TR2/3/3A TR3 Fuel tank straps and pads

[mallard]

Has anybody made any rubber pads for the fuel tank instead of the felt strips? If you did how thick was it and what material. Also did you make tank straps insulators out of rubber. McMaster has a large line of rubber products in all sizes, and materials.

 

[TR3driver]

Why would you want to? Felt has the advantage that it will "breathe" enough to let moisture escape, while rubber will hold it trapped against the surface. And even in AZ, the metal of the tank will occasionally form dew.

I installed new felt on my TR3A shortly after purchasing it in 1984. Both the felt and the tank against it were still in great shape when I finally got around to pulling it out of the wreck in 2010.

MMC also offers felt in an almost bewildering variety of materials and hardnesses. (ISTR I got mine at Home Base, though, sold as weatherstripping.)

 

[mallard]

The area with the most rust on my car was under the fuel tank where the felt strip was. I was thinking the felt just held the water. Maybe the trunk lid never had a good seal and would leak when it rained. AZ did get much more rain 30 40 years ago.

 

[M_Pied_Lourd]

Keith,

I have one with rubber and one with felt. I will try and dig out some pics or the actual pieces tomorrow.

Cheers,
David

 

[martx-5]

The felt that I got from Moss was too thick. They made the front of the straps stick out too far so I couldn't get the interior back panel on. I got some felt at Home Depot like Randall mentioned, used for weatherstripping.

 

[TexasKnucklehead]

Keith,

My car came with rubber glued to the bottom of the tank. If you look at this picture of my trunk, you can almost see the rust holes outline where the rubber sat on the floor. I'll be using felt this time around.

 

[tdskip]

Mine had 1970's shag carpet as a tank pad. Groovy. Rusted same way as yours.

 

[gprtech]

I used the felt originally, but it trapped water and started rust on the new boot floor pan. The next time, I used smaller pieces of foam. Better, but still rust when I removed the tank for cleaning last year.

I realized that nothing can prevent the water from collecting around whatever I put there. The solution is just to make sure the boot floor can't rust. I cleaned off the paint and put POR-15 on the area under the fuel tank, then roughed it up, primed it and painted over it.

I've got rubber strips there now.

 

[mgedit]

I used the felt over the straps and a couple of strips of rubber to "shim" the tank (on edge closest to cabin) to get the fit right. Cheers, Mike

 

[mallard]

TK thats what the rust looked like with my car and felt pads. I like the idea of the felt for the straps. The key is to have a Boot lid that does not leak. I'm not sure what I will go with.

 

[TexasKnucklehead]

I am also using the post 60k gas tank in a pre60k car. It rests on the shelf, but not on the floor of the trunk. I made 3 short stand-offs to keep the tank from tilting rearward when full. I don't think I'll use any felt on the shelf. Just along the straps and a little on top.

I am not optimistic about having a lid that doesn't leak. Water can get in around the gas line and the clean-out, not to mention tail lights, gas cap...

 

[bnw]

I used the felt over the straps and a couple of strips of rubber to "shim" the tank (on edge closest to cabin) to get the fit right. Cheers, Mike


Mike, what are the holes on the floor in front of the tank for?

 

[hermanmaire]

I think I forgot to put anything on my tr3 .

For what its worth, the fuel tank straps on a bmw I was looking at, just used a stainless steel strap with a rubber strip. That was on a exposed fuel tank underneath the car. I would not hesitate to put rubber on my tr3.

 

[mgedit]

Not sure. They were there when I got the car in pieces. Since they looked original, I left them thinking that they were part of the mounting points for interior bits. Not quite at that stage yet, so not sure of they will be used, or need to be plugged. Cheers, Mike