1933 box saloon fuel tank.

["Slack Alice" Simon]

I have just had a quote for making good the rear tank on my tourer.

This is to cut holes in it, clean it out, seal the inside surfaces, make good, and paint the outside.

£ 295 plus VAT.

I cannot decide - the choice is a new one, this process, or do - it - yourself sealing.

I know the sealing can go wrong, and if it does, writes off the tank and maybe other bits as well.

But I cannot do more than a few miles without stopping.   Draining the tank every time I use the car doesn't stop the rusty bits accumulating.

The "spare" tank, I find, has quite a lot of Plastic Padding, and leaks, anyway.

So: probably going to stump up the cash.   At least I know that if I stop, it won't be the tank that's the problem.

[Duncan Grimmond]

I had two alloy tanks made by SM Engineering in Wales. Very helpful and very reasonable. I had to supply the drawings with all dimensions etc.
The first (2015) was a simple rectangular scuttle one with baffles and sight gauge about £160.00 delivered, the second (2017) one was tapered in three planes with baffles and pick-up, more complicated and so £310.00 ... not much more than a repair.

[Dennis Nicholas]

My Nippy tank has leaked previously.  I did repairs by cleaning the area and a bit around it and soldering copper patches in place.  Good big soldering iron (electric so no flame) and ensuring spotless bare metal which was tinned bit by bit to keep the iron hot.  Patches were cut from copper hot water cylinders and tinned.  (I still have several old copper cylinders lying around)  Early cylinders preferred as they were much thicker copper.  If need be the copper can be heated up by paraffin /gas blow torch till just going cherry red to anneal it  (make it soft and pliable again).  Then the patch can be put in place and tacked on with soldering iron in one spot and then rest of the patch clamped against the tank easily conforming to the shape because it is softer......then just go round gradually heating till solder takes and all sticks together.  You can tell when unseen underneath solder is melting by just dabbing solder wire on outside and if it melts then the underneath solder will have too.  A final run all round the outside edges to 100% seal does the job.

Edit- I forgot to add that of course you need a soldering iron of a suitable large size ..... to match the size of those 2 A7 spanners I have 
   

It is also used on Austins big relative Mr. Reliant Scimiter to solder round a chassis bolt hole surface where an earthing bolt goes....makes a better contact and prevents corrosion.



Dennis

["Slack Alice" Simon]

My tank doesn't leak, just somehow generates quantities of rusty debris.

The pump and carb acquire fine rusty dust and need cleaning every hundred miles or so, the fuel pipe picks up enough of the bigger bits (- or maybe the gauze in the tank does, I can't remember if I made a hole in it -) to cause fuel starvation.

I had to stop every few hundred yards on the last trip.   Solved temporarily by blowing back into the tank, and draining the debris out, yet again.

It might just be the remains of the float, which had disintegrated.

But I have had the tank off and swilled it out a few times - the debris still keeps coming.

[Ivor Hawkins]

Simon, have tried the concrete mixer trick?

Take the tank off remove the sender and block the hole it’s a wooden bung or old plastic lid securely gaffer taped on, put a shovel full of small stones on the tank bung up the filler tube and ratchet strap the tank to concrete mixer (a cheap electric hire one will be fine) and switch it on on...in the garage if you have neighbours.

I left mine for about three hours and when I emptied it out the inside was like it was chrome plated!

I used a sloshing compound and Bob’s your uncle...it cost me twenty quid.

["Slack Alice" Simon]

Thanks for that, Ivor

You obviously thought that the cleaning stones, and then the sealer, got past the rather small holes in the baffles?

Cheers

Simon

[Ivor Hawkins]

Well it certainly cured the problem of rust in the petrol, perhaps the baffles had rusted out as well!