The Ford Barn - lead repair

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can anyone tell me if I can use lead to repair holes in gas tank?

Sure, ....but how you gonna melt the lead to work it??

This may depend on the size of your hole.

A road debris collision in 1978 while driving my 1977 Isusu/Chevy LUV pickup caused me to put 3/4 of a tank of fuel on the roadway - it seemed like my rather economical truck was using gas at a furious rate. When I stopped to investigate, I found the smell of gas around the rear and a drip-drip-drip from the tank.

A quick drive the next morning to the Chevy garage for repairs (after refilling) indicated that a new tank was the preferred solution - and that a new tank was at least three weeks in the future - because - you guessed it - it had to be shipped from Japan.

"Um - what about simply soldering the leak shut?" I queried.

"We could do that if the leak isn't too big."

The tank was removed and examined and the leak (drip-drip-drip remember) seemed like it was where the piece of roadway steel had caught the turn of the back of the tank and dug in - a small leak as leaks go.

So the garage cleaned the paint off the tank, and used a LARGE soldering iron and fluxed and solder coated the leak spot - and added some more solder for good measure - all without flushing out the tank. The repair held until the truck was traded in for a better vehicle a couple of years later.

For yours you might even try soldering in a patch, providing you can get a good seal around the outside edges. And feel pretty confident about cleaning the gas fumes out from the tank.

The original tank material is so called "tern coated steel" which I take to mean lead dipped. Either way, I think the experience by most doing repairs around the steering column bracket has been good with solder.

Just one suggestion.

Joe K

Steel can be soldered but it helps if you have some experience.
Practice on a scrap piece of sheet metal.
The steel must be very very clean and shiny.
You must use muriatic acid as flux; rosin type flux or paste plumbers flux will not work.
Get some 40-60 solder (the second number is lead and you want as high a percentage as you can get)
It is very very difficult to solder upside down so if the leak is on the bottom you may have to remove the tank.
For an iron, you could use a 1200 watt electric soldering iron (massive) or the type of iron that is heated externally in a propane forge. These tools are becoming hard to get.

Of course, never an open flame on any container that has ever had gasoline in it, even if it was 20 yrs ago. There will always be a residue and it will explode.
Of course, you can put dry ice in the tank to displace the O2 and get away with a flame but you will get it too hot and the solder will run out of the area you are working on. The trick is very very controlled heat.

If at all possible have a radiator shop do this work; that is what they do, they solder all day long. Barring that get a lot of tutoring from someone with experience. In the time it takes to type all this I could have had the job done, but as always experience is the best teacher. Miles just soldered up a modern tank at the dealership he consults at. Saved them a fortune.

I am sure there will be the usual detractors but this is what works for me for 6 decades

There used to be a shop in Dallas, Chief Radiator, and they did their gas tank patching with a large forge-heated copper iron and sheet copper. It took longer to clean and bead blast the area to be soldered and get the iron hot than to do the actual soldering.

I repaired hundreds of gas tanks. But...... EPA, now won't let you have a boil out tank. I use to boil out a gas tank, then flush with it out with water, drain water out. If you couldn't get it all out, we would punch a whole in lowest part of tank (out of sight) and then repair it by soldering a penny in the spot, then hook the gas tank on the exhaust of shop truck lwith old radiator hose. let the truck run about half hour. Take off exhaust, immediately plug outlets with rags. Solder damage and holes with brass patches. Don't let tank sit for any length of time, as fumes will come back into tank. If you repair it immediately after running in exhaust pipe you will never have a problem.

well.....If you do any welding or soldering on a tank make sure to do it right, I had one blow up at me! fill it with water and exhaust gas.
Ive also saw one of grandpas friend take a torch and weld a tank up.
He lit it up and started to braze it and when he was happy with it he turned it over and cooled it with the Gas!!!! It was still Half full!!
That guy was a dare devil up until the day he died, he was an old farmer and did some really dangerous stuff
John

I once made a temporary repair on a fuel tank with a hole large enough to cause fuel to leak in a constant dribbling stream by putting a washer over a self tapping screw, then a piece of neoprene and screwed it into the hole. Since the hole was caused by something on the road hitting the tank, the area around the hole was concave so tightening the screw pulled the metal down so the screw was held even tighter. Anyway, that "temporary" repair was still there and DRY nearly three years later when the owner sold it.
A good roadside tip.

Use a big electric soldering iron, clean the area with a brass (steel wires will spark!) wire brush in a dremel or electric drill. A piece of a soup can will work as a patch and solder up really easy. Use acid flux.

You don't have to empty the gas for safety, but please ground it with a jumper cable before you start.

Ian

thanks for all the replies. I am using the lead as if I am doing a patch on the body. the holes are small rust holes and there is no gas (or fumes) in the tank. I was mostly concerned with any chemical reaction with the soldering paste holding the bond. Thanks Again.

The gasoline will probably not have a problem with any remnants of either rosin or acid core flux.

The tank might, particularly on the outside where it is exposed to the air and moisture.

The inside not so much since the gasoline protects it from both.

You could use soap, water and baking soda and neutralize much of the acid before you finish work and repaint/refill with gas. Dry completely of course.

Joe K