Fuel Tank Advice
Discussion
Hello,
Have spoken to the factory about this some time ago and some of the rest of the group, but wanted to share a little bit of advice with these aluminum fuel tanks. I have repaired each of my tanks 2-3 times due to holes and pitting that has occured. Either stones had managed to find there way under the tank or pitting had occured on a welded seam.
I am currently running on one tank, and have taken the other tank out and carefully opened it up to have a look inside. I've had a couple of certified welders look at it also and give me some opinions. The TIG welds all looked pretty decent really. However, there was quite a bit of pitting (or electrolysis)happening inside the tank. These tanks were sold to me back in 98' so they are getting pretty old now anyway. Not to mention, our air has a great deal of humidity and salt in the air and is a really corrosive environment. The outside of the tanks looked pretty good b/c they were painted of course. The welder pointed out a line about 1" above the bottom of the tank where fuel had sat for extended periods of time. It was advised that on my next set of tanks, I keep the tanks filled with fuel and use a fuel stabilizer when storing the car. Also, my VDO sender came with a steel bottom plate that was rusted. Not sure why they don't offer this in aluminum. This summer I may get some new tanks fabricated in stainless. I'm also investigating bladders. It doesn't sound like any of this is a problem for UK or European cars but thought I would pass on this info to the rest of the world. I'll definetely keep these tanks filled and use a fuel stabilizer from now on.
Cheers!
-Mack
>> Edited by bigmack on Wednesday 29th March 23:20
Have spoken to the factory about this some time ago and some of the rest of the group, but wanted to share a little bit of advice with these aluminum fuel tanks. I have repaired each of my tanks 2-3 times due to holes and pitting that has occured. Either stones had managed to find there way under the tank or pitting had occured on a welded seam.
I am currently running on one tank, and have taken the other tank out and carefully opened it up to have a look inside. I've had a couple of certified welders look at it also and give me some opinions. The TIG welds all looked pretty decent really. However, there was quite a bit of pitting (or electrolysis)happening inside the tank. These tanks were sold to me back in 98' so they are getting pretty old now anyway. Not to mention, our air has a great deal of humidity and salt in the air and is a really corrosive environment. The outside of the tanks looked pretty good b/c they were painted of course. The welder pointed out a line about 1" above the bottom of the tank where fuel had sat for extended periods of time. It was advised that on my next set of tanks, I keep the tanks filled with fuel and use a fuel stabilizer when storing the car. Also, my VDO sender came with a steel bottom plate that was rusted. Not sure why they don't offer this in aluminum. This summer I may get some new tanks fabricated in stainless. I'm also investigating bladders. It doesn't sound like any of this is a problem for UK or European cars but thought I would pass on this info to the rest of the world. I'll definetely keep these tanks filled and use a fuel stabilizer from now on.
Cheers!
-Mack
>> Edited by bigmack on Wednesday 29th March 23:20
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