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Rust And Petrol fumes


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Being furloughed has given me a rare opportunity to spend some time in the garage and catching up on my triumph to do list!  So whilst investigating petrol smells in the boot of my TR4a I’ve stumbled upon some concealed rust forming underneath the tank filler panel. Maybe caused by condensation although the petrol cap to body seal looks slightly perished.  In peoples experience What’s the best most effective diy way to remove and treat this Rust?
 

 Re petrol fumes in the boot I plan to replace the fuel line and old hoses with new including the filler pipe and see if that cures it. The tank looks in good condition however I’m going to remove it (I feel a road trip on the cards to burn some fuel :- ) and gain access to the surface rust and will inspect closely at the same time. Is there anything I should be paying particular attention to that I may otherwise miss?

i attach a few up close Up photos which Look worse than By the eye. Any suggestions gratefully received.

 

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221172FF-E33F-4896-8EE6-031CFA26C1B1.thumb.jpeg.7c70f904bde0b69a9d9646df12159fde.jpeg

 

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Pull the tank, check the bottom, remove loose and treat the surface rust with a good inhibitor,

two coats of bondarust primer and with that location, then a rattle can of closest colour you can get made up.

Change all the fuel lines, yes, but do not forget the cork gasket for the tank sender unit, favourite culprit for smells.

John.

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18 hours ago, John Morrison said:

Pull the tank, check the bottom, remove loose and treat the surface rust with a good inhibitor,

two coats of bondarust primer and with that location, then a rattle can of closest colour you can get made up.

Change all the fuel lines, yes, but do not forget the cork gasket for the tank sender unit, favourite culprit for smells.

John.

Thanks John, I will order some Bondarust primmer.

Don

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19 hours ago, harrytr5 said:

If you need one I have one listed on Ebay. I bought a new one I could not resist from a member.

PM me for details/mobile if you are interested.

Regards Harry

To be honest this is the second or third time I have tried to stop the fumes which even for a petrol head are quite heavy! Time for me is precious so I too have decided to change the tank for new whilst its out. Im also changing the whole fuel line and hoses too. Having experienced a fuel leak under the bonnet which could have ended the car i'm just not taking any chances.  

Don

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Hi Don,

I can't easily interpret the rusty pictures but usually any rust on the lower surface is always a possible leak area.

If you do not want to take the time to repair it then try and buy a second hand good original, or a steel tank.  The Ali tanks can be very good but there are a few iffy ones out there.

Ask here on the forum who has what available.

Change the steel pipes for copper (they work well) or Kunifer (they also work well)  The rubber hose needs to be Ethanol proof not sure of the coding R9 or R14 rings a bell.

 

Roger

 

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35 minutes ago, RogerH said:

Hi Don,

I can't easily interpret the rusty pictures but usually any rust on the lower surface is always a possible leak area.

If you do not want to take the time to repair it then try and buy a second hand good original, or a steel tank.  The Ali tanks can be very good but there are a few iffy ones out there.

Ask here on the forum who has what available.

Change the steel pipes for copper (they work well) or Kunifer (they also work well)  The rubber hose needs to be Ethanol proof not sure of the coding R9 or R14 rings a bell.

 

Roger

 

Perhaps I misread Dons post, but I took it that the rust was not the tank, but under the rear deck, IF it is the tank, then my post does not apply.

John.

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If you take the time to remove the petrol tank you might want to consider coating the inside with an ethanol resistant resin to help with longevity.

Another simple thing to check is the filler pipe neck/hose and how well that fits to the tank and cap.

An area of petrol fumes I have never solved on my TR4 is the open-ended tank vent pipe - so any ideas on that would be good.

 

Mark 

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HI

I have just been through this with my own 4. I had sealed my garage to make it air tight for dehumidifier and it then stank of petrol. You could see the fumes coming down out of the vent pipe and leaks from pump bowl and so on

Long story short.

I got an ally tank and changed all the hoses.. You don't need a vent pipe. Look at the inside of your fuel tank cap.  IS there a little hole 1.5mm /60thou in the sprung sealing disc? This is the vent for late TR4 and subsequent models. If there isn't one then you still have an original early car cap and you know what to do! You may find the sealing nut on tank outlet is well rounded and hard to get off. So be prepared to replace it and olive also to blank off quite a large hole in bodywork where vent pipe passes through.

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As an update:

I removed the fuel tank today. Fuel pipes are corroded under the car, hoses are the original 53 year old pipe with no jubilee clips!  The attached picture is showing the inside of the tank. The tank looks in really good condition on the outside,  inside it’s really clean however there is some corrosion on the bottom seam. I will probably never know what the actual cause is because I’m replacing the tank With an alloy one, new automec pipes and hoses, new filler pipe etc...hopefully will put this problem to bed for the next 53 years (although I guess cars in 53yrs time will have been converted to electric :- ) 
 

If anyone would have a use for my old tank Please message me. 

 

 

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