Thread: Long range fuel tank?

wow $110 is cheap, I am thinking about getting another aluminium 1 or 2 made up

Originally Posted by Landy Smurf

wow $110 is cheap, I am thinking about getting another aluminium 1 or 2 made up

Personlly I would never use an aluminium tank. I have seen plenty of aluminium bits bolted to landies that corrode the steel chassis. Plus the tank design collects dirt at the back of the tank which accelerates this. Add to that the poor fatigue properties of Al compared to steel.

My dad's IIA (now owned by Killer) has a stainless 10-gal tank which I think is a better material option if you are making a custom tank.

We have had one for years without any problems hence the reason I was going to use it again.
What do you think the cost difference would be between a stainless steel and aluminium tank?

Originally Posted by Landy Smurf

We have had one for years without any problems hence the reason I was going to use it again.
What do you think the cost difference would be between a stainless steel and aluminium tank?

Stainless is more expensive but you would be stepping down to 1.6 instead of 4++ mm material. So I imagine material costs would be similar.

Re: Aluminium tanks. Could be more difficult/expensive to get welded if you get a crack develop. Also, as mentioned, there is also the potential problem of electrolytic corrosion.

Re: Aftermarket tanks. There was a discussion elsewhere about the aftermarket tanks having the drain plug in the rear edge rather than the bottom which is better than original.

Any sheetmetal company could make the tanks, the cost would be in producing the initial CAD drawings for the laser cutting.
I have a 16gal aftermarket tank sitting beside my driveway, half full of diesel & water (I must get round to emptying it). The bottom has taken a big impact but still holds fuel OK.

Were the originals resistance welded ? What I mean is are the side panels recessed in and there is a serrated line top & bottom of the seam where they have been resistance welded between 2 rollers.
The aftermarket ones are fully welded and made from 6 separate panels, that's a fair bit of work for $110.....



Colin

Originally Posted by gromit

...

Were the originals resistance welded ? What I mean is are the side panels recessed in and there is a serrated line top & bottom of the seam where they have been resistance welded between 2 rollers.
The aftermarket ones are fully welded and made from 6 separate panels, that's a fair bit of work for $110.....



Colin

I think the originals may have been spot welded then soldered/tinned internally??? (could be wrong).

The 16 gal tank I have/had has a number of folds, so is made from only 1 or 2 sheets of steel, not 6.

Originally Posted by isuzurover

I think the originals may have been spot welded then soldered/tinned internally??? (could be wrong).

The 16 gal tank I have/had has a number of folds, so is made from only 1 or 2 sheets of steel, not 6.

The one I have on the driveway and the one in the little Isuzu powered SIII look like 6 separate panels welded up. So maybe a different supplier down in Melbourne ??

OK just checked the picture below and maybe the outside is one folded sheet making 3 panels.





Colin

Colin, your one looks to be an after-market one, the original had at least a 1/2" radius on the lower rear corner.

Ben, my original 16 gallon tank has been soldered all around the edges, but I think a spot-welded lap joint would be asking for trouble. On the S1 they were folded using a double-fold and then soldered. The S1's and probably later cars were made of a lead-coated material called tern-plate (spelling?) in Oz, but my S3 one looks to be galvanised inside,

Cheers Charlie