Damn, leaking fuel tank.

[jfm]

JFM:

These products have been around for many years, particularly the PP Chemical Metal, and i always carry a couple of tubs as it can repair most things such as leaks or damage to castings, and is a good temporary adhesive or gasket.

What and where is the issue with your tank/s?

If its just old age and deterioration you can line it with one of the liquid epoxy fuel tank leakage systems, and if you have reasonable access to your tank you insert a large, soft sweeping brush and coat the sides of the tank with it. If you use multiple applications you can actually build up the thickness of the sides and bottom to form a decent lining as strong as the tank itself.

No, nothing wrong with my tanks - they're only a year old! I was only following Unit18's Laguna story. I'm familiar with the PP chemical metal (I once used it to repair a prop blade temporarily!) but I didn't know about the pour-in epoxy stuff which sounds a useful product

 

[Assassin]

I do a lot of extreme off road driving and often suffer impacts to the bottom of the vehicle, usually fuel tanks, and i line them as a matter of course with epoxy as it strengthens them no end. The Chemical metal has come in useful on many occasions to repair burst sumps and fuel tanks.

 

[rafiki_]

I do a lot of extreme off road driving and often suffer impacts to the bottom of the vehicle, usually fuel tanks, and i line them as a matter of course with epoxy as it strengthens them no end. The Chemical metal has come in useful on many occasions to repair burst sumps and fuel tanks.

Apologies for the Fred Drift, but are you familiar with the Bowler vehicle?

 

[Divemaster1]

No idea Alf, never been able to get in far enough to see, lost my racing snake build a couple of years ago and can now manage to wedge myself into some fairly large spaces

I'm going to have a better look this weekend as I've got to take the return hoses off anyway, expect I'll be upside down leaving lots of skin on anything sticking out!

Do feelfor you ... I believe I had relatively good access .....

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194575

 

[Assassin]

Bowler vehicles are built not too far from me, so yes i am very familiar with them, bloody expensive for what they are, i can build similar for much less, but Bowler serve a market in which they have an excellent reputation.

 

[Assassin]

JFM:

Glad to hear your tanks are fine, but i do not like steel tanks unfortunately, but always advocate epoxy lining them when new, this small initial expense is outweighed many times by the additional life of the tank. Most steel tanks rust either on the bottom from abrasive affects of swilling material, or the line where the water in the bottom of the tank and the diesel meet. I also advocate applying an epoxy coating to the outside with a roller wherever possible.

Unit 18:

Apologies, i missed your post earlier, i designed and made these tanks myself in response to a friend with a similar problem, like many boats of the period the tanks and engines were installed before fitting the decks. Removing them would have meant cutting part of the deck away and removing at least one engine. This is when i came up with the idea. He had more room front to back so the sections were made longer, and they just slid over the engine with a few millimetres to spare and the bottom section sat on the original mountings with electrolytic isolators fitted. Each section was slid into place and fitted to the next to form the tank and they were all fabricated from T316 stainless steel as we buy so much of it we get it for little more than mild steel.

There are some considerations, the entire assembly needs careful design as the structural loadings need accounting for, basically the bottom section needs to hold the entire weight of the tanks and fuel in rough seas. Any general fabricator can manufacture a bespoke item to your exact requirements.

 

[Nauti Fox]

Do feelfor you ... I believe I had relatively good access .....

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194575

Thanks for that Alf, for some reason I've never seen that thread, most helpful.

Thanks also for your input Assassin, I won't be doing anything until next spring at the earliest, so it gives me plenty of time to plan it.