Years ago I had a few gas tanks that I saved out of some cars that I salvaged parts from. I saved the tanks because they seemed solid. One had a small hole drilled in the bottom to drain the old fuel. I picked up some US Gas Tank Sealer and followed all of the prep directions to seal the tanks. I used gas tank epoxy to plug the small hole then sealed the gas tank with the sealer.
Well, I used the tank with the epoxy patch on my 63 4 door driver when I put it together a couple of years ago.
Last week I was out at the garage about 8:00 pm, all was well. The next morning about 6:00 am, I went out to the garage for a piece of cardboard for a project. I opened the door and was hit by an extremely strong smell of gas. Looked under the car, gas was dripping heavily from the gas tank. I opened the door and pushed the car outside. I put a drain pan under the leak but it was too late, over a half a tank of gas drained out on the floor. luckily the floor was sloped enough for the gas to run out under the door. Lost over 12 gallons of gas, but luckily no fire!
I pulled the tank out and found that the tank sealer looked like a deflated balloon inside the tank. The sealer pulled away from the tank and the epoxy patch failed. I can't understand why as the tank was prepped properly and, if I remember correctly, the sealer was supposed to be compatible with alcohol fuel.
Picked up a NEW tank this week and installed it yesterday. I am back on the road!
I picked up the tank for about $100.00. I thought back about what I spent on the tank sealer and other supplies to clean and etch the tank plus the several hours it took to seal it. It definitely wasn't worth trying to save the old tanks to save few dollars and risk a catastrophe. Lesson learned!
Well, I used the tank with the epoxy patch on my 63 4 door driver when I put it together a couple of years ago.
Last week I was out at the garage about 8:00 pm, all was well. The next morning about 6:00 am, I went out to the garage for a piece of cardboard for a project. I opened the door and was hit by an extremely strong smell of gas. Looked under the car, gas was dripping heavily from the gas tank. I opened the door and pushed the car outside. I put a drain pan under the leak but it was too late, over a half a tank of gas drained out on the floor. luckily the floor was sloped enough for the gas to run out under the door. Lost over 12 gallons of gas, but luckily no fire!
I pulled the tank out and found that the tank sealer looked like a deflated balloon inside the tank. The sealer pulled away from the tank and the epoxy patch failed. I can't understand why as the tank was prepped properly and, if I remember correctly, the sealer was supposed to be compatible with alcohol fuel.
Picked up a NEW tank this week and installed it yesterday. I am back on the road!
I picked up the tank for about $100.00. I thought back about what I spent on the tank sealer and other supplies to clean and etch the tank plus the several hours it took to seal it. It definitely wasn't worth trying to save the old tanks to save few dollars and risk a catastrophe. Lesson learned!
