I picked up another 79 350 camper spec lariat this weekend and both tanks leaked. I replaced the front steel tank no problem. The rear however being a camp-spec is that kind small deep plastic tank. (I have 6 or 8 of the flat square style but naturally none like this) I bought some "water weld" (made by JB weld) at the parts house . It said good for fuel tank repair. I applied it as per directions and it held 2 days and went to leaking. It has a small slice in the bottom corner bout the lenght of your thumb nail. Has anybody had any luck patching one of these and with what product.. thanks John

 

Here's a trick I learned in the military - Rub a bar of soap to seal the split, carefully wipe off the soap <u>around</> the area and apply a patch (plastic in your case) lined with 5-minute, two-part epoxy.

 

Ok that sounds good. after I posted I went to google and snooped around there. Some are welding plastic with a solder iron. Sounds like a permenent fix... if ya dont blow it up. I think your fix sounds safer. Any preference on epoxy.

 

None in particular. I have some $6 "The Original Super Glue" brand epoxy from the Home Despot that comes in a twin syringe. Air-drop a dollop on a piece of cardboard then start mixing. I use a wooden coffee stir stick. Remember, you'll have to work relatively fast. Lastly, I also recommend lightly sanding both surfaces to give'em some tooth.

 

I do plastic repair and fabrication a lot. I'm an interiors guy. There is no way to fix a plastic tank unless you can sand up the plastic, apply a urethane or epoxy based patch, reinforced with mesh. If the leak is on the bottom of the tank you'll have to drop the tank anyway, probably. plastic tanks are supposed to be cheap and disposable. I'd get a new one.

 

I'm not sure about plastic tanks but I have had great luck on aluminum tanks in semi's using the permatex tank repair kits, comes with the epoxy, mesh, sandpaper, and brush,

 

thanks for all the imput guys. I'm going to pull it back out tonight and do the epoxy/mesh thing and see if it works..

 

Determine if it is Polypropylene or HDPE and get the associated welding rod, permanent fix. Plastic Welding Rod

 

This may not be the best method but I had a leaking plastic tank on a Vw I bought one time from someone drilling down through the trunk. Mine was sorta like a crack rather than a hole. What I did was took a bolt more than large enough to cover it and cut 4 flutes to make it like a tap. Drilled the hole a little bigger so I could get it started. Once it was in I roughed the plastic up then put a good coat of orig JB weld over the whole mess. Never had a problem.

 

Ya know I just realized this was 2010 this guy was fixing his tank

 

Yeah, someone's been digging up old threads...