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gas tank

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carlivar

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The first piece I'm tackling in my BJ8 revival is the gas tank. It is one of the few rusty parts on the car. The inside is just plain nasty and one outside edge has the start of cancer. Not through the metal yet, but not good either.

Found a radiator shop that will re-do the tank (boil, seal, etc.) but they want $340 for it! Is this a normal price? A brand new tank from Moss is $310+tax.

Any recommendations? Keep shopping the tank around to be rejuvenated, or buy a new tank? Any source of used tanks other than classifieds/ebay?

Thanks!
 
Carlivar,
By all means go with the new tank. When I got my BN2 it came with 2 fuel tanks. The first one looked pretty good, but after sand blasting I found many pin holes that probably would not have leaked for a couple of months, but were all close to breaking through. The inside of the tank has baffles that pretty much prevent you from getting all the debris out of the tank. I actually opened the second tank I had, pulled out the baffles, welded numerous pin holes and riveted and re-leaded the sump back on, and welded the baffles back in. It was fine for 3 months. Then a small seep. I bought a new tank on E-bay and have been happy ever since.

Jon Robbins
 
You have a PM

Mark
 
Carlivar,
I used the Eastwood gas tank sealer kit (part no.10165Z)on my MGA roadster about 10 years ago and it has been fine. The cost is about $45 so you don't have much to loose. You will also find out if there are any pin hole leaks in the process. Have a good day!

John
 
When I priced having my tank boiled and cleaned with a local radiator shop it was about 1/2 that.

I found a lot of discussion on this in the forum archives - including a home brew (or maybe I should say a home barbeque) solution that everyone said worked well.
 
Allen_M said:
When I priced having my tank boiled and cleaned with a local radiator shop it was about 1/2 that.
Click to expand...

I meant to say boiled and sealed with an internal coating/sealant.
 
My original tank had some 'solder repair' done by a PO so I found a non-rusted tank on ebay for $100. It did have lots of flaky old gas debris that that came out with multiple applications of Marine Clean, 50 machine nuts and lots of shaking. I then decided to seal the tank with the Hirsche sealer product. I would have bought a new tank except the ones being sold at the time did not have the correct side panels and there were some problems with the tank fittings. I 'think' the ones from Moss now are good and have original details. In my opinion, if you have appreciable rust it is best to go with new. Also, make sure you seal the bottom frame opening and the boot lid well with weather stripping. If water finds it's way in from the bottom or from the top then it will sit between the tank and boot floor and start rusting.

Cheers,
John
 
Carlivar, I have to agree with all the above. If the tank has serious rust on it especially the seams I would get rid of it. But if you have no choice, here is what I did to an original '32 Ford gas tank. After I picked and shook the garbage out as much as possible, I used the Eastwood sealing kit, put in the etch solution shook it real good for about 20 minuntes. then set the tank aside with the solution still in it till the next day. then shook it again for about 20 minutes, set it aside again for a day. Did that 3 or 4 times. Drained it, rinsed it, etc and put in the sealing compound, rolled the tank, tilted it etc to get the solution everywhere. (tank did have baffels). The tank did have pin holes. It lasted at least 5 yrs that I know of.
 
Just for the record : I had a strange experience with my gas tank repair.('63 BJ7) I went the route recommended by many above On installation the car would not go for 2mls before conking out (gas starvation) after much frustration found out there was a filter inside the tank. The sealant partially clogged the filter, this allowed restarting and 2 more mls.!! 10mins. by the road side seemed enough to clear ( by gravity with no pressures involved?) so the procedure could be repeated.
 
The PO of my Healey did the clean and seal trick and ended up with the outlet completely plugged! I bought a new one from Ebay around $225 incl shipping from George in Calif. Very satisfied but not knowledgeable enough to know how close to original it is. Bob
 
I bought an aluminum unit from the vendor on E-Bay and have to say I'm satisfied so far. It has internal baffles and externally looks very much like the original. I painted it gloss black to make it look even more so, and sealed it with the Hirsch products. It obviously can't rust and is a bit lighter, for what its worth. Not for everyone but perhaps another option.
 
