The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Yet another gas tank question?

The old rusty gas tank in my 40 has several pin holes in it. Here is my plan. Clean the tank inside and out with an acid solution and then cover the entire tank with a thin coat of fiberglass cloth and resin. This should fill the pin holes and prevent any further leaks. I have heard of building the entire tank out of fiberglass so maybe this would work. Has anyone ever tried this repair? What do you think about this Stovebolters?

Dale: Will my tank out of my 59 work you can have it. No not selling, swapping just being Ben and trying to help.

To answer your question yes it can be done but I'm pretty sure it has to be an expoxy compound, gas will eat at a lot of products and will develop the same problem.

popcorn The Truth is Out There (New storage tanks are being made out of a expoxy, fiberglass compound so they will not detiorate under ground.)

I don't think a 59 tank will work. Mine is under the seat. Thanks for the offer, stovebolters are the best people.

Please do not use fiberglass to repair your tank. It will not hold and the last thing you need is gas leaking in your cab. Look on ebay for a new/used one or spend the money on a new tank. Better to be safe than crispy.

OK, LOL, that really tickled me. I'm making that my new motto:

"BETTER SAFE THAN CRISPY"

Let's print bumper stickers!

I have not been able to find a new original type tank. There seem to be several companies that make them for 48 and up but none for 40. Custom stainless steel tanks are way out of my price range. Dale

My apologises as I was talking from an Advance Design basis. Your 40 may be a problem if you are trying to remain original. Try "Tanks, Inc" as they seem to have steel and alum tanks for many applications at reasonable prices. If you have some 16 guage and a mig welder then make your own. Just don't fiberglass it! You can always get it boiled out and then weld in a patch. Good Luck.

Tanks Inc. does not list a tank for a 40. They do have 41-46, but filler is on the wrong side. I wouldn't mind paying the 215.00 if I could find one. Dale

There is nothing wrong with fibreglass tanks. They are used in many applications today. However,fibreglassing over sheet metal does not seem to work well. What you get is a fibreglass/metal composite material that tends to delaminate and leak. You could build a replacement tank from scratch out of fibreglass but it would probably be cheaper and easier to buy a replacement tank or make one out of steel.

If I had this problem, I would move the tank out of the cab and use replacement tanks as suggested in other posts.

When I was putting the fuel cell in the 39 a guy I known for years came by lokked at what I was doin' and showed me the burns from an in the cab gas tank fire......He said he got outta the truck OK but the gas on his pant legs went off when the tank caught fire

Don't be the first on to the FIRE!!!!!

Take the tank to a radiator shop that does
gas tanks. They can boil it out & solder the
leaks& pressure test it. I dont like the
coatings they may want to put on the inside.
if it starts flakeing off you will really have
problems. Put a inline filter in the line
before the fuel pump.

I couldn't find a replacement tank for my 1953 Suburban. What I did was to take my original to a shop that builds race cars (stock cars) for a living. He used the original tank for dimensions and was able to build me an aluminum tank to fit the same location. Cost about $300.00.