Fuel Tank Leaks.

[ecurie_ecosse]

My tank has sprung a leak and I need to repair it.What sort of stuff has been tried?? Any recommendations??

Stuart.

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Haggis?

Seriously, how bad/where is the leak? Time for a new tank?

 

[dklawson]

There are many DIY tank lining kits available and some radiator shops in your area may still professionally line tanks.

I have used Kreme and POR-15 kits to seal tanks. A friend of mine swears by Red Kote. (Versions of the Kreme kit are sold by many suppliers). The cleaning and prep steps are the same with all these kits. What is different is the final liner coating applied. Of the materials I've worked with, I prefer the POR kit for ease of use, the chemicals involved, and the fact that its coating is silver in appearance (like bare metal) and after several years of exposure... the coating is still silver. The Kreme coatings I've applied are OK but the solvent is MEK and the white coating goes "amber" then "brown" after a few months of exposure to gasoline.

 

[scoutll]

One of the problems with lining the tank is that the pickup tube and screen are not removable. You have to be very careful that you don't clog it.
People have done it successfully though.

 

[ecurie_ecosse]

Haggis won't work, Mickey.It's too porous.
Mind you,it has been known to block up the insides bfore it is properly digested.

The leak is on the bulge on the bottom. I think it has been repaired before with JB Weld.

Stuart.

 

[scoutll]

Haggis won't work, Mickey.It's too porous.
Mind you,it has been known to block up the insides bfore it is properly digested.
Stuart.

Haggis will plug anything! :thumbsup:

Though I wouldn't recomment it now, when I was 16 I had a very rusted 62 Chevy BelAir. This car was so far gone, you could see the windows from the outside when they were rolled down!!! The gas tank was so rusty that it seemed you would lose 2 gallons for every one you put in it. I took it off and patched it with bondo them primered it. It actually held until the car croaked about 6 months later.

 

[Morris]

I got a pretty good deal on a tank from these guys:

https://www.brgparts.com/

It has the vapor recovery bung on it, which a lot of vendors do not offer. It is not baffled, but so far that has not been a problem for me.

They list their tanks on eBay, but not on their website. However, if you give them a call, they will happily sell you one over the phone.

 

[Guest]

+1 for Por15. I've had/seen kreem liner fall down and clog the p/u. I didn't like the texture of the silver por15 I got, I prefer the black finish, but that's just me. Tape over the hole on the outside and pour it in. I prefer to work from side to side v.s top to bottom. If baffeled, start for behind the baffle. Use a trans funnel if you need to to poor it behind the baffle. If your careful, you can pour it straight past w/ the tank in the right possition.

DON'T, and I repeat, DON'T bring it to "The Ratiator Shoppe" in Slidell or any of their other locations. I had them do a tank for me once because I didn't have time. They left big chunks of rust in it and only coated one half of the tank. They said because of the baffle, they couldn't get the back side. I brought it home, stripped out the crap they put in it and did it again myself... the WHOLE thing!!!

The best thing about por15 is if it starts to flash rust after the acid bath, it doesn't matter. I really like the stuff. I had test patch on a rusty gate for 2 years in the sun and it's holdin up fine. I purposely didn't follow the correct proceedure and it still worked great. Plus, if you have some left over, you can paint something with it. You can't do that w/ kreem.

 

[dklawson]

Just for the record so there is no confusion, the POR tank liner material/kit does NOT use POR-15 paint that you hear discussed in rust prevention/treatment threads. It's a more rubbery coating that goes on thicker. I've only seen this in silver, but I haven't bought a tank lining kit in 6 years. Perhaps by now they have other colors. Regardless, don't confuse POR (for rust) with POR's tank lining kit. However, the tank liner material is applied using the exact same chemicals and method used to apply POR paint.

 

[Guest]

Just for the record so there is no confusion, the POR tank liner material/kit does NOT use POR-15 paint that you hear discussed in rust prevention/treatment threads. It's a more rubbery coating that goes on thicker. I've only seen this in silver, but I haven't bought a tank lining kit in 6 years. .

POR15 says you can use the paint to line tanks too. I called them a while back to make sure. I had some laying around and didn't want to buy anouther product if I could use the paint. It works really good and I rather it then anything else. I've done four or five with it so far.

Word on the street is their thinner is just acetone. I got this from the body shop supply guy who said one of the POR15 reps told him that when he was trying to reorder the warehouse was out.

 

[Billm]

Has anyone else had any success by just rubbing a bar or soap (Ivory or similar) on the outside of the tank at the crack? I can't say that it lasts forever but it did last about 6 months for me once (till I junked the car for other reasons)
BillM

 

[JPSmit]

There are a few things that I just can't see repairing and fuel tanks is one. Ebay has them for $180 - Tony maybe cheaper. The reality is that all the metal around the leak is exactly the same age as the metal that just rusted/ wore/ poked thru.

Aside from the danger of leaking fuel, there's also the greatly increased likelihood of being left by the side of the road. Neither option is especially appealing.

My 2 cents

 

[HAN8L1965]

I refurbed mine with a kit from Eastwood. Nice results, leaves the tank with a new epoxy coating.

Mark

 

[nomad]

I agree with JP. Have used a screw with a homemade rubber gasket ,though, in a pinch.
KA.

 

[dklawson]

A properly lined tank is not going to leave you by the side of the road but I appreciate that doing the job yourself isn't for everyone. Doing it right can be a lengthy process and like painting, if the preparation isn't done right the final results won't be acceptable.

Kellysguy, thanks for the information on using regular POR as a liner. I still like the silver look and thickness of POR's tank lining kit material. As for acetone being the solvent... maybe. I know acetone works well when cleaning up equipment after spraying POR, but so does lacquer thinner. The first time I tried spraying POR I didn't have their solvent so I figured I'd use lacquer thinner and it cleaned uncured POR well. Learn from my mistake and don't use lacquer thinner as POR reducer. I got pin holes everywhere in that first spray job. If you need to spray POR and want to use acetone, try it on a piece of scrap metal first before committing with a large panel or similar.

 

[Guest]

I haven't sprayed it, but I have used it to thin it and brushed it on with excellent results. Ole boy at the store quit carrying the POR15 thinner and now sells acetone as it's thinner to EVEYONE. So far no complaints and my test spot on my gate is still good after two years of outdoor exposer. I was REALLY reluctant at first to use acetone as a thinner for it, but now I'm a believer. I'm really suprised that someone from POR15 said that all it was is acetone as they make such a big deal out of "use only POR15 thinner w/ POR products" but I guess it all goes back to one thing.....MONEY !!!!

I used Ospho to treat the gate beforehand instead of "POR15 metal ready" (or whatever it's called) and it still worked great. I wanted to see if it would make a difference but it didn't.

If I ever do have to spray, believe me, I'll test a bit fisrt. I may push the envelope with other things I have more experience with, but I NEVER want to try to get POR15 of of ANYTHING once it's dry....especially if it's on something expensive or hard to get to.....like the inside of a gas tank.

ecurie, for a super fast TEMPORARY fix, there is a gas tank putty repair kit avalible, but that's probably what you have on it now. I even think it'll stick when wet, but I could be wrong. Might not be a bad thing to keep in the tool kit too. You just never know.

 

[ecurie_ecosse]

I've put some PorPatch on the thing today.Should hold for a while.But the bottom of the tank is pretty thin,so it looks like a new one is the way to go. :thumbsup:

Stuart.

 

[Guest]

Doing it right is a pain, messy and takes ALL day. There's allot to be said for a new tank.

 

[bgbassplyr]

Has anyone else had any success by just rubbing a bar or soap (Ivory or similar) on the outside of the tank at the crack? I can't say that it lasts forever but it did last about 6 months for me once (till I junked the car for other reasons)
BillM

Old fashioned Octagon (nothing to do with MG) soap will patch a tank even while it is actively leaking. Just take a knife, scrape the soap bar into slivers or a powdery state and pack on and into the leak. Had to do this on a new Sprite that I was bringing from the port to the dealer...leaking at the fuel guage bung...and to the best of my knowledge, no other repair was ever made or required.

 

[fordtrucks4ever]

<quote> I used Ospho to treat the gate beforehand instead of "POR15 metal ready" (or whatever it's called) and it still worked great. I wanted to see if it would make a difference but it didn't. <qutoe>


Regular phosphoric acid is basically what POR Metal-Ready is. I normally just sandblast anything clean thats getting covered with POR-15. There are two things that will extend the usable life of your POR-15, making it useful to have around in the future. Keep it stored in a refrigerator and just poke a little vent hole on the top of lid and one on the upper edge of side to pour from. Basically dont open the can. Cover with tape when done. This will keepany more air than necessary from entering. The POR vapors will keep pushing out making the actual air content almost non-existnt. I have one gallon thats going on 12 years old now. Before Christmas I last used it on some seat pans. Its starting to thicken up but still shot from an HVLP gun without needing any thinners.


Anytime there were leaks in tanks, I just used an old school soldering irons(copper) and built up solder to basically replace the lack of material missing on the inside.