Gentleman,

I was refueling my truck when she leaked all over me at the pump...she has two nice drilled holes on top of the fuel tank. I have replaced the original metal tank with a poly (hard plastic) tank that fits in the original area. My problem is what can i do to seal those two holes on top. They are the same size holes of where my seat goes (yes, i think the drill might have punctured the tank). So is there anything on the market that can seal it up and I am open to ALL suggestions. Please remember that fuel does eat through mostly anything.

James

 

James,

My brother had his tank repaired and they took a short, fat, pan-head sheet metal screw, put an O-ring under the head, and ran it in the hole. There are O-ring materials that will stand up to gasoline - some are used in fuel pumps and carburetors. McMaster-Carr has both the screws and O-rings, I believe.

 

Hot glue sticks to polyethelene, but you will need to get rid of any gas residue first with methanol alchohol wash. Cut a patch from any poly source a little larger than the holes in the tank and uses a hot glue gun to run a bead of hot glue around the underside of the patch and quickly stick in place. fortunately there is no strain on the patches on the top of the tank to worry about so the patches don't need to be heavy, just need to make leakproof. Best to use one of the larger glue guns and allow it to come up to full heat first so you don't get a cold joint, the glue should be pretty runny. Wear heavy gloves the glue will burn skin! You can strengthen the seal by running a bead of glue around the edge of the patch while touching the tip of the gun to the surface to preheat it.

 

WOW...thanks guys...i will try some of those ideas....i think the first one will be easier than the second but who knows what will work on the tank the best....i will post my results when the job is done....like i have said before...this is the BEST site on the net for classic Ford trucks support....

James

 

I assumed the holes would be to large to run a screw into, otherwise that's a good way.

 

Thanks guys for the information....while i was concern about the tank..i pre-installed the running boards to ensure fitting....starting to look really good...i have a while before the tank goes bone dry for repairing....i will post some updated pics as the truck project moves forward....

 

Either repair method, glue or screws don't require a dry tank to execute the repair, altho it would make it easier to remove. For the hot glue you only need to alchohol wash the outside around the hole to remove any gasoline residue.

 

I had a poly tank with the same problem, I repaired it with a plastic screw I got from a body shop, coated the threads with epoxy and ran it right into the hole. good luck with that, it's no place for a surprise

 

Epoxy doesn't bond to polyethelene, it's one of the "ungluable" plastics. I mix my epoxy on a coolwhip bowl cover and after it sets up I just flex it and it pops off clean ready to use it again. Body putty spatulas and mixing boards are polyethelene. Hot glue is actually a type of modified polyethelene and does stick to just about anything that's why I would use it. I forgot about the fact there are some large course thread plastic screws out there, they would make a good plug, especially if you ran a bead of hot glue around the edge after you installed it. You can use polyethelene itself to do the repair by applying it to the tank with a clean new flat tip on a soldering pencil. Cut some scrap poly (body putty spatula or even a coolwhip bowl) into narrow strips, and use it like solder: touch the strip to the underside of the tip and touch the tip and the molten glob to the tank. You will need to lightly touch the tip to the surface of the tank to help it melt in and bond. Practice on scrap first to make sure your pencil isn't too hot, if it chars rather than melts the tool is too hot, if it doesn't melt in to a permanent bond it's not hot enough. Don't try to melt a plastic screw to the tank tho, they are likely to be nylon or another type of plastic.