My brother was in the Danish army, a Tank regiment. They used a tank called Centurion (105mm shells). anyway they had open drums filled with gasoline for cleaning purpose. When an officer came by they dropped their cigerates in the drum. It was freezing winter so there were no fumes. Knud Erik, Denmark -----Oprindelig meddelelse----- Fra: Steven Charette [mailto:stevec@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sendt: 27. januar 2010 20:39 Til: 1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxx Emne: RE: gas tank rebuild story They taught us how to repair tanks in school but with all the horror stories they told while demonstrating the process I've never even tried it. The instructor had a large soldering "iron" which was in fact about 1 1/4" square with a conical tip on one end, a shaft and wooden handle on the other. He would heat the iron with a torch some distance from the tank, then use the hot iron to apply flux, then solder to the tank. Of course the area to be repaired had been cleaned and prepped. My ex brother-in-law (admittedly not the brightest light on the string) was attempting a repair on his '66 Satellite, and decided to use epoxy in lieu of any kind of heat in the name of safety. In order to plug the hole, he decided to thread a screw into the hole in the tank, then epoxy over the top. The screw wouldn't quite go in, so he grabbed his trusty drill, and... The car and the garage were a total loss, along with siding on adjoining houses. He escaped with minor burns but his buddy was scarred. On the other end of the spectrum, I once worked for a guy who worked in the motor pool when he was in the Army. As he told the story, they were not supposed to smoke in the garage, and kept all the jeep gas tanks filled to the top of the neck. If an officer came into the garage, he said they would ditch their butts into the tank and replace the cap. I never quite bought the story but he swore by it... Bottom line, use extreme caution whenever working with a gas tank. SC -----Original Message----- From: Gary [mailto:mopar413@xxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 1:52 PM To: 1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxx Cc: Tom Watters Subject: Re: gas tank rebuild story The idea of using exhaust is the safest and best way to weld a gas tank. Just be sure to let the exhaust run a few minutes before welding. I use a brass rod. Gas weld. ---- Tom Watters <tomwatters@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Soldering Gun or Iron. Pretty good idea. No Spark, can control fire. > I'll have to remember that. > > > Dodger7998@xxxxxxx wrote: > > For what it is worth I have welded on gas tanks before, have found > > that it can be done with the right precautions,,,,,,,what has worked > > for me in the past was the water rinse, and then to put a hose on > > exhaust of a running vehicle and pump it into the tank, I said > > weld, but was really brazing with brasse rod, have also known of > > friends that use a soldering iron and soldered the holes shut, but > > that is not my method of choice,,,,,,,, > > > > > > In a message dated 1/26/2010 7:48:45 P.M. Central Standard Time, > > spigot2039@xxxxxxxxxxx writes: > > > > > > A while ago we had a long discussion here about repairing gas > > tanks, which we concluded *can* be done--if done correctly. If not > > done right....I'm forwarding the below story from the current Rock Auto Newsletter. > > > > Thanks, > > Gary H. > > > > ============ > > > > "A friend of mine visited a car wash after we had just upgraded the > > exhaust system on his 1991 Dodge Spirit R/T. The exhaust caught on > > the wheel positioning guides for the automated carwash, pushing an > > exhaust clamp into the gas tank and puncturing it. In a matter of a > > few miles he went from a full tank to barely making it up his driveway before running out of gas. > > > > "My friend had just purchased a MIG welding setup, so we decided to > > fix the hole by welding it shut. We removed the gas tank, filled it > > with water as much as possible using a garden hose, and rinsed it > > carefully. We couldn't fill it completely with water due to the > > positioning of the fuel filler neck, but figuring we were safe, we > > settled down on his front lawn to weld the hole shut. > > > > "As soon as he pulled the trigger on the welding torch there was a > > sound reminiscent of a fighter jet blasting overhead just over the > > treetops. I had been standing, but when the noise stopped, I was > > laying on my back and couldn't recall how I'd gotten there. My > > friend was also flat on his back, welding torch still in hand, > > looking stunned. His neighbors came outside and were all looking around wondering where the thunderous noise had come from. > > > > "Apparently the small space in the tank that was not full of water > > had sufficient fumes in it to ignite causing the explosion. The 16 > > gallon gas tank had emptied itself completely of water in a fraction > > of a second, leaving only steam wafting out the filler neck hole. > > It had also doubled in size, expanding like a balloon, but > > fortunately hadn't blown to pieces. We avoided any injury beyond the ringing in our ears and wounded pride. > > > > "Needless to say he bought a new gas tank and we never attempted to > > weld a gas tank again. > > > > "Matt in Washington" > > > > > > ---- > > Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person > > -- directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and > > negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the > > intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This > > practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic. > > Thanks! > > > > 1962 to 1965 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines: > > http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html and > > http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/general_disclaimer.html. > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > ---- > > Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks! > > > > 1962 to 1965 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines: > > http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html and http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/general_disclaimer.html. > > > > > > > ---- Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks! 1962 to 1965 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines: http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html and http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/general_disclaimer.html. ---- Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks! 1962 to 1965 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines: http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html and http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/general_disclaimer.html. ---- Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks! 1962 to 1965 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines: http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html and http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/general_disclaimer.html.