62BT7 said:
I bought an aluminum unit from the vendor on E-Bay and have to say I'm satisfied so far. It has internal baffles and externally looks very much like the original. I painted it gloss black to make it look even more so, and sealed it with the Hirsch products. It obviously can't rust and is a bit lighter, for what its worth. Not for everyone but perhaps another option.
Click to expand...

I have heard of the aluminum tanks corroding. Now we have stailess tanks available which may be the best ones?
I used a sealer several years ago and the tank worked well for quite some time until one day out in the middle of nowhere(on the side of the Interstate between two civilized places of great distance), I had fuel starvation. The blockage was at the highest point(top) of the line from the tank to the fuel filter. I won't bore anyone with how long it took to locate the blockage(a long story with short 4 letter words).
Patrick
 
Bob Claffie said:
The PO of my Healey did the clean and seal trick and ended up with the outlet completely plugged! I bought a new one from Ebay around $225 incl shipping from George in Calif. Very satisfied but not knowledgeable enough to know how close to original it is.
Click to expand...

The Moss tank is on sale right now I realized as part of their holiday sale. $310. The only regular tank on Ebay is $350 + shipping. $225 with shipping is a great price!
 
I used the Bill Hirsch sealing kit when I got my car in 99, it had so much rust in it it was blocking the fuel lines. Cleaned and etched as described above, ran much water through it, bolts on the inside, etc.

Held up well for 8 years, tank was internally rusty and had some external rust as well but no rust through when I got the car.
 
Responding to the earlier post on my aluminum fuel tank, yes there is a corrosion issue with raw aluminum tanks (something to do with aluminum and I think (?) electrolysis caused by the fuel, but don't quote me on that...) but the research I did suggested that this is a non-issue with a sealed aluminum tank. Aluminum or not, I think everyone agrees that regardless of the material sealing a tank is the way to go. I like the fact that it's sealed on the interior, and from the exterior is immune to rusting. I think the weight saving is pretty nominal, however, maybe 5 pounds? An off the cuff guess.
 
carl ivar said:
Bob Claffie said:
The PO of my Healey did the clean and seal trick and ended up with the outlet completely plugged! I bought a new one from Ebay around $225 incl shipping from George in Calif. Very satisfied but not knowledgeable enough to know how close to original it is.
Click to expand...

The Moss tank is on sale right now I realized as part of their holiday sale. $310. The only regular tank on Ebay is $350 + shipping. $225 with shipping is a great price!
Click to expand...

Nope Georges regular tank is $300.00 + shipping and is a much stronger tank. Plus it is going off the whole sale market soon and will only be available through an independent retailer at a higher price.--Fwiw--Keoke
 
Hey chaps

What's this aluminium corrosion about? Mine had an ally tank when I bought it, don't know when it was installed but has lasted this five years since. I take the point about electrolysis but this must be due to different metals and a damp environment, ie. trunk floor / chassis and the aluminium and isn't the tank separated anyway by some strips of felt or rubber?

Bob
 
Bob Claffie said:
The PO of my Healey did the clean and seal trick and ended up with the outlet completely plugged!
Click to expand...

It's very important to use some air pressure applied to the outlet pipe before the sealant hardens. There is an internal screen that must be cleared with air pressure or the above can happen.
 
Bob Hughes said:
Hey chaps

What's this aluminium corrosion about? Mine had an ally tank when I bought it, don't know when it was installed but has lasted this five years since. I take the point about electrolysis but this must be due to different metals and a damp environment, ie. trunk floor / chassis and the aluminium and isn't the tank separated anyway by some strips of felt or rubber?

Bob
Click to expand...

Yes different metal interfaces in the presence of moisture will cause corrosion. Add a bit of current flow across these differential metal surfaces and you will have differential voltages which can initiate an electrolytic process. Plus the new fuels are probably introducing a bit more moisture than original gasoline .Aluminum when exposed to air normally corrodes any way.--Fwiw--Keoke
 
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