> Wife was saying how the house smells of gas..... I looked and
> ther was no leaks in the lines, carbs so figured it was in the
> air from when I filled the tank. Then, just now much to my horror
> I found growing (slowly) puddle of gas in the trunk !
Pat, others will express horror over this, but I've done it twice and I
believe it is safe and effective.
Get some ordinary lead/tin solder (not the lead-free stuff they sell for
plumbing these days), flux (or, 'resin-core' solder such as is sold for
electronics work will do); a propane torch, a garden hose & source of water,
and a place outside to work in the free air. You'll also need sandpaper,
wire brush, spray paint (I used flat black in a rattle can) and maybe a
clean popsicle stick or two.
Drain (and save) as much fuel as you can, then remove the tank from the car.
With the drain plug and outlet/overflow pipes removed, hold the tank upright
and fill it with water until water runs out the top. (Obviously you'll also
have a steady stream of water out the bottom.) Turn off the water and let
the tank drain. Repeat this process until you cannot smell gasoline inside
the tank, then repeat it again. Let it dry for awhile, preferably in the
sun (I know, that's probably in short supply these days), and then check for
odor again. If the odor comes back, there is rust inside the tank that is
trapping fuel. Get a bag of kid's glass marbles, dump em in and shake the
tank vigorously to knock loose the rust. Then repeat the flush process.
Now dry off the surface and upend the tank. Wire brush and sand the entire
bottom of the tank to bright, shiny metal. If your tank is like mine was,
the leaking spots will be obvious, because the cleaning process will knock
out more rusty metal leaving distinct holes. The solder will bridge small
holes, but if any large ones turn up, you'll need to cut and solder a patch
over them. Ordinary 'tin' cans will do for patches, if you cut them apart
and pound them flat. If you want, you could also go over the bottom with a
pick hammer, making sure that only sound metal is left, but I didn't do
that. Wiping it down with a clean rag and some clean solvent would probably
be a good idea too, but I didn't do that either.
Now 'butter' the entire bottom of the tank with flux and then solder, paying
special attention around the holes. Obviously you'll use the torch to heat
the metal until the solder melts and flows. Use the popsicle sticks to help
push it around and get fairly even coverage, if you can. Let the solder
cool, then paint the entire tank. Let dry and reinstall.
I first did this in about 1974, AFAIK that tank still holds gasoline today.
Did the second one in 1984, and it definitely is still holding gas. (Which
is more than I can say for the owner <g>)
BTW, I blocked my overflow pipe after finding that I was losing fuel out it
after each fill-up. All of the TR3 filler caps I've seen are vented, but it
may be that some are not.
Randall
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