/drain-tube-fuel-tank
https://minisport.com.au/products/mini- ... be-spanner

[winabbey]

I sent a small quantity of the NOS tubes to someone on here, but can't remember who.