RE: gas tank rebuild story

[Steven Charette <stevec@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Gary,
	Amen.  And with the availability of new gas tanks, repairing is just
one step this side of Russian Roulette.  Anybody needing a refresher on my
repaired-gas-tank-nearly-blows-up-my-house story e-mail me offline.

SC 

-----Original Message-----
From: Gary H. [mailto:spigot2039@xxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 8:48 PM
To: 1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: gas tank rebuild story


A while ago we had a long discussion here about repairing gas tanks, which
we concluded *can* be done--if done correctly. If not done right....I'm
forwarding the below story from the current Rock Auto Newsletter.

Thanks,
Gary H.

============

"A friend of mine visited a car wash after we had just upgraded the exhaust
system on his 1991 Dodge Spirit R/T. The exhaust caught on the wheel
positioning guides for the automated carwash, pushing an exhaust clamp into
the gas tank and puncturing it. In a matter of a few miles he went from a
full tank to barely making it up his driveway before running out of gas.

"My friend had just purchased a MIG welding setup, so we decided to fix the
hole by welding it shut. We removed the gas tank, filled it with water as
much as possible using a garden hose, and rinsed it carefully. We couldn't
fill it completely with water due to the positioning of the fuel filler
neck, but figuring we were safe, we settled down on his front lawn to weld
the hole shut.

"As soon as he pulled the trigger on the welding torch there was a sound
reminiscent of a fighter jet blasting overhead just over the treetops. I had
been standing, but when the noise stopped, I was laying on my back and
couldn't recall how I'd gotten there. My friend was also flat on his back,
welding torch still in hand, looking stunned. His neighbors came outside and
were all looking around wondering where the thunderous noise had come from.

"Apparently the small space in the tank that was not full of water had
sufficient fumes in it to ignite causing the explosion. The 16 gallon gas
tank had emptied itself completely of water in a fraction of a second,
leaving only steam wafting out the filler neck hole. It had also doubled in
size, expanding like a balloon, but fortunately hadn't blown to pieces. We
avoided any injury beyond the ringing in our ears and wounded pride.

"Needless to say he bought a new gas tank and we never attempted to weld a
gas tank again.

"Matt in Washington"


----
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----
Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person.  I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic.  Thanks!

1962 to 1965 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines:
http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html and http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/general_disclaimer.html.