TR2/3/3A Pin Hole in gas tank

[Redoakboo]

I am restoring a 1954 TR-2 and have removed the gas tank for inspection. No rust evidence but, it had something that appears to be JB Weld covering a tiny pinhole in one of the end sections. I cleaned it off and wonder what I can use to repair this pinhole?

Dick

 

[CJD]

A new tank is the only permanent repair. I looked for 5 years and several wasted ebay orders looking for a tank for my TR2. The one I went with was "like new, no leaks", but wasted 5 days of my time trying to repair the leaks to make it work. I ordered a new tank from TRF, who took my money but never filled the order for 2 months...and finally bought a nasty looking thing from Moss. That is what I am using, as there are no other options, and although ugly, it holds fuel and does not show.

Follow this thread to post #126 to see how I had to pull the tank 3 times and air the gasoline vapors out of the car for days and days:

https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcf/showthread.php?108693-Recipe-for-a-TR2/page4

The problem with thinking you can "repair" a tank with a single pinhole is that if there is one pinhole that goes through, there are hundreds that are just about to break through. The only way to truly repair the tank is to replace the entire bottom sheetmetal. That is far easier said than done, and if you are not a highly experienced welder I would not recommend trying. Every time you fail you run the chance of burning you and your car to the ground when the repair fails or a new pin hole pops. To me it is just not worth it.

JMHO

 

[TR3driver]

Most folks think I'm crazy (and they might be right) but I've had good luck repairing them with solder and a propane torch.

The trick of course is to get all the fumes out of the tank. I flushed them with water until there was no smell, then let the tank dry thoroughly in the sun.

Of course, you need clean solid metal around the repair.
In one case, I had to add a patch, because the entire area was too thin. But the other tank just had a few pinholes surrounded by solid metal, and it worked well there without a patch. Kind of like lead body work, you butter the surrounding area.

 

[KVH]

I’ve used POR 15. Tedious in a way but it works. At least after 4 years.

 

[CJD]

Next time you guys drive on the freeway pay attention to the shoulder...and the number of burned patches there are. Cars burning to the ground is actually frequent! Then ask if you really want to trust your life to patches.

 

[ed_h]

+1 For lead (solder, actually). It is an old school standby technique for repairing steel tanks. It's important to treat the area around the pin hole, too. My tank was rusted on tne bottom from the outside.

More pics here: https://bullfire.net/TR6/TR6-63/TR6-63.html

Ed

 

[TR3driver]

Next time you guys drive on the freeway pay attention to the shoulder...and the number of burned patches there are. Cars burning to the ground is actually frequent! Then ask if you really want to trust your life to patches.

Not to mention in a 50+ year old car, that lacks air bags, side impact protection, rollover protection and has a big spear aimed at your chest.

Compared to that, I'll trust my patches any day. Especially since I did the first one around 1975 and it was still holding when that car got scrapped a few years ago.

 

[Sarastro]

For better or worse, I also patched mine with body solder. It had quite a few holes. It's not on the car yet, so I can't be sure if I patched every last hole. I generally don't like using interior coatings, as they are a double-edged sword: good if they work, worse than nothing if they don't. I used the Eastwood kit on my Porsche about 6 years ago, and it's doing well, so I think I might try the same thing on the TR4. It's a little tricky, I know, as the TR4 tank has interior baffles, while the Porsche doesn't.

 

[mgf]

I had mine soldered by a 3rd generation radiator guy. It's also not on the car yet. It's amazing. there was a row of pin holes in a straight line across the the bottom which he filled & tested with air in his radiator test tank. Also treated the inside with a red colored coating (forgot the name).

mgf

 

[Ian Mac]

I'd be going with a solder repair backed up by internal coating with POR.
Cleaning prep for POR is a PIA but good results
My TR4 had sat 30 years and fuel had turned to tarry sludge after cleanout was just minor pitting that the POR dealt with