In a message dated 2/16/99 11:31:14 PM, gregmogdoc@surfnetusa.com writes:
<<I have had my car since 1965 when I purchased it new. The only problem I
have had with my gas tank , and I have seen the same problem in many other
cars, was that the two baffles which run fore and aft dividing the tank
roughly in thirds, came unsoldered from the inside of the tank and fell to
the bottom where they would slide around and sometimes interfere with the
correct functioning of the fuel gauge. To repair this, I ultimately
drilled 8 holes through the sides of the tank so that the baffles could be
pop riveted into place securely. Then the steel pop rivets were silver
soldered over to plug the holes . There have been no problems since. I
believe that the original mounting, solidly on good wood boards is an
excellent solution. The leaks are caused by either the boards coming adrift
from the chassis, or the tank itself coming loose from the beards and moving
around then stressing the soldered joints. The two wooden boards are
fastened together by two metal straps that are screwed into the wood. Then
the boards are fastened to the fuel tank by four bolts that pass through the
mounting brackets that are soldered to the ends of the tank. Then this
whole rigid assembly is attached to the frame by THREE screws ONLY. There
is a good reason for that. THREE POINTS DETERMINE A PLANE. With the board
platform attached in this manner, the boards and the tank form one unit that
is insulated form any flexing of the frame, i.e.. the frame can move around
but the tank will not be "bent" or twisted. .
As I recall it, the tank in my '71 +8 was solidly bolted (4 bolts) to the
boards, which were bolted to the frame, making the tank a stressed member of
the frame. I tried to take care of the leaks by taking the tank out and
rolling sealer around inside, which helped only temporarily. When Jerry
Willburn restored my car 2 years ago, he had a new tank done up in aluminum,
which so far is working fine.
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