I have welded gas tanks a few times. What I have done is to hook a
canister vacuum cleaner in the blow configuration, and let it blow for
quite a while. After that, it is hard to smell any fumes. You can also
fill it with an inert gas such as argon, co2, nitrogen...
Jean-Leon Morin wrote:
>
> I think it is now possible to express the degree of "disorder" of the
> Land-Rover by a constant. It used to be that the need for repair increased
> exponentially with the amount of mileage covered, but now I've got it down
> to a constant amount of "stuff" that doesn't work.
>
> Last night I installed some brand new rear springs on Valdez, with (gasp)
> new bolts. These springs solved my spring wrap problem (as they are really
> HD), my excessive sway problem, and the saggy rear end problem. I was simply
> delighted to round corners without having to lean into them, and to be able
> to load five hundred pounds of junk into it without having the spring end up
> in negative arch.
>
> Of course, having decreased the overall amount (X) of
> unreliability/disorder, mathematics prevailed and left me with a stuck relay
> (draining my new $$$ battery) and a substantial fuel leak. The relay was
> cured this morning with a new one, but the fuel leak is the real annoyance.
> I've fixed that tank once before (it's actually quite solid) but it has
> rusted out right where the salt accumulated behind the tank. Excellent.
>
> Someone mentioned welding... What IS the general consensus of the list when
> it comes to welding a fuel tank? Of course, after having removed the tank,
> drained it of fuel, filled it with hot water to the brim, and having washed
> it with a mixture of soap and steaming water. That should get rid of enough
> of the fumes and junk, if not I'd just leave it full of water as I'm welding
> it. Ordinarily I wouldn't consider it, but this tank is pretty decent
> inside, and overall is in excellent shape. I figure that with a welded patch
> of 18 gauge over the rusted area (leaking from a pinhole or something) I
> might get some decent life out of it. I hesitate to have it coated as it
> won't fix the problem permanently, it'll simply plug the hole until the
> whole area is weakened and lets go entirely.
>
> Am I going to explode if I do this? I figure that washing it should rid it
> of a large percentage of vapour, and whatever is left would be "popped" with
> a match before welding it. Welding a tank filled with water sounds like a
> recipe for a brittle weld.
>
> J-L
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-- Jim Hall 1966 88" Elephant Chaser http://webs.purplemountain.net/jimfoo/Foospage.htm "You know, I never really damaged my Rover 'till I started wheeling with Jim." Mitch Stockdale _______________________________________________ LRO mailing list LRO@land-rover.team.net http://land-rover.team.net/mailman/listinfo/lro
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