Gas tank conundrum...

[bigoak]

OK, over the last three days, my garage has been overwhelmed with the smell of fuel. Vehicle is a stock series II 1971 240Z running twin round-tops.

This coincided with my changing the fuel filter as my car was hesitating around 3,500 RPM (this went away after the change but seemed to re-appear tonight). I installed new rubber fuel lines on both side of the filter as the originals appeared to be just that (37 years old and very original...).

I have checked at the front end around the filter and there are no signs of a leak there.

Tonight I crawled under the back end and below are the photo's of what I found:

Shot 1: Note the top left portion circled in yellow as there seems to be a split in the seam there. The portion circled in blue is where there was an accumulation of moisture/fluid and I wiped it off (taking with it the "protective" dirt coating). The portion circled in green is where I noted some past damage to the tank (seems to have been bottomed on on something).

Shot 2: A close up of the seam.

Shot 3: A gratuitous shot with the spot wiped clean.

Questions:

1. I assume I have correctly diagnosed the seam split (if not speak up, I'm new to this), if so, is it worth repairing or should I opt for a replacement?

2. Will a 1973 gas tank fit in this vehicle?

3. I have access to a 1973 tank for $150 CAD, reportedly in good condition, fair price? If so, should I have it reconditioned prior to installation?

Thoughts, comments, general invective are all welcome...

Cheers,

[Arne]

Might not be a seam split. Looks to me as if some previous owner replaced the fuel vent hose there with red heater hose, which is not fuel-proof. I'd say it's likely that the leak is from the hose. I say this because my car looked exactly the same with its deteriorated red heater hose there.

So before you kiss off the tank, run it low on fuel and replace that hose with some fresh fuel/oil rated hose.

[bigoak]

Cool. I'll give it a shot. Truth be told, three days ago (when the odor appeared) was the first time I parked the vehicle with a full tank of gas. I took her out for a good run tonight to try and run the fuel down but will need to go a little further before tackling the tank.

[Arne]

Yup. That hose actually has fuel in it when the tank is full. It might not be the total cure, but since it is obviously not fuel-rated hose, it needs to be replaced in any case. So that makes it an obvious first step.

[EScanlon]

Might also be a crack in the solder that holds the vent tube in place. But that tubing must go....even if it isn't the cause the of the leak, and it very well could be the only leak.

FWIW

E

[JimmyZ]

Firstly, be careful with gas. I once had second and third degree burns over half my body from a gas fire. Have a fire extinguisher nearby and wear your best protective clothing when working on anything which might ignite/flash. Work outdoors in a good breeze so that fumes don't build. Should the gas flash, exposed skin turns to ash and/or melts off. (Ask me how I know these things)

Both Escanlon and Arne's suggestions are quite possible. (Hope Arne's is the case) It would take a lot to undo the seam although there was quite a bit of interior rust around my seams. (link below)

My tank ('71 240 ) had a leak due to a solder joint failing where the tube entered the tank. Rust inside the tank caused me to take corrective measure later.

As a temporary patch I cleaned up the area around the solder joint and applied JB weld which made for a decent repair. It lasted 10 years before I did this...

http://warbuddies.homestead.com/gastank.html

(Good pictures towards bottom of page)

My 2c

[xray]

Wow, JimmyZ....great link!

(like that avatar, too..made me spit coffee!)

BigOak,

If it's not the leak from a hose, take it to an expert. Don't muck around with fixing it yourself. Not worth the effort when measured against the risk. I had a good experience with a local rad shop who used RedKote on my tank, at a reasonable price. I suggest you do the same.

Good luck,

Steve

[JimmyZ]

Thanks xray I got the avatar from HybridZ and used it for the car crush post.

I agree that you are better off taking the tank to a radiator shop. Might as well have them get the rust out while they're at it. Just thought I'd make a page for those of us who don't trust others to work on our cars.

My radiator shop admitted that the Renu process was the "cadillac" of tank repair. Definitely the way to go if U can swing it.

Bought a used tank once and changed fuel filters every few miles becuase there was soooo much rust in it. Finally threw it away. FWIW

Jim

[bigoak]

Yeah, think I'll do just that and take it to a shop. I'm not bad with a wrench in my hand, but welding is outside the scope of competency (certainly with the associated excitement of fuel).

Thanks for the insights...this information provided on this site is simply awesome.

[jmark]

Took my 78 280Z to a rad shop. First time they didn't let the coating setup long enough and we ended up having to have the tank done again (this time they footed the bill). This time the coating they applied dryed for 3 days. Seems to have worked this time.

[webdawg1]

If you can swing it... you might consider sending it off to be done...

You can always send it off to these guys. They do excellent work...

Moyer fuel tank renu at the following url: http://www.gas-tank.com/

Would never have to worry about it again...Take care of any rust issues before they come back to bite you in the buttocks down the road...so to speak...

webdawg1

[MikeW]

Moyer fuel tank renu at the following url: http://www.gas-tank.com/

I can't help but notice that every time you post a URL it can't be clicked on. How are you doing that? You'll notice that in my quoted version of your post it got fixed automatically. Normally you don't have to do anything to get URLs formatted properly.