Punched a hole in my gas tank last night

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:20:28 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, Wayne Cook quickly quoth:

stuff!!!" Insert JB

I think I remember using some of that yellow and blue epoxy putty ribbon (see links below for similar products) to seal a gas tank once. I learned how to tie a shop rag on my arm below the elbow to keep the gasoline out of my arm pit that day. That smarts, if you haven't had the blessed luck to get gas in your pits yet. ;)

-- That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest. -- Henry David Thoreau

Drain the tank. Park truck on an angle is you must, to get the tank as dry as you can. Save gas in a clean container, at $3 a gallon. Now, dry the spot and use a fine emory cloth to get it to bare metal. Get a lag bolt or even a regular bolt 3/8 Inch of hole is 1/4". Get a short bolt, or cut it off. You dont want bolt to interfere with float or pump inside. Next, take some JB Weld and glue that bolt around th threads and screw it in. Cover the head and sides of the bolt with JB. I'd use the quick dry JB so it dont drip off. Allow it to dry completely for 24 hours. You're fixed.

If you got a plastic tank, ignore this. I dont know what to use....

Not for a 1/4" hole. Get a toggle bolt and a fender washer, and a THICK neoprene washer. Shape the fender washer to fit the form of the tank. Might want to slop some Permatex Aircraft (no n hardening) gasket sealer onto both sides of the neoprene washer before tightening. I believe it is now loctite #30516. Or use TiteSeal (T25-66)

Eh, you worry too much about cosmetics. When I put the first good scratch in my (then) new truck it was a "now it's a real truck" moment.

I had a 30 gallon tank off of my '73 Chevy Stepvan full of water, including the neck. I lit my propane torch about a foot away. The tank jumped about 18" in the air and spun, dumping water all over the place and expanding the tank, till it split at the seam. Oh well, it was junk, anyway! :)

Find a round head SS machine screw (or turn the corners off a hex) whose head will just go thru the hole -- or enlarge the hole suitably. Find some rubber-like fuel line (not metal) that fits snugly on the threaded part with OD just a whisker smaller than that of the head.

Cut a screwdriver slot in the other end of the bolt, or grind or mill flats on it, or weld the head off a smaller socket-head cap screw to it. You'll want to grab both the bolt and a nut from the same end, like rear struts in a Rabbit. You'll need a good grip on it.

Put short bit of square-cut fuel line on threaded part, shove head end into hole. Put washer and nut on outside end of bolt grab shank and tighten nut. This will compress the fuel line to a barrel shape, expanding it to fit tightly in the hole and seal it. There will also be a compression seal between the head of the bolt and the square end of the brakeline. You can cut it smooth and square with a very sharp wet razor knife, if those are still allowed in California and you have a permit.

I haven't tried this in a fuel tank, but I did just now try the trick with the fuel line and bolt. Before compression the OD of the fuel line was .590, the (hex) head bolt is .562 across corners. After compression, the OD of the fuel line is .725. 90% of the job is done in a warm, dry shop. No flames so no boom. No worries about whether it'll "stick".

The energy and vitality of youth is no match for the sneaky, devious cunning of maturity...

Ruck!

Two part epoxy -- also called JB Weld. I've heard that helps. Best to run the tank dry, though. Epoxy works best on the usual clean dry surfaces. How about make a patch, out of some sheet metal. Epoxy the patch to the tank.

Call the auto parts store near you, see what they reccomend. Probably two part epoxy.

Run it dry, Clean off the area REAL well and pull your wood plug. Then use a tank repair kit to patch the hole. The kit's I use are made by VersaChem and work far better than any others.

You're funny.

Sure, just have to pull the tank out of the vehicle, and pull the ring for the sending unit, that opens up a 2 inch or so diameter hole. But lets remember, he said he didn't want to pull the tank out.

Dry surface, brass wire brush. Patch with sheet metal and JB weld applied around the hole. That's what I'd try, but that's just me.

Just about any epoxy will stick to metal well if you grind it nice and bright.

No, wait, there's something wrong with that idea...

When my wife ran over a parking lot stop with the rebar sticking out, we got a 6 X .5 inch rip in the tank. Pulled it off and oxy welded it up. I put the gas filler pipe on the exhaust of a running car (a Subaru, as I remember) and welded with NO problem. I just let it idle for a few minutes. Car exhaust is not good for breathing or burning. With the tank drained and a hose placed properly, should work on the car. Sound's scary as anything but it worked fine for me. Results may vary, I suppose. It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't just filled the 20gal tank. By the time she got home, about 2 miles, the tank was DRAINED. Respectfully, Ron Moore

if the tank is metal, solder is a fine way to fix it, and requires no open flame and will not disturb the internal anti-corrosion coating much - old gas tanks were made of stuff that as I recall was called "turn plate" - and soldered at the seams -

FYI, that's "tern plate," which is lead-coated, or more often, tin/lead-coated steel. It can be resistance-welded without destroying the coating so it's a fairly good material for gas tanks. Some gas tanks are galvanized on the inside.

-- Ed Huntress

Sorry..it was the front tank on my 1 ton van. Steel.

Lost 20 gallon$.

Must have made it damned uncomfortable for those behind me....

Gunner

I LIKE the toggle bolt idea. With some steel epoxy under the fender washer.

Gunner

Nah..Ive never shot my own vehicle. Well..there was one time I was shooting ground squirrels and I let the barrel drop a bit much while shooting from a ridge line. that 1.5" distance between the bore and the cross hairs did me in. Put a neat groove on the very edge of the hood.

Gunner

Id just paid $3.19 per and filled that 20 gallon tank. I managed to salvage about 3 gallons.

If I were at home up north, I could have saved a lot of it..but down here in LA..Ive got no containers of any sort.

It really sucked watching that expensive sheen on the water flowing away down the gutter....

Gunner

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:26:45 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, "Pete C." quickly quoth:

I did that with my last truck for 17 years. Now I want PURTY for at least a short while, if I may.