6 replies to this topic

[DeadSquare]

Bass Man's "Battery Terminal" question has side tracked into exploding fuel tanks.

 

In the summer of 1960, not a mile down the road from Longbridge, a Mini somehow tipped on its side and as it skittled to a halt, tore off the fuel cap and the spilled fuel was ignited by sparks from the external body seam moulding.

 

As illustrated by the blue Mini in the top RH corner of the page, to stop this happening, concerned Competitors, frightened by silly health and safety stories of exploding fuel tanks, were getting sonking bills for inert gas purging of their tanks so that the filler could be moved to the back of the car or inside the boot.

 

I used to cut the new hole, remove the filler neck, fill the tank with water so that there was minimal air and vapour space, braze the the filler into the new hole and blank the old filler hole with the piece cut from the tank.......................................and I'm here to tell the tale.

 

I dried the tank by removing the fuel gauge sender and leaving the tank in the sun for a while with a hair dryer blowing in the filler neck.

[MiniMadRacer]

Yes sorry about bit guilty of side tracking that thread.... I used to just get a 2 gallon metal fuel tank (brand new) and braze 2 pipes

into the top of it.. one for the fuel delivery and one as an over flow that went under the floor so it the car tipped upside down fuel spilt outside the boot.....

[Algordo1100]

15 years ago, I had a fuel tank in my 1989 mayfair burst underneath due to unseen rust.

I was on a driving holiday in Scotland and we had just pulled out of a petrol station in Dundee with a full tank.

A sudden strong smell of petrol caused me to pull over and shut the car off.

Unfortunately we were facing down hill so the contents of the fuel tank ran right through the car as we could only watch from a safe distance. It soaked through everything and pooled in the front footwells.

The AA man had to call the fire brigade to deal with the spillage but there was thankfully no fire.

All our clothes, luggage, the back seats and the entire carpets were ruined, as was our holiday essentially.

Every mini I have had since has had the integrity of its fuel tank thoroughly inspected.

[Spider]

I routinely weld / braze / solder fuel tanks.

 

I drain them and leave them out in the sun for a day or more with a big opening upper most (usually the filler). Rinse with water a few times, then fill with exhaust fumes (from a warmed up car!), then weld away !.

 

If you do wish to do this, do so at your own risk (not that there should be any of done right). If you would like to check before welding, stuff some newspaper in the filler neck and leave a length hanging out. Take the tank down the back yard, light up the paper and get clear.

[Cooperman]

I routinely weld / braze / solder fuel tanks.

 

I drain them and leave them out in the sun for a day or more with a big opening upper most (usually the filler). Rinse with water a few times, then fill with exhaust fumes (from a warmed up car!), then weld away !.

 

If you do wish to do this, do so at your own risk (not that there should be any of done right). If you would like to check before welding, stuff some newspaper in the filler neck and leave a length hanging out. Take the tank down the back yard, light up the paper and get clear.

 

Love it! It's like 'light the blue touch paper and stand well clear' as seen on fireworks. But, yes, I have welded petrol tanks after thoroughly flushing them with water and drying them out with a hot air gun.

[Spider]

 

,,,, Take the tank down the back yard, light up the paper and get clear.

 

Love it! It's like 'light the blue touch paper and stand well clear' as seen on fireworks.

 

 

Yes, it sounds like an 'out there' test

 

But at least you know for sure that you'll be 100% safe

[DeadSquare]

Sometime before the war, my Grandfather was one of the first to sell Calor Gas.

 

With wartime food shortages, rabbits were a number one pest that he couldn't keep down by shooting, so one afternoon he stopped as many holes as he could see in a huge warren, and that evening, with a light breeze behind him, trickled in Butane gas.

 

The next morning almost all the holes were unstopped.

 

Undaunted, he repeated the process, but this time he left a hole unstopped on the other side....................with a lighted candle in it.

 

Late in the evening there was a rumbling roar and a big bang.

 

The Home Guard were caught off guard, and were convinced that Hitler knew when their parade finished and had waited until they were in the pub to drop a bomb.

Edited by DeadSquare, 18 September 2019 - 07:04 PM.