Fuel Tank Fussing

[Buss69]

Eh Up everyone!

Finally got back to this site after mysteriously not being able to log in for ages. Now I can so let me commence.

I have had fuel tank issues for the last year which resulted in me removing the tank from my '71. The tank was very rusty inside and was letting me get about 500 miles before having to change 2 in line filters.
I've gone down the route of using a tank resto kit from Frosts and unless you have access to an airline I would not bother with this method of fixing (if anybody wants to know more about this i'm happy to answer any questions).
My remaining solutions are:
*buy a new tank
*buy an older model 72-78 and adapt the filler neck to fit
or
*get a new one made.

I'm probably going to opt for the later but before i do has anyone tried to fit a later model new tank and adapted the filler neck? If not, i've had a quote to get a new tank made in 2mm aluminium which is expensive but will last. The company i've asked to make the tank have said that if i get more than one made the price will come down, is anybody else interested in doing this?

 

[Araon]

may help if you can get the aprox cost up, a lot of us could well be interested in this often troublesome area, especially if it uses the og neck....

do they do smaller tanks? I'm after a diesel for the webasto heater...

 

[Buss69]

I hope you are sitting down, when i first enquired the company quoted me £750 and that included VAT. Trust me I had to sit down at that point. After gathering myself I spoke to the boss who then told me that if I looked at ordering a few (and by that he gestured at 10+) the price would come right down. This was because the tank I designed had an expensive pressing in the bottom much like the original tank. Since then I have redesigned the tank and have not had a chance to go back, the boss did do me a one off cash price of £300 and said he would do it in his spare time. I'm on holiday in a couple of weeks and really want to nail it then, so i'll keep everyone posted. If there is enough interest it may be well worth doing a short production run so spread the word.

 

[Guest]

there are several kits for tank restoration have you looked at PORs? does it need an air line?

 

[Buss69]

Hi
The kit I used was indeed by POR. you need an airline to dry the tank after you have rinsed out the various chemicals. If you don't our UK climate will cause very rapid oxidisation especially if you have used a mild acid solution as part of the process. The result is that a fine powder of rust forms on the surfaces you are about to coat. the result means that where this fine rust has formed the sealing agent you have to use in the final part of the process starts to peel away once it has dried. This is what happened to me anyway. I reckon if you can dry the tank quickly and eliminate this, the POR kit is pretty good and forms a very tough liner for your tank

 

[Guest]

theres a KBS sealant as well for tanks, they dont need an air line but they use a hairdrier to dry the first application of chemical. everyone should have a hairdrier or heat gun?