Late model OEM gas tank replacement?

[leyrret]

If the tank is clean bare metal inside it can be repaired after air drying with say a shop vac. If there is rust inside be very careful as tank will dry but the rust will leach fumes and likely explode if no precaution is taken. A buddy had one explode. It jumped about 5 ft in the air and split wide open, but fortunately missed him.

[rickhmn]

An additional note to cleaning the tank. I have used sheetrock screws with great success. Chain the tank to the wheel of the tractor and go out for a day of field work. No more rust. Muratic acid has worked real well too on a couple of motorcycle tanks. Just be ready to coat it immeadiately or it will flash rust. I agree that the tank could be evacuated with a shop vac. Leave the sending unit out so that there is a big hole for anything to blow out and keep it running during the repair and there should be no issues. I'd go for the coat of fibergalss though. Seals the whole bottom at once. Has anybody tried electrolytic rust conversion?

[Milaca]

Hi Rick, I do have a box full of sheetrock screws (man those things are sharp!) and I have a tractor, so I may just try that. By the way, do you know a fellow Stude collector by the name of Ray Johnson of Duluth? Just curious, he's a really nice guy that I've met at a couple of shows this summer.


Brent's rootbeer racer.
MN iron ore...it does your body good.

[studeguy]

Here's an old-fashioned fix that should work for any car. When I was a teenager, I would stop at the neighborhood garage to learn as much as I could about cars. Their fix for holes in a gas tank was simple: They used a couple of old soldering irons....the kind that you heat up with a torch until they are hot (then turn the torches off, please). They would then use soft solder with the hot torches to melt the solder into the holes. No flame was needed, and it worked.