Heres a dumb question. I am going to start replacing hte trunk on my 40 ford. Should be a fun learning experience. As I stare at it and ponder, I cant help but think about sparks hitting the tank when cutting old floor out and welding the new one in since the trunk floor sits directly above the gas tank. I don't have any gas leaks (anymore) and the tank, filler neck etc is all newish (1000 miles). Should this be a concern? Tips? Obviously I will drain the tank at a minimum!
Be careful about draining and leaving an empty tank, the fumes from the empty tank can create a dangerous situation.
I just did this same operation, I've made it to 58, Without an explosion... Had a good friend who wasn't so lucky, Had horrible burns and scars.. As mentioned above, Don't F' around, Pull it an get it out of the shop while working.
Just ask yourself "What's the worst that could happen?". The direction to take should then seem much clearer.
Ha, I am kind of a "worse case scenario" thinker so it sounds like the tank will have to come out. Is that difficult with the body on the frame on a 40? I installed it with the body off the frame and remember thinking "I'm glad I'm doing this with the body off...."
Some folks have trouble getting the tank in and out, I think it depends upon who built the tank. I had no problems getting the original tank out of my '40 or installing a Tanks plastic tank in it's place.
It doesn't take much, so I would remove the tank. As a firefighter back in the early '70s my engine company responded along with a rescue company to an automobile accident. The rescue company did not have a Hurst Tool and was using a K-12 saw to remove the drivers side door. All of a sudden one of the guy's said "look at the gas door". I guess all the vibration and jostling around created fumes and even though the sparks were contained and we were wetting the area down, the fumes caught fire. It was no big deal we lust gave it a splash and it went out but you never know what can happen. As already mentioned, an empty gas tank can also be dangerous.
Be aware an empty or partially full tank is far more explosive than a full tank, back when, as a younger me doing body work we would just fill the tank right to the top and stuff a wet rag in the filler neck and have at her, course nowadays people would shit their pants to see or here of that being done, did it often, nothing ever happened. Should you empty the tank and remove it , don’t have it anywhere near where your working , best off outside.
Well I for one would rather sit here and read how long it took you to take the tank out and carry it out back well away from where you are working than read about a go fund me set up to help pay your medical bills for being burned. It's just not worth the risk to save a bit of time.
Many moons ago, 82/3 I was traveling in my 79 Chevy van pulling a 4 place snowmobile trailer loaded with 4 sleds in a wet heavy snow storm. I stopped for gas and noticed the trailer hitch was hanging at a weird angle, the Reese frame mounted hitch tore loose at the frame on one side. The guy in the service station suggested where to call, called them and they said come over and he'll look at it. So........ I find the shop, he looks it over, states no problem, we unload the trailer,he puts the van in his shop. I'm waiting in his office a while, he gets me and shows me the problem and explained how he was going to repair it. Gives me his car keys and sends us out for lunch as it was going to take some time. We come back in and I see him welding on it up on his lift and walk over to talk with him. I can hear the gas bubbling in the tank, I just filled it up which is good he stated as full, no problem, empty big problem. The bill was $150, + I gave him a $25 tip and the fix never failed as that van ran another 235 K miles hauling racers, etc. This long story is another of many of mine of the good people I encountered over the years traveling. Thanks for reading, the HAMB is like therapy for me at 77Have a great day !
I always pull the tank out when welding at the back of the car, but my tank comes out with only 4 bolts. I know lots of folks who weld near gas tanks and think nothing of it but why take the chance? Burns are really awful. I also know folks who never wear safety glasses and still have their eyes but that doesn’t make safety glasses a bad idea. also, removing the tank gives you better access to the floor.
Pulling the tank on a 40 can be a bit dicey. On mine I pulled the stock tank and replaced it with a Drake. To get the stock one out move the R.H. exhaust pipe as far the right as possible, also of course remove filler neck. When everything is all loosened up slide tank as far to right side as you can and left side will JUST drop down and you can slide tank out. The Drake tank went in better than the stock one. It is a shitty job but much safer.
Once you know the full story on that one the people where not the stupid, evil money grubbers we were led to believe!
For sure, I was an eye roller at first, but after reading the rest of the story, my opinion of the whole ordeal changed.
Many years back,had to fix a boat tank{boat built a lot around tank},in the boat. Lucky it had a good drain,so drained an fill with water to the top/fixed and drained water out. Let it stay dry for 2 weeks,before adding gas again...Worked.
Same, it was quite a gruesome injury that resulted from excessively heated water in order to extract every last bit from the coffee beans. The woman only wanted her bills handled and McD's said "LOL, no." hence why she ended up winning much more. Back to the topic at hand, if you're going to go through the trouble of draining your fuel you might as well pull the the tank out since it will be a lot lighter with all of that fuel vapor in there in place of liquid gasoline. Tanks full of vapors are what make the big booms.
Let me get this straight... Your going to cut the old floor out above the tank. What are you going to use to cut the floor out? Will you know for sure that the process to cut the old floor out can't also cut into the top of your new gas tank, through out the entire process? How about when you are welding in the new floor pan, are you sure you won't blow any holes through the new/old floor joints? What can your mig wire make contact with? Are you willing to take those chances? When you pull the tank, you may also want to be sure to plug the end of the fuel line you have removed that was connected to the tank. In my early years in my welding shop, I was replacing the floor boards in an old car. The edge near the rocker was a bit on the thin side, and my mig wire blew through there a couple of times. Suddenly, I started to wonder where the fuel lines ran under the car. I stopped welding and jacked the car up to look for the fuel lines. Imagine the thrill I got when I saw a piece of mig welding wire stuck (as in welded stuck) to the steel fuel line! For some odd reason, after that, I looked for, and protected every fuel and brake line any where near a point I was going to be welding.
On the pipeline crew , welder repairing the bumper on the welding truck . He was on a tarp in mud , next thing I see is him flying out from under the truck , fire under the truck . All of our trucks had fire extinguishers on board . I put it out , luckily . The welder was trying to reposition himself , stuck the stinger to the tank , blew a hole right through the sheet metal tank . Luckily it had 2 gas tanks started it up and drove it clear of the job to drain . Just be as cautious as you possibly can , the one who gets hurt the most will be your family .
I'm glad you asked for advice and I certainly hope you listen to it!! I've done lots of gas tank repairs and welding over the years but I first researched how to do it without killing myself. Fire = Bad Explosion = Really Bad!!!!!!!
On a slightly different note, I have a buddy that runs demo derby cars. He lives out on a farm 10 miles from town, and has a big old tree stump he sets the back bumper of the next demo car on with his loader tractor. Then he slides under the car, and cuts the gas tank bolts off with a torch. He had been doing that for years, so when I expressed my concerns, he always told me he has always done it that way and has never had a problem. A few years ago, his luck ran out. He went under the car to cut the first bolt, and was blown out from under the car! He spent 3 days in the troma center before he regained consensus. When his girl friend heard the big boom, she immediately called 911, when she went out and saw him laying on the ground, she thought he was dead. It was a rough few weeks for them. He was lucky to have survived. After he recovered, he went back and dropped the tank (with wrenches), what he found was the fuel hose between the tank and the steel line had a few cracks in it. He couldn't smell the fumes, but the torch found them. He doesn't remove the fuel tanks with a torch any more. Welding and cutting things around gas tanks requires extra safety precautions, that stuff can kill you, or screw you up for the rest of your life.
If you do decide to cut and weld with the tank in the car at least have the decency to set up a go-pro or two.
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