fuel tank repair ?

[northern monkey]

Does anyone know if fuel tanks can be repaired,and if so by whooom..my right hand tank has sprung a leak.....it appears to have a pin hole in it two thirds of the way up its seam.....If not is there anyone still making them (mines an original)...mini machine did an alloy one that was ok (far better than the wrinkled steel one that they did,and sold through other companies)

Mick

[rich@minispares.com]

the new steel tanks that are available through all, er, good retailers are perfect copies,


however, if its just a pin hole you should be able to solder repair it, or maybe use the tank liner stuff that frost sell?

[goff]

This is how i repaired van and traveler tanks years ago, You MUST PURGE it before any form of heat is applied , It would need steam cleaning for long period , REMOVE the sender unit as water will kill it, once its purged , tilt the tank so as the hole is at the highest point with the filler neck, fill it with water to just below the leak ,So there is very little air in the tank then it could be brazed, You could ask the local garages were you live , DON'T FORGET HOW DANGEROUS PETROL FUMES ARE, EVEN IF YOU HAVE A WELDING SET , DON'T TRY IT YOURSELF, LEAVE I TO THE EXPERTS. Hope this helps

Goff

[northern monkey]

Im an engineer by trade and have done a bit of brazing,but would much prefer to get a pro to do the job as I would have to borrow or hire the gear to do it..

Ive heard mixed reports on the lining of fuel tanks ,and have been led to believe its a quick fix but not a long term fix...how true is this ?

[Spider]

As Rich has said, there are new tanks and even good second hand tanks about, but if you do want your favorite tank repaired, it can be done (I did one just a few weeks back).

Before taking it on yourself, have a chat to your radiator repair shop, they usually also do fuel tanks.

If you decide to take it on yourself, have a good look at the general condition of the thank, inside and out, if it's got much more than surface rust, then you'll have a devil of a time and I'd suggest going back to option 1 above.

If the hole is only very small, there are a few repair kits available, probably my favorite would be the one offered by PPC;-

http://ppcco.com.au/por19.html

My only advice regarding this excellent kit is 1) follow the instructions to the letter and 2) it takes about a day to do it properly.


If the hole is more serious and needs welding / brazing, it can be done safely, this is what I do to make the tank safe. Drain the fuel out, as much as you can get out. Remove all the tank fittings. Then pour in about 50 - 100 ml of metho, slosh it about, then pour that out. Then pour in some tap water with detergent, not too important what type as most will break down the water's surface tension. Slosh that about, drain. Then just some straight tap water, same again. Then leave out in the Sun for a day with preferable the sender hole upper most. You could do that with the filler, but they are not flush on the inside of the tank, so some condensate may still remain behind.

Next day, go for a drive in one of your other cars and get it up to temp, bring it back and then hold up the tank to the exhaust and let the fumes flow through the tank. It should now be safe to apply a direct flame to, however, just to test them, I always take them outside, away from everything and everyone, put some newspaper in to the sender hole, leaving a good length hanging out. Light it and run! Let it burn in to the tank, then you know 100% you'll be safe

Depending on what sort of repair is needed, I use either lead wiping metal or brazing.

[northern monkey]

Thank you Gents...I will have to consider the options....thanks for the help

[dklawson]

The lining kit Spider posted the link for is made by POR-15. I have used it and a couple of other brands over the years. I much prefer the POR lining kit to others I have used. It uses gentler chemicals that I was familiar with using and leaves a metallic looking lining when you are done. Other kits use more dangerous chemicals and typically leave a white liner that turns amber after exposure to gasoline.

Lining kits must be applied as Spider said by following the instructions to the letter. Applying the lining material is like painting. If you take shortcuts with the preparation you will be unhappy with the results. Because of that I would say it is hard to line a tank properly in one day. I would allow two days for all the chemical treatments and allowing the tank to dry before applying the liner. Then you need a day or so for the lining material to cure before putting the tank back into service.

I am sure the lining won't last forever but my Mini's tanks are lined and the coating has held up for 12 years now.

[Spider]

Hey Dklawson, What's some of the other kit's you've used / seen? Not that I've really gone looking.

One other thing I did overlook, and not sure if you found it a problem Dkl, The Mini Fuel tanks have a small plastic strainer on the pick-up pipe (or at least made out here did). These do have a fine gauze on them, so if using chemicals, be mindful that they don't 'melt' the plastic or that the sealing compound doesn't block up the gauze. I've over come this when using the POR15 Kit by periodically blowning very LP air back through the pick-up pipe.

I did come across a tank (for a Moke)that appeared to have been repaired at some point and as part of the repair sat in a tank of some sort as the strainer had melted completely blocking off the pick-up pipe. Subsequently it had a new one fitted to the gauge sender, which in hind sight, probably isn't a bad idea.

[dklawson]

One of the kits I used was a "store brand" item. It was probably made by the same company as the other kit I used by "Kreem". They had similar instructions and chemicals including a liner material that was thinned by MEK. I have not used the product called "Red Kote" but I have several acquaintances who have used it and speak well of it.

When I lined that Mini tanks I used a long rod through the filler neck and drove the plastic mesh filter off the pickup tube. I inserted a large diameter wire coated with Vaseline through the pickup tube to plug it during the sloshing process. In place of the mesh filter I placed a coarse filter between the tank and fuel pump to protect it from any debris that may find its way into the tank.

[Dr.Mabo]

I did the lining on my fuel tanks with "Kreem Red" about 12 years ago. I'm still very pleased with the result.

To protect the plastic mesh filter I covered the filter with a small transparent plastic bag. To do so I went through the filler neck and the opening of the sender unit with long tools. After the treatment of the tank I immediately removed the bag while the last layer of paint was still wet. So the wet paint could run under the lower edge of the filter without contaminating or blocking the mesh. To close the opening of the sender unit I used a soft plastic ball.

This was all working fine with the left hand tank. Unfortunately I was not able to find a way to do it with the original right hand tank. As it doesn't has a sender unit there is no proper access to the filter. I was just able to realize through the filler neck the original right hand tank has a plastic filter too, but covering it or protecting it somehow seems to be unpossible through a single opening.
Eventually I used an after market right hand tank without plastic filter and did the lining.

So long
the doc

[northern monkey]

the new steel tanks that are available through all, er, good retailers are perfect copies,


however, if its just a pin hole you should be able to solder repair it, or maybe use the tank liner stuff that frost sell?

Off the top of your head Rich ...How much are the new tanks and are they creased like a soggy paper bag ?.....It took months to track this original one down ,ten or more years ago, and its been fitted to this for ages now...so having diving boots and not driving boots I've grown well used to the extra fuel capacity...which is handy for the blast to skipton,then o'er blubber houses to my sisters in Knaresbourgh...

Mick

[carbon]

Alternative repair for pin-holes in petrol tank seams....

I have a 1970 kit car which uses mini estate/van petrol tank, when I rebuilt this about 25 years ago I found the tank had a series of very small pinholes along the rear seam of the tank.

As a student I could not afford a new tank at the time so I cleaned this right back to bare metal and then used narrow fibreglass patch along the seam on the basis that quite a few motorbikes had glassfibre tanks so it should be compatible. This was well before the addition of ethanol to petrol, and all of the warnings about incompatible materials etc.

Pleased to report (so far anyway...) this repair has held good ever since.