Willy's MB gas tank repair

[rcrawn]

Hi,

Looking to repair an MB gas tank. I live in New Hampshire. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Rick

[LarrBeard]

Hi,

Looking to repair an MB gas tank. I live in New Hampshire. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Rick

MB gas tanks can be repaired if there is still enough metal left to find an edge to braze a patch against. As in most attempts to repair an original part, whether it can be done or not depends on just how much of the original is left, how much effort you want to put into it and how skilled you or the fixer is.

I’d start by ruthlessly poking away all of the rotted metal to find out just what you have to work with. Clean out all of the rust and scale you can – swishing and rattling small gravel around in it works about as well as anything. Once you get the rust and scale loosened up, you can see the pinholes that might have been backed up by rusty scaly pieces.

The good news is, that if you have good metal to work up against, it’s mostly flat with a few gentle bends that a sheet metal shop can probably help you with. Once you get it mended, there are a couple of coatings that GMWillys recommends to seal it up to keep any more loose crud from getting loose.

If you get a chance, post us a picture of the tank as is – and more as the project progresses.

[gmwillys]

Some old school radiator shops will hot tank your gas tank for a nominal fee. Then you'll know exactly what you are dealing with. If you don't have any pin holes afterward, you can then use aquarium gravel to clean any remaining scale from the inside. Aquarium gravel is clean and there is no dust associated with the gravel itself. Use a quart of water to help to slosh the gravel around. If you do have pin holes, (as often happens with the military style fuel tanks with the drop down well) then as LarrBeard stated, you can have a sheet metal shop bend you up what you need to patch.

Either which way you have to go, after the repair, use RedKote gas tank sealer. Use the good stuff, and not the cheap imitations. It's worth the money.

http://damonq.com/red-kote.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dn4Lf4rDYg

[Sebastian21]

I have had a couple of tanks that rusted out. When I started to clean them pin holes popped out all over. I do not think it is worth the effort to repair rusted tanks. Buy a new one and solve the problem

[scoutingranch]

I've done many tanks. It's a crap shoot. Some tanks I did were NLA and I had little choice, I lucked out. But, lack of new tanks for Willys don't seem to be an issue. And, they don't cost that much. By the way, I have always used the tank kit from Por-15.
If I have missed a fact then please correct me.

mike

[gmwillys]

I haven't tried the POR-15 kit. The RedKote works so well, I haven't wandered off the reservation enough to try anything else. The worst part of a military tank is the sump at the bottom. The floor board is seldom cleaned out, and collects dirt and debris. The tank isn't that hard to repair because the seams tend to stay intact, and the sheet metal is weak. A piece can be brazed or TIG welded in.

[scoutingranch]

I just pulled the tank on the '50 cj3a. It was replaced in '93 and a view inside tells me the PO must have used it as a septic tank.
New ones are reasonable so I won't mess with this one. New it will be. It's like old radiators (even if you can find someone to work on it), it just isn't worth it in my opinion.

[LarrBeard]

" ...so I won't mess with this one...."

That's usually the case, but you gotta look for yourself.