Replace or repair gas tank

[Beatr67]

Last weekend my tank just started leaking. I drained it and got it out. Saw some new ones on line for about a hundred. VDub Parts Unlimited says not to buy those, I'd be better off repairing my old one. How? There is no obvious crack or hole. Has anybody out there done this?

[obus]

try to fix old but if not here is a good deal on a new one

http://www.busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=211201055B
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July 1959 Mango Standard Bus aka Obus L346 L347 https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=256592&highlight=
June 1973 Pumpkin Orange Thing aka Othing L30H
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=711775&highlight=
1960 Paprika Red Karmann Ghia Convertible aka Schatze L452 built 5/20/60
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...highlight=
March 1956 Beetle convertible L41 Black

[Campy]

If you leave your fuel tank at one of those radiator repair garages to be repaired, make sure that you tell the employee not to cut a hole in the bottom of the tank. It can be pressure tested, then soldered to fix the leak.
Here in Chico, at two garages, they cut a small hole in the tank. The owner at one of the garages did it to my bus tank even though I had told him that I just wanted it cleaned in the hot tank and I wasn't going to use the original one because I didn't want one in my bus that had to be soldered. When I went to pick it up, he was soldering on a penny over a hole he had cut in a lower corner. He said that he cut the hole in it to help him dry it out faster.
Now, I clean my fuel tanks, myself, with muriatic acid and water (sloshed around with nuts and bolts in the tank). I bought a gallon in the pool supply section at a Home Depot for about $8.00.
Por-15 has a sealer that will seal the inside of the tank.

[Friedpotatoes]

my gas gauge no longer works... are the walls of the sending unit thin enough to bend easily ? It worked until I had gotten a gas cap (one found at the vw shop)that sealed so good that it sucked in my gas tank... the max it holds is 9.4 gallons.
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56- Wolfsburg Single Cab
57- Oval Window Bug (Agave Green)

[Kaput]

I bought a new one at cip1 for around 75 bucks. Probably worth more than the time and money repairing the old 1.

[Karl]

[der58SC]

I have a crack right where the fill tube connects to the tank. I fixed it with some JB Weld. Shit works great! Just be sure to clean the area well before applying the stuff or it will not work obviously.
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Like a midget at a urinal, I'm always on my toes

KCCO!!


Strictly Vintage 2s

[Namocsid]

You might consider "upgrading" to a tank from a bay window bus instead of repairing/replacing the existing tank. You can probably find one at a local junkyard for not too much money. You'll end up with a tank that holds about 50% more gas.

No matter what you decide, you might want to take the time to clean and seal the inside of the tank with a product like POR15's fuel tank sealer since you've got the tank out.
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ITMC - Backyard chapter

Hold the pickles, it's 100% pure beef Namocsid!

[Saint76]

Is it possible to use a bay tank in a 59 Double Cab???

[Type2meister]

I followed Ratwell's detailed how-to here:
http://www.ratwell.com/technical/FuelTankRestoration.html
Before I did this though, I took it to a rad shop to be 'hot tanked'. They guy said he couldn't do it, it was too far gone. So I did it myself. I took the sending unit out and pressure-washed the inside, then shook out the loose crud (1" thick old tar-like dried gasoline I guess). I repeated this step many times. They I acid-washed the tank, then used Metal-Ready, then the POR-15 tank sealer. It turned out very nice. This tank was still about 1/4 full of stale, stinky red gasoline from 1980...very nasty stuff.

[dstefun]

[iamdonquixote]

I had my fuel tank rupture on my 64' after I used a repro non-vented cap Its impossible for anyone to do any work around here that doen't involve a brand new car and replace brake pads ...sigh.. so I bought a repro (Brazilian) tank from Wolfgang Int. I am happy with it. The filler neck angle is slightly higher than stock though.

[Kelly]

I bought a brazilian tank when I first got my bus and it doesn't fit right and never has. the filler neck doesn't sit higher for me rather it rubs on the overfill drain tube. I've lived with it but will eventually put my bay tank in.
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It's not how wide your hatch is, it's what you do with it.

Eriba Puck Sticky

[Friedpotatoes]

[Campy]

Puttimg a hole in a gas cap is not a good thing to do. Anytime there is a hole in a fuel tank, it is a potential bomb. A vented cap is designed to let fuel vapor out at a certain pressure in the tank and to let air in to avoid a vacuum in the tank.

[Karl]

[Campy]

It's still dumb to drill a hole in a gas cap where the vapor goes directly out. If enough gasoline vapor accumalates out of the fuel tank and reaches a source of ignition such as a pilot light, so long. It is the gasoline vapor that is dangerous. That is why they developed cannisters in a sealed system where the vapor condenses back to gasoline. Spend a few bucks and buy a good cap.

[Karl]

You don't get it.

The original cap vents to the atmosphere.

A 68 and up cap is a sealed cap. Evaporative emission systems were added to stop fumes from the cap from escaping to the astmosphere, by venting the tank thru a charcoal cannister.. But that was after 1967. 67 and back tanks have one filler neck and one fuel tap.

If you put a 68 and later cap on a 67 and older bus, you will collapse the gas tank. Air cannot replace the fuel you are removing.

Here is a prime example of what is out there being marketed as a 55-67 gas cap:
http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VWC%2D211%2D201%2D551

READ the text below it: If you are looking for a gas cap for your 73-74 VW Thing, you will need to measure the diameter of your gas tank opening. If it is 60mm, then you require our part number VWC-211-201-551.

THAT cap is NOT a vented cap. It does NOT belong on a 67 and older bus.

In Calif, to pass the smog check, the gas cap has to be tested to see if it leaks. Guess what? That 211 201 551 passes. It does not leak. That is great for a later vehicle. It is plain as day WRONG for an early bus.

I have a gas tank with collapsed-in sides. Maybe a picture of it will help?

[Campy]

You don't get it. By "new" cap it wasn't meant to be a later model cap. By using the example of the cannister, it was meant to show that, at VW, they developed a better system for their later model cars, because they had to to meet new VOC standards. I thought that I explained it pretty clearly.
The "original" caps don't vent the fumes directlly to the atmosphere like you would have if you drilled a hole directly through it.
Try storing one of those five gallon gasoline containers without the tiny lid for the spout on it, full of gasoline, in your garage. My father did it, once, on a warm day and, luckily, there was no water heater in the garage and I didn't start my bus until the garage was aired out.
Opening up a fuel tank directly to the atmosphere is not a good thing to do; telling people to do it is completely irresponsible.
Thanks for letting people know that the later model gas caps won't work, anyway.

[Campy]

Since I didn't explain it clearly enough two threads ago, I apologize.