Dead Ruby fuel tank.

[Darren D]

Hi people,

I have a bit of a fuel based dilemma. I recently removed the original fuel tank of my 1935 Ruby and discovered the inside is rotten. By rotten I mean full of rust and the gauze above the sump plug was growing a new life form. The bracket holding the fuel sender was also damaged during the removal with some of the threads stripped.

I'm torn as to whether to try and find somebody to restore the original fuel tank or buy a brand new alloy fuel tank to the same specifications. The new fuel tank would provide many years of rust free motoring but would not have the origanilty. Any help or advice would be gratefully received. 

Cheers,

Darren

[bob46320]

Are you restoring a museum piece or enjoy driving a vintage vehicle - for me, if you can afford it, go for new.

[steve davidson]

Hi Darren,
 
I had a similar issue with my sports, it was not leaking but was full of rust and snot.  I made the mistake of filling it direct from the bowser and the fuel gun stirred up years of sediment and 500m down the road I stopped with a blocked carby.
 
I pulled the tank out I got rid of the worst muck by dropping in a few handfuls of nuts and bolts and rattling them around, then rising out.  It took a few repeats of this before I stopped getting flakes of rust out.
 
I then used a product called KBS motorcycle fuel tank sealer repair kit (from ebay) and it's worked a treat.  From memory it was a three stage process but didn’t take long.
It cost less than $100 and since then I’ve done a few thousand km without any issue. 

[Nick Salmon]

Ruby fuel tanks are not rare items. Why not find a better condition original one from a cherished supplier and if necessary use tank sealant on it?

[Chris KC]

I would try what Steve suggests and if it's too far gone, as Nick points out, it ought to be possible to find a Ruby tank in decent condition. Then it's still a vintage vehicle...

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I have used this kit to repair a good number of holed and rotten Ruby tanks - it works really well in my experience: https://www.frost.co.uk/auto-maintenance...r-kit.html

The linked site shows out of stock but it may be available elsewhere...

[Chris KC]

Sorry Darren I don't mean to insult your intelligence but this is one of those threads where someone really ought to say whatever you do, don't attempt to weld it - very dangerous indeed.

[Derek Sheldon]

I have a tank that £30 would secure. I would and have used the product suggested in any tank that I was to install.

[Darren D]

Definitely not a museum piece or garage queen. My intentions are to restore a usuable classic that I can put some mileage on.

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Hi Chris,

No insult taken. My inttenion was to always give it to a specialist to work on. The only thing I have done is take the sender off.

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Hi Nick,

The problem with buying second hand is you run the risk of inherenting somebody else's problem. I've also heard most sealants breakdown into the fuel lines over a period of time.

[Nick Salmon]

Well, the very secondhand one that I bought and sealed using Frosts products about five years ago is still doing fine on my Ruby - but of course you pays your money and takes your choice.