[Saloon-lovers] Fuel Tank leak

It appears that the seal for the sump on the tank of my MKI has given out
and it is starting to leak. Luckily I was in need of refueling, the warning
light had just come on, so hopefully there is not much in the tank to drain
out. I’m a bit concerned about how to go about working on the tank given
the rather explosive nature of the fumes. What is the best way to go about
safely replacing this seal? The last thing I want is to be the headline in
the morning newspaper.

Thanks

Eric Hutchinson
59 3.4 MKI Auto

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Eric -

I don’t know the entire answer, but, for sure, do the work outside of your
dwelling, if your garage is attached to the house. If there’s a fire, I’m
sure you wouldn’t want your wife to be without a house after your funeral!
;-))

Bjarn----- Original Message -----
From: “Hutchinson, Eric E” eric.e.hutchinson@intel.com
To: saloons@jag-lovers.org
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 3:36 PM
Subject: [Saloon-lovers] Fuel Tank leak

It appears that the seal for the sump on the tank of my MKI has given out
and it is starting to leak. Luckily I was in need of refueling, the
warning
light had just come on, so hopefully there is not much in the tank to
drain
out. I’m a bit concerned about how to go about working on the tank given
the rather explosive nature of the fumes. What is the best way to go
about
safely replacing this seal? The last thing I want is to be the headline
in
the morning newspaper.

Thanks

Eric Hutchinson
59 3.4 MKI Auto

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Jag-lovers Forums - Jag-lovers

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If we were talking about a super tanker I could maybe be more constructive,
but unless you can inert top pressure gas into the tank you have to revert
to basics, just like the carbs, keep the mixture too lean or too rich to
avoid explosion, and would really advise on the former of these two options,
ie, drain it and then vent it, but dont try to vent it like a friend of mine
once tried on his mini, he simply thrust a hair dryer bodily into the filler
opening, need I say any more???He survived, the car did not.
Andrew Hunt,
Sao Paulo.----- Original Message -----
From: Paul Bjarnason bearson@crosslink.net
To: saloons@jag-lovers.org
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 9:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Saloon-lovers] Fuel Tank leak

Eric -

I don’t know the entire answer, but, for sure, do the work outside of your
dwelling, if your garage is attached to the house. If there’s a fire, I’m
sure you wouldn’t want your wife to be without a house after your funeral!
;-))

Bjarn

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One possibility is to seal all other apertures, invert the tank, fill it
with water and then do the welding/soldering or whatever is necessary. This
is what a local did on my Sunbeam-Talbot blurrblurr years ago. Best of luck.
Les Ashton, SandgroperLand.----- Original Message -----
From: “Hutchinson, Eric E” eric.e.hutchinson@intel.com
To: saloons@jag-lovers.org
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2001 3:36 AM
Subject: [Saloon-lovers] Fuel Tank leak

It appears that the seal for the sump on the tank of my MKI has given out
and it is starting to leak. Luckily I was in need of refueling, the
warning
light had just come on, so hopefully there is not much in the tank to
drain
out. I’m a bit concerned about how to go about working on the tank given
the rather explosive nature of the fumes. What is the best way to go
about
safely replacing this seal? The last thing I want is to be the headline
in
the morning newspaper.

Thanks

Eric Hutchinson
59 3.4 MKI Auto

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Hi there, here is my 2 cents on the tank leak problem. There are
professional services available in Hemmings and others. There are also
products from Eastwood Corp for acid cleaning and treating. I would highly
recommend whatever the fix is to remove the tank and proceed for ease of a
thorough job and safety. A “quick and dirty” repair could be to lower the
fuel volume to almost nothing and jack up the car to slosh the remaining
fuel to a non leaking area, thoroughly clean the affected area (no grinding
no sparks use sandpaper) and apply an epoxy or other suitable product.
Just to bore you with some details I once spot welded and followed with
brass a large patch in the bottom of a tank in my old BMW 1600. I do not
recommend this but it can be safely done if extraordinary precautions are
taken. Again I can not overemphasize enough not to ever do this unless the
gas fumes have dissipated to the point that the inside of the tank smells
more like a thermos you put coffee in as opposed to a rusty fuel tank.

Good luck,
Frank Bailey-----Original Message-----
From: MALCOLM HUNT [SMTP:mhunt@sti.com.br]
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2001 9:36 AM
To: saloons@jag-lovers.org
Subject: Re: [Saloon-lovers] Fuel Tank leak

If we were talking about a super tanker I could maybe be more constructive,
but unless you can inert top pressure gas into the tank you have to revert
to basics, just like the carbs, keep the mixture too lean or too rich to
avoid explosion, and would really advise on the former of these two
options,
ie, drain it and then vent it, but dont try to vent it like a friend of
mine
once tried on his mini, he simply thrust a hair dryer bodily into the
filler
opening, need I say any more???He survived, the car did not.
Andrew Hunt,
Sao Paulo.

----- Original Message -----
From: Paul Bjarnason bearson@crosslink.net
To: saloons@jag-lovers.org
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 9:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Saloon-lovers] Fuel Tank leak

Eric -

I don’t know the entire answer, but, for sure, do the work outside of
your
dwelling, if your garage is attached to the house. If there’s a fire,
I’m
sure you wouldn’t want your wife to be without a house after your
funeral!
;-))

Bjarn

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I once repaired a large hole in a friend’s fuel tank, just to see if I could
do it. Here’s what I did.

I removed the tank from the car and drained it as well as possible. Then I
connected a hose to the exhaust pipe of an idling car and stuck the hose
into the petrol tank filler neck. This filled the tank with a continuous
flow of a gas which had no oxygen content. I then used a grinder to clean
the area around the hole and brazed on a patch using an oxy-acetylene torch.
Since there was no oxygen, there was no combustion and so no problems.

Unless you fill the tank with an inert gas, even an old tank, when heated,
can leach out enough petrol to cause an explosion.

Mike Eck
New Jersey, USA
'51 XK120 OTS
'62 3.8 MK2 MOD
www.jag-lovers.org/events/event_view.php3?id=140

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I like to share my experience with repairing fuel thanks with you

First of all the only safe way is to drain the thank as much as possible
(use the existing fuel pump for easy pumping into a jerrycan e.g. those
army surplus ones)

Then, if drained, take it out of the car and remove the little bit of fuel
that inevitebly remains in the thank when you use a pump.
Next stap is to fill the tank with water and flush it a couple of times
(yes, safety first)

Now for the tip of the day: get your hands on a cementmixer and tie your
tank to it.
throw in a handfull of pebbles and let it rotate for a while.
Make sure the pebbles are not too sharp or the will damage more than the
will fix.
If you do it this way all the rust particle will come lose, that much I can
guarantee you.
Note that you do not overdo it or your tank will damage.

Depending on where the welding has to be done, fill it up with water as
much as possible and the tank is ready for some serious welding or bracing.

Once the tank is welded you can opt for a tank sealer if the condition of
your tank is not too good.
Motorbike shops are usually a good source for these sealers if you have a
hard time getting hold of it.
Remember that metal which has been made hot because of welding or bracing
will rust almost instantly !

A small tip for all of us who use our old cars now and again : refill after
a trip instead of before. This way your tank is full when you put the car
in your garage or whereever it is kept and your tank will not rust from the
inside out

Happy motoring

Cock Ooms
MK VII etc etc

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