The gas tank on my TD has generated a small hole... are there any companies who make a gas tank sealing compound like what is used on aircraft?
Tank compound should be checked to be sure it is impervious to ethanol. The yellow stuff we used , and sold, years ago was not and when ethanol was present, even in small quan***ies, it "melted" the compound and distributed it evenly throughout the fuel system, lines, filter, pump, carb until the first thing was plugged.
I used POR15 and the one eastwood sells in 2 of my cars, both let go with the alcohol in the gas and plugged things up.....be careful what you use.
Bisquit, can you coat the outside with something like Quick-Poly? I've fixed vacuum tanks with that already, haven't had any trouble yet. RedCoat works for the inside, but the new gasoline scares me.
going to avoid that stuff. it appears that most modern gas (fuel additives) makes great parts cleaner, but is death to sealants.
worth the read: [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Here's my technique for resurrecting a grungy old gas tank.[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]1. Remove tank, drain it through every possible orifice, and put about 1 gallon of water/detergent mixture in it. Put about 6 to 8 feet of 5/16 chain in the filler pipe. Good to bolt a dozen or so 1 1/2 bolts, 3/8" or 5/16", through some of the links, tighten the bolts by double nutting them so they can rattle around in the chain links but not come loose on you. Then seal all the orifices with duct tape, and pick up the whole ***embly and do the Tango. After the Tango, do an Irish Jig, then a Mexican Hat Dance, then the Charleston. Do the dances in exactly this order if you want the ghost of Fred Astaire to help. During this activity, toss your partner, twirl her around, flip her upside down, and jiggle her vigorously. I have found it to be best if I arrange things so that my neighbors, wife and kids cannot see me performing this ritual. Others are not so understanding as old car folks.[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif] 2. Now, remove the duct tape from the largest orifice, drain her dry and pull out the chain (ouch!). Flush her mightily with a garden hose (OOOH!). OK, sorry, getting carried away here. You should now be the proud possessor of about 2 pounds of gunk and rust, plus unidentifiable chunks of crud, all over your driveway.[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif] 3. Inspect thoroughly for remaining loose material. If necessary, repeat steps 1 and 2.[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif] 4. Now, hang it up to dry (you can ***ist the drying process by putting the vacuum cleaner hose on the blower output and running the hot air through the tank. Let the tank dry for at least 24 hours in the hot San Fernando Valley sun. (Those of you in other parts of the country are out of luck here).[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif] 5. While the tank is drying, look up the nearest small airport, drive over there to a maintenance hanger, and tell the man with grease under his nails you want a gallon of "Sloshing Sealer" for fuel tanks. He will have two varieties, you want the more expensive type which resists alcohol containing fuels. If you draw a blank, call "Aircraft Spruce Specialties" in Fullerton, they will ship you some, but its a h***le to have it shipped because the Feds have decided its a hazardous material. It might be cheaper to just drive down there and pick it up. Bill Hirsch in NJ sells the stuff too, but you don't want to buy it at his price.[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif] 6. This stuff is magic. You pour it in the tank, seal the tank openings, slosh it all around so as to cover all surfaces, drain it back into the container (you will see you have used about 1/2 a quart), let the tank air dry for 24 hours again, then repeat the whole process.[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]The tank will never rust again, any small leaks are gone, and you have a permanent cure. I have done 5 of my cars this way, and my Hudson was a real disaster with rusted through pinhole leaks, plus all kinds of crud and guk in the tank. That was 12 years ago, and never had anything come through to the gas filter again since.[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]The same sloshing sealer will fix your float. Just dip it in and let it dry. Twice is nice.[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]First, of course, you have to get the gas out of it. I use a hair dryer, holding the float so the leak is down, heat the float with a hair dryer, the expansion of the air inside (ain't physics wonderful) will propel the fluid out. You might have to let it cool down and repeat a couple of times to get it all out.[/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]I sometimes solder the hole trying to seal the floats, both gas gauge and carburetor, but I have had cracks that just seem to travel on me when I get the br*** hot enough to solder to. The sloshing sealer works better, even though it does add some weight to the float, it does not seem to be significant.[/FONT]
I've had good luck with the moll***as trick to get rid of the rust, much easier then the chain. Could you just solder the holes after killing the fumes and rust/
The California gas melted my Texas tank sealer. Barely made it home. The chain in the tank did not work for me. Chain got in the tank baffels and almost had to leave it in. Next time I will use broken safety gl*** to shake inside the tank. Much smaller and it gets it all out. My experience with the sealers is sour. My advise is to cut out the bad and weld a patch. Stay away from anything that rhymes with the word sealer.
Look up hot tin dipping or galvanizing in the local phone book. Many years ago (1979 )I solved the same problem on TD fuel tank and its still doing well today. What they basically do is acid dip the tank to remove the rust and corrosion, neutralize and then immerse the tank in molten tin . You need to remove all br*** or copper fittings from the tank and you may have a small soldered hole in the tank from where they drained molten tin. This process work better on some tanks than others. Tanks that are not well baffled or internally reinforced are susceptible to distortion. The TD is really rigid due to is shape and baffling and does well in the process.
so far no one in the bay tin dips. and most of the sealing compounds are not "approved" for use with the new California fuels...go figure
I don't know about using a chain, but in the old(?) days, I used a suitable solvent and 1 lb of galvanized roofing nails. The sharp edges of the nails chips the rust away as you slosh it around. Seal with your favorite, and you're done.
I've had good luck with Bill Hirsch's gas tank sealer. It's white, and it's supposed to hold up well to fuels with alcohol in them. I haven't had any problems with it. I used it to seal up brand new tanks that I have made though, never in an old rusty tank. You should probably have it etched and flushed out to get rid of the rust first before you try sealing it. If you have a rust hole that's deep enough for fuel to leak through, chances are there are more holes about to leak through too.
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