TR3A fuel tank

[OllieK]

I took my fuel tank off and it looked great until I wire brushed a spot of rust on the part under one of the straps and exposed two pin holes. The rest looked ok so I looked around for someone to weld a repair. Turns out that not many people offer this service due to the proliferation of plastic tanks and the few that I have found are expensive. I have a LHD car so that complicates the issue as the fuel line is from the left hand side. SC parts have offered me an aluminium replacement tank which from the photo does not look quite the same. They also say that the fuel lines will have to be modified but were unable to tell me in what way. Does anyone have experience of fitting one of their tanks or any suggestions regarding repairs. I’m not keen on the internal coating solution. Thanks, Ollie

[harlequin]

As a last result, if its only pin holes it is possible to solder a patch on to seal it. If you are VERY CAREFUL as tanks can go bang

Fill the tank full of water a few times to get rid of most of the fumes, I say most as it's always possible that some remain so be as though as possible. Then rig an air line to blow into the filler neck this will put a slight posative air pressure in the tank.

Next thoroughly clean the surface of the tank to clean bare metal and using a blow lamp tin the area to be sealed + an inch or two around it, then tin the underside of your patch, lay it in place and heat untill the solder flows and add solder to the edges as required.

It's a bit scary so do it outside and wear gloves, goggles, face protection and overalls and most importantly keep the air blowing into thr tank filler right throughout the job so that any left over fumes can not flash back.

Edited October 19, 2024 by harlequin

[Brian birchall]

I used por tank repair on my tank that had a lot of pinholes around the drain plug with excellent results take your time and follow the instructions.

[rcreweread]

1 hour ago, OllieK said:

I took my fuel tank off and it looked great until I wire brushed a spot of rust on the part under one of the straps and exposed two pin holes. The rest looked ok so I looked around for someone to weld a repair. Turns out that not many people offer this service due to the proliferation of plastic tanks and the few that I have found are expensive. I have a LHD car so that complicates the issue as the fuel line is from the left hand side. SC parts have offered me an aluminium replacement tank which from the photo does not look quite the same. They also say that the fuel lines will have to be modified but were unable to tell me in what way. Does anyone have experience of fitting one of their tanks or any suggestions regarding repairs. I’m not keen on the internal coating solution. Thanks, Ollie

Ollie - from what I can recall, whether the car is RHD or LHD doesn't matter as the tanks and locations of the fuel lines are the same for both hands - however there is a difference between the early and late models and this primarily related to the shape of the underside of the tank to fit around the different floor pans which were changed during production - whether at the same time, I'm not sure, but the outlets changed as well - its easy enough to drill a hole in the floor for a different outlet, but you will struggle to fit a wrong tank for your floor.

If you only have a few pinholes, you can solder repair your tank as Harlequin suggests if you are careful and ensure it is fume free - there used to be specialists around who did this - I seem to remember Wheeler Dealers ( or one of the other car restoration shows) did this with a TR6 tank many years ago so maybe those businesses have gone and are now closed for good

Cheers Rich C-R

[BlueTR3A-5EKT]

As Rich has written there are essentially 2 shapes of tank if we ignore the big capacity TR2 tank.  They are not interchangeable without serious bodywork adaption.

Moss offer 2 shapes of tank that suit the complete range of cars.   All you need to know is where your tank outlet is and the commission number of the body shell.

https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/en-gb/fuel-tank-pipes-pump-tr2-3a-1953-62-tr24--20--08--01

 

[Kiwifrog]

Edited October 21, 2024 by Kiwifrog
Grumpy old man mode removed

[OllieK]

Well I have double checked and the fuel outlet on my tank is definitely on the  left, which based on where it goes is a lot more sensible than having it on the right. It is also different from all the schematic drawings I have seen but I am certain it is original. Thanks for the advice on soldering, not sure about that approach, especially the scary bit.  Moss tanks are all out of stock. I’ll see if I can get more information from SC parts regarding their Ali tanks. It could be that it is perfect for my fuel pipe arrangement. 

[stuart]

1 hour ago, OllieK said:

Well I have double checked and the fuel outlet on my tank is definitely on the  left, which based on where it goes is a lot more sensible than having it on the right. It is also different from all the schematic drawings I have seen but I am certain it is original. Thanks for the advice on soldering, not sure about that approach, especially the scary bit.  Moss tanks are all out of stock. I’ll see if I can get more information from SC parts regarding their Ali tanks. It could be that it is perfect for my fuel pipe arrangement. 

Talk to TR Shop see if they have stock 

Stuart.

[Ian Vincent]

You could always use a slosh sealant on your existing tank. FWIW, my tank has its outlet on the LHS of the car.

Rgds Ian

[OllieK]

On 10/19/2024 at 1:32 PM, harlequin said:

As a last result, if its only pin holes it is possible to solder a patch on to seal it. If you are VERY CAREFUL as tanks can go bang

Fill the tank full of water a few times to get rid of most of the fumes, I say most as it's always possible that some remain so be as though as possible. Then rig an air line to blow into the filler neck this will put a slight posative air pressure in the tank.

Next thoroughly clean the surface of the tank to clean bare metal and using a blow lamp tin the area to be sealed + an inch or two around it, then tin the underside of your patch, lay it in place and heat untill the solder flows and add solder to the edges as required.

It's a bit scary so do it outside and wear gloves, goggles, face protection and overalls and most importantly keep the air blowing into thr tank filler right throughout the job so that any left over fumes can not flash back.

 

[OllieK]

Hi Harlequin, so I’ve decided to go for the scary blowtorch option, particularly appropriate for Halloween. A couple of questions before I start. Firstly, should I be using flux and secondly, should I be making the patch from steel or copper? Thanks, Ollie

[John Morrison]

Hi Ollie

just came on this pist

first an old army mechanic once told me the way to weld/braze/solder a fuel tank was to pop it over an exhaust for 20 mins or so and in his day they would simply lift it onto a vertical tractor exhaust and go have a brew.

Repair the tank and rinse any soot out with a couple os swills of petrol 

Re your questions I would use flux and copper sheet perhaps a copper pipe opened up and flattened 

tin both areas copper should be easy steel more difficult 

what would be good on both would be the solder paste used in lead loading

John

[stuart]

2 hours ago, OllieK said:

Hi Harlequin, so I’ve decided to go for the scary blowtorch option, particularly appropriate for Halloween. A couple of questions before I start. Firstly, should I be using flux and secondly, should I be making the patch from steel or copper? Thanks, Ollie

I wouldnt be repairing that

Stuart.

[Kiwifrog]

Solder will not stick to rust no matter how much flux you use you will never successfully tin that area. To repair properly that area needs to be cut out and replaced with steel which will be expensive. If you use a large copper patch you risk electrolysis and future failure. I would agree with Stuart and be looking for a new tank
 

cheers Alan 

Edited October 30, 2024 by Kiwifrog

[Rod1883]

There's a tank currently for sale in the classifieds

[Dave Herrod]

Ollie,

I have a tank for a post 60K body shell which I will be advertising shortly. 

Dave

[Nobbysr]

i have used body solder in the past and the repair lasted 10years before the rest of the tank developed swiss cheese perferations

cheers

Steve

[TimG]

Slosh sealer has lasted over 35 years on my 1930 Sunbeam. I dont know how it would last with E10 fuel. I also slosh sealed the tank on my 1964 Bentley S3 but that has long departed my care.