More Fuel Tank Stuff

[Chris A]

I like the idea of 3D printing as there wouldn't be the huge cost of tooling needed.

As Vanadium23 said ideas the provoke thought are never daft, usully quite the opposite.

I bet there is someone already giving the idea (relatively) serious thought over their coffee.

[ahebron]

It would be a big printer.

Unless you glued the bits together😉

[Adrian Cooper]

3D printing the tank itself would not be be viable perhaps, but creating 3D printed moulds would be easy. My daughter was commissioned to produce a mould for a new type of horse racing saddle and she did this by 3D scanning the prototype (using a simple DSLR and some clever software) and creating the files for the mould in Fusion 360. The mould was printed in several pieces and took about 100 hours. But once you have a mould you could create the actual tank in whatever material you like, in theory.

Adrian

[ahebron]

Colmap is 3d scanning software you can use with your phone or even a camera for 3d printing.

[Colin]

Well folks. I’ve relented. I have explored the aluminium tank scenario:-

One manufacturer to whom I sent the tank as a pattern was not going to be able to create a filler neck capable of accommodating a locking fuel cap. So that’s a non starter.

Another when questioned, has said they could, but this bumps the price.

New, steel? Well, how long have they been hanging around and in what conditions? Are they zinc paint internally coated?

Vitesse or second hand on EBay or similar? Yes, they appear  . . . but on the whole look in horrible condition.

Other than the fact that the drain tube perforated and virtually fell off, the remainder of the tank is solid as a rock. I’d previously black Hammerited it, in position and waxoyl sprayed the dark side a long time ago and both elements did their job.

I took flash mobile phone shots inside the tank, when removed and with sender out (slight ingress of fuel in float . . . emptied and seams melt-soldered over), I got some remarkably good shots. Scanning around, I could see that the innards are in remarkably good condition.

So: I am going to send it to ReNu in Hartlepool. Their process is to split the 2 halves; shotblast them clean. Make any necessary repairs. Weld shut again and line/coat with their licenced internal protectant that is then baked hard. Externally paint or GRP coat.

Drain tube . .  well, I wanted to use it the once in my 35 years of ownership. Why bother to have it? It appears the drain tube rotted slowly as the locating and spacing foam had shifted and settled next to it, was dam and had been rotting it quietly and invisibly. A design fault anyway imho . . . why have exposed foam to the rear of the rear wheel where it is bound to soak up water?

I’ll most probably have the area patch repaired and that within the car boot floor (or silicone seal in some sort of cover for the hole). It’s unlikely to need to come out, once new fuel lines are in place, for donkeys’ . . . 

So until that 3D printer is a little more readily available . . . lol.

Cheers All.

[Pete Lewis]

way back i fitted a fitchetts tank in the vit6 , yes its herald size so less range , but gives a lot more boot width for posh picnic chairs and such and yes patched the manky hole in the floor ,  you have to question the daft design of a crap foam wad stuck in the wheel wash area , but hey ho  its lasted all these years 

Pete

[Colin]

Hi Pete,

There aren’t many aspects of the Herald (given the ages of the vehicles) which are not up to snuff, but that was certainly one!

Colin.

[Peter Truman]

like you Pete I have a Herald small tank in my Vitesse Mk2, picked it up locally very cheap and I reckon it was NEW as it was in beautiful condition both I/s and out I think it must have been an old AMI CKD stock. only issue was the sender mounting unit being the 6 screw type vs the clamp ring type, but the sender was easily modified to the earlier 6 screw set up. to cater for the loss of volume I carry a 2 gallon flat poly reserve tank.

unfortunately it still has the drain attached obviously in vgc and it pokes through the boot floor I didn't use the bracket and foam but a big and thick floor rubber grommet with a hole cut in it for the drain tube. I did think about cutting the drain tube short and refitting the plug in a shortened tube so it was all located in the boot and the big hole could be plated over.

I do use a local product called "Fuel Doctor" that is a cleaner/lubricant which dissolves, disperses and prevents the accumulation of gum, wax, varnish, condensation and fuel bugs from all petrols and diesel it also stabilizes stored fuel for up to 2 years. one litre (around $35A) will treat up to 1000litres of fuel but double the dose for marine or the initial treatment. I started using it around 3 years ago after I noticed how the Spits fuel tank internals had deteriorated with modern unleaded and ethanol petrol over the preceeding 17 years, when we got the car you could see the shiny silver internals of the tank now a murcky brown colour.

 Product should work as the Fuel Doctor clean and maintain service station and industrial fuel tanks.

My original Vitesse tank was in good condition BUT as my car was undergoing a long resto I loaned it to a club member whilst he got his fixed, he SOLD his car with my tank in it, and gave me his old leaky tank, I was not HAPPY!

His old tank was beyond repair and someone had stuffed it full of bailing wire & I mean stuffed it, maybe they thought it would act as a sacrificial anode DOH!

 

 

 

[Colin]

Chaps; In the spirit of ‘make and mend’, and whilst not anticipating a concours medal award after the act . . . I thought that, were I to be retaining the drain tube (and I’m not!), I could simply trim the very lower portion from a fizzy pop bottle and silicone sealant the dome over the drain tube end and nut! Why not? Easy to prise off if you needed to get to the tube (always assuming it’ll open for you and is functioning well!), and easy to replace and silicone up again  . . . and its waterproof!! Simples!!  

[Colin Lindsay]

Sounds like a good solution; you can also cut a short length of any rubber tube of the correct diameter - hosepipe, for example - or any good cigar tube (plastic or metal) will protect the drain from the worst of road dirt and weather. No-one ever sees it...!

[ahebron]

5 hours ago, Colin said:

Chaps; In the spirit of ‘make and mend’, and whilst not anticipating a concours medal award after the act . . . I thought that, were I to be retaining the drain tube (and I’m not!), I could simply trim the very lower portion from a fizzy pop bottle and silicone sealant the dome over the drain tube end and nut! Why not? Easy to prise off if you needed to get to the tube (always assuming it’ll open for you and is functioning well!), and easy to replace and silicone up again  . . . and its waterproof!! Simples!!  

One word

Condensation.

 

[Colin Lindsay]

12 hours ago, ahebron said:

One word

Condensation.

 

Got to be less harmful than road dirt and rain, and it'll dry out again in warm weather. You could also wrap it in plumbers grease-impregnated tape which would protect from both road damage and water. (Might try that myself!!)

[Colin]

Thanks chaps.

I had ReNu, Hartlepool chop the broken drain tube off, weld a repair. Split and shot blast clean the tank innards. Use their special coating inside and out, baked. Couriered to them and returned to me all for the same cost as a new tank which would have been sitting and deteriorating on a suppliers’ shelf. I made a boot floor pan repair section and silicone sealed it and bolted it in. Underneath and inside the boot. 😊

[daverclasper]

On 27/05/2020 at 18:34, Colin Lindsay said:

Sounds like a good solution; you can also cut a short length of any rubber tube of the correct diameter - hosepipe, for example - or any good cigar tube (plastic or metal) will protect the drain from the worst of road dirt and weather. No-one ever sees it...!

Also smaller dia hose filed with copper grease for brake adjusters