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Fixing Rusted Out Gas Tank

Nessism

Nessism

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Bought a Skunk tank as a project knowing it would need some paint work and a failing liner removed. Stripping the outside reveled epoxy patches on the bottom and holes though the metal. Been trying to patch them up by brazing but it's really frustrating - every time one hole is filled another shows up. Had to fashion two patches (so far) because as soon as the torch warmed the metal the holes expanded.

Have to get this thing fluid tight before attempting to strip the liner out and then derust. I'm almost positive that this think is going to spring more leaks as soon as that process begins.

I've never messed around with solder before but wondering if I should tin the bottom front area where all the leaks are.

Any words of wisdom?
 
Regular solder is to soft and doesnt take well to expansion and contraction cycles. PM me some pics and I may be able to mig it up for you and then skim it with some JB weld to reassure there are no micro cracks.
 
See my thread Cooley tank saved for an example of what i started with and what i can do.
 
Just an idea, but tape it up good on the outside,P.O.R it then use filler on the outside to smooth things out n make it pretty,P.O.R. dries rock hard doesn't it?
Upon prepping my tank for paint i came across quite a few holes.But it did not leak due to tank lining so i used quicksteel then sanded smooth primed the painted,came out nice n smooth.
 
Not sure how bad your leaks/holes are, but a radiator repair shop might be able to help you out. They can do some pretty amazing repairs when they put their mind to it. They can then boil the tank out and pressure test it, too. I've had a friend tig weld some pinholes for me in the past, also. It doesn't take much to zot them closed with the tig method. I've had little success with soldering.
 
chuck hahn said:
Regular solder is to soft and doesnt take well to expansion and contraction cycles. PM me some pics and I may be able to mig it up for you and then skim it with some JB weld to reassure there are no micro cracks.
Click to expand...

Chuck,
The metal is paper thin in places. I'm afraid welding heat will blow holes though it. And JB Weld won't do me any good since the liner stripping chemicals will eat it.

Thinking body solder. Eastwood sells it.
 
LOOK AT MY THREAD!!!! If i can start with "paper thin" rusted holes .like that then dont be so quick to write it off!! PM Frank and ask him his opinion too if you wish.
 
chuck hahn said:
LOOK AT MY THREAD!!!! If i can start with "paper thin" rusted holes .like that then dont be so quick to write it off!! PM Frank and ask him his opinion too if you wish.
Click to expand...

Chuck,

Thanks for the offer and all, but I'm not going to ship this tank across the country for someone else to fix. I want to fix it myself.

Oh, and I have no idea what thread you are referring to.
 
Saving the paint is obviously not a concern, so I would strip the ares(s) with paint stripper and apply a temp patch of bondo so you can do the acetone or whatever to strip the lining. Then chip the bondo off ans hake any chips out of the tank. Then do as Caswell says in their kits. Duct tape over the areas, apply the liner and let it harden. Once its hardened you can skim coat it with filler and proceed with the repainting as if there was never a hole to begin with.
 
The problem is many fold..thin metal and torch is just melting larger, no base metal for solder to sit on ( just will drip thru the holes ) and theres already a liner in there.
 
Nessism said:
Chuck,
The metal is paper thin in places. I'm afraid welding heat will blow holes though it. And JB Weld won't do me any good since the liner stripping chemicals will eat it.

Thinking body solder. Eastwood sells it.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean by paper thin, I remember Chucks thread and it was a decent repair, I think on the front top of the tank. I had something similar and completely washed a layer of braze over the bottom of the tank where it rusts through and sealed it just fine.
What about cutting out the bad metal completely and brazing a patch? I personally don't like welding tanks where the metal might be thin because there's different flex/movement charecteristics that might cause leaks along the weld joint, silver solder or braze. The tank on my 1000s with the nice paint sprang a leak where the front rubber locates, I think the spot welder must'v been turned up a bit too much, that was silver soldered up and has not given problems since.
 
I've seen this tank. it's a bit of a mess. It's already fully stripped of paint.

Ed - as you know my original skunk tank had a "weep" in the front right hand corner on the seam before I POR15 coated it.

I think you'll be fine with flooding the area with brass to seal it. To seal mine to stop the Evaporust, Marine clean etc leaking out I used a layer of epoxy & then just filed it back to nothing before I painted the tank. Not counting on the epoxy for a permanent repair, counting on the POR15. I also brush painted the POR15 sealer on the outside of the tank in the offending area before painting.

For anyone suggesting JB weld as a temp fix - forget it, doesn't work. 2 part expoxy ("araldite" for those that know it) works much better.
 
Silver solder 'spread as a covering' works well if you have enough of a skin for it to grab hold of. If she's too 'Swiss cheese' for that I would cut the section out and replace.
 
Nessism said:
Bought a Skunk tank as a project knowing it would need some paint work and a failing liner removed. Stripping the outside reveled epoxy patches on the bottom and holes though the metal. Been trying to patch them up by brazing but it's really frustrating - every time one hole is filled another shows up. Had to fashion two patches (so far) because as soon as the torch warmed the metal the holes expanded.

Have to get this thing fluid tight before attempting to strip the liner out and then derust. I'm almost positive that this think is going to spring more leaks as soon as that process begins.

I've never messed around with solder before but wondering if I should tin the bottom front area where all the leaks are.

Any words of wisdom?
Click to expand...
Ed, let me do a little test on my old 78 tank which is rusted through sometime tomorrow afternoon and see if the silver brazing rod I have will fill those gaps in on the thin metal without to much trouble. if that doesn't work then the only thing I can think of is to bash it down, cover the area with thin sheet stock, then flux and solder the patch in.

Posting up some pictures of the bad areas might help some as well.
 
Thanks for the input guys.

Right now the tank is almost all sealed, just one small pin hole remaining (I think). There are two patches and a bunch of brass filler globbed on. The problem is when the brass goes on, the brazing heat is causing the inside liner to burn and outgas though the molten brass puddle thus causing pin holes.

Dale, I have some silver and will try that next. Silver melts at a much lower temperature than brass so hopefully, I can get a skin over the area so that the de-lining process can begin.

Wish me luck.
 
Any reason you couldn't cut the bad panels out and re skin? Tack weld new skin, grind and fill that? Sounds like a tedious endeavor.
 
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