FAQ Making a Fuel Tank

| Hi Charles,
| Been there done that, I end up with a tank with patches all over it, but
| I've never made a new one. Do you have any tips, soldering is not one of
| my strong points.
| Andy..........
| Townsville Qld
| OZ
|

Subject: NOW/ making a fuel tank
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 22:14:02 -0500
From: "Charles Balyeat" 

G' Day Mate !

 I got a thing for  lace but not as gas tank material .....
You could just fill it with the tank sealer and in time end up with a
lightweight plastic gas tank . unfortunately ,  Much like jumping a house
......it is much easier to show someone how (in fact you must do it)to
solder than it is to tell them. Unlike my fellow Rutstafarian however, I
like to use a wee torch . Boys dig fire ya know . I also use solid wire with
the appropriate flux , and wipe it with hydrochloric acid just before I flux
. Fire -Acid- heavy metal(s) , what a combo !  Everybody does it different ,
but the end is the same . I am cheap and use the 30 gauge flashing from the
hardware store so the average tank ends up costing about a buck ! I lay it
all out so I have seam allowances that fold over the edges of my box to hold
the solder like the tiny edges of a pasteboard box , and it all folds
together from one oddly crucifix shaped  piece , with the bottom edges bent
and not soldered to avoid joints down low .The only seams are vertical and
across the top . I could sketch and scan the pattern  if ya like . The trick
is to get the metal barely hot enough to melt the solder and not put the
solder into the flame , when you are doing it right you can run a 12 inch
seam in a under 30 seconds . Any longer and you buckle the metal and melt
the other joints  you just made .  I made a little box once as a test about
8" square and placed a 1X6 fragment on top of it . I jumped up and down on
it a good 10 times before it gave all at once , the corners make it strong !
oh yeah ...140 lbs , wet so I favor a 125cc mount !
It goes without saying  , if  you practice you can both make cheap gas tanks
and jump anything under 25 foot tall ..........and wave at the pretty girls
in the stands while removing a tear off from your goggles  , while
down shifting and chewing gum !

So just close your eyes and grab ahold of the loud handle , it wont cost
very much to screw it up a dozen times !

How do the rest of you  that do it , do it  ?

c

Editor: When you are making a box like a fuel tank you will need to sweat the seams together. The way I do this is to fit the seams and make sure that they meet evenly. Next up I'll start my broad plumbers soldering iron heating. It takes about 10 minutes to heat the 1" tip. In the mean time I use a butane blow torch to evenly heat the metal. Once the metal is evenly hot I brush it with a generous amount of Bakers soldering flux (this is based on hydrochloric acid so take care with it - the gas coming off the hot metal is corrosive). Now I'll lay the seams to be sweated over each other and continue heating the metal until it is hot enough to melt solder. I use a 50/50 rosin cored thick wire solder and run it along the seam behind the torch. Once the whole seam has been done, I'll take my now red hot plumbers iron and run it slowly up and down the seam to ensure the solder melts all the way in and makes a good solid join.

You can always buy one...