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Everyone,
I wanted to tell everyone some good and bad news.
I have found the archive of articles and discussion from this forum to be immensely useful in restoring my "gift" 67 TR4A. Thanks to you all !!!
The good news is that I am very close to getting it on the road. The bad news is I have some safety concerns with the fuel tank I bought to replace the OEM fuel tank that came with my project car.
If I remember correctly (I have pictures somewhere) the OEM fuel tank for a TR4A was fabricated from two half's that were tack/roll welded along an approximate 1 inch wide edge seam around the entire tank. This lip widened to include the mounting flanges for attachment to the frame. It appeared to be a very strong and solid design except that it ultimately rusts out and needs replacement.
I purchased a replacement (AL, not Fe) tank (will not mention site as they are not the manufacturer) and had it for about 6 months and finally installed it this past weekend. With all new fuel lines and tank I was almost ready to roll. Put a 0.5gal of gas in tank to flush out lines and tank and low and behold there was a leak in a weld on the NEW tank. I had a nagging suspicion that I should have leaked check the tank but had not.
So just immediately pulled the tank (Arrrggghhhh!!!) drained fuel and did some water leak checks.
Pics of tank and closeup of weld area are attached here.
On inspection of the weld these AL (and all replacement tank AL and FE ?) has a relatively complicated weld scheme. I have the following concerns about these tanks :
1) there is not much shear strength on these tanks (back to front half) as there is no large lip with a roll/tack weld - I just see this bead weld on two flange lips which I think could be susceptible to failure due to over pressure and/or shear with a moderate wack to the side of the tank or car.
2) Does anyone have any experience with wrecks with these newer style tanks ?
While the tank is relatively protected by the body it does not appear to take much to just crack the thin bead weld. The lack of a large surface area with the OEM style flange tack/roll weld just makes these appear more fragile IMHO... Comments on this are welcome... I deal in mechanical/material design and fabrication of aerospace parts and this would not be an acceptable in an design for aircraft.
3) Do manufacturers typically leak check all tanks fabricated.
The tank I have has a two year warranty and so we are working it that way but just looking at the design more closely (now that I am not busy working on the car) I am not sure I want this tank...
Are there alternate manufactures for these replacement tanks that incorporate a more mechanically robust design.
All suggestions, comments are welcome...
I wanted to tell everyone some good and bad news.
I have found the archive of articles and discussion from this forum to be immensely useful in restoring my "gift" 67 TR4A. Thanks to you all !!!
The good news is that I am very close to getting it on the road. The bad news is I have some safety concerns with the fuel tank I bought to replace the OEM fuel tank that came with my project car.
If I remember correctly (I have pictures somewhere) the OEM fuel tank for a TR4A was fabricated from two half's that were tack/roll welded along an approximate 1 inch wide edge seam around the entire tank. This lip widened to include the mounting flanges for attachment to the frame. It appeared to be a very strong and solid design except that it ultimately rusts out and needs replacement.
I purchased a replacement (AL, not Fe) tank (will not mention site as they are not the manufacturer) and had it for about 6 months and finally installed it this past weekend. With all new fuel lines and tank I was almost ready to roll. Put a 0.5gal of gas in tank to flush out lines and tank and low and behold there was a leak in a weld on the NEW tank. I had a nagging suspicion that I should have leaked check the tank but had not.
So just immediately pulled the tank (Arrrggghhhh!!!) drained fuel and did some water leak checks.
Pics of tank and closeup of weld area are attached here.
On inspection of the weld these AL (and all replacement tank AL and FE ?) has a relatively complicated weld scheme. I have the following concerns about these tanks :
1) there is not much shear strength on these tanks (back to front half) as there is no large lip with a roll/tack weld - I just see this bead weld on two flange lips which I think could be susceptible to failure due to over pressure and/or shear with a moderate wack to the side of the tank or car.
2) Does anyone have any experience with wrecks with these newer style tanks ?
While the tank is relatively protected by the body it does not appear to take much to just crack the thin bead weld. The lack of a large surface area with the OEM style flange tack/roll weld just makes these appear more fragile IMHO... Comments on this are welcome... I deal in mechanical/material design and fabrication of aerospace parts and this would not be an acceptable in an design for aircraft.
3) Do manufacturers typically leak check all tanks fabricated.
The tank I have has a two year warranty and so we are working it that way but just looking at the design more closely (now that I am not busy working on the car) I am not sure I want this tank...
Are there alternate manufactures for these replacement tanks that incorporate a more mechanically robust design.
All suggestions, comments are welcome...
