Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I had one of the studs crack on my tank last year, took the tank out & discovered corrosion just in time. Fortunately a good friend is a certified welder. Rinsed the tank out many times with water, then left in the sun for several days before welding / patching . Shipping a gas (petrol) tank to the States is almost as much as buying one...

Here are my photos of the crack & the repair:

nice work Phil

Bigbaldybloke wrote:Watched a recent version of Wheeler Dealer on TV, they had a car with a leaky petrol tank and found a local specialist who made a patch and soldered it into place then pressure tested the tank, so have a search locally as there are people out there who do that type of repair.

I saw that too, apparently they steam cleaned it to remove the fuel fumes.

Robbie

everyone had me scared to death before I attempted to "plastic-weld" my M100 fuel tank while in situ. to combat my fears, I poured a thimble full of gasoline into an open bottle cap and took my very hot welding/soldering iron and dipped it right into the gasoline. nothing happened. the gas started to boil, but no ignition, no explosion, no burning.
there was gas in the tank when I plastic welded the bottom leaking seam with no problems..... just rattled nerves!


of course using a torch with open flame would NOT be recommended or attempted while brazing/soldering a metal tank, so i know it's "apples and oranges".