Planning on the small rear bumper swap this winter, I know I need to get the reinforcement brackets welded in the trunk area, as well as the small holes that need to be filled in the rear panel. My question is, how do you go about welding safely with the gas tank and filler neck that close? I don't want to get blown up the first time I strike an arc back there! Do I need to just go ahead and remove the tank and plug the gas line, or can it be done with the tank still on the car?
Is it even worth the chance? If its a choice of being burned horribly for life or taking an hour to 2 to remove the tank...I will take the extra time and remove the tank just to be on the safe side.
I mig welded my brackets with the tank still in the car and I'm still here. I was outside with moving air blowing around
did some welding in and around the trunk and didn't remove the tank. Didn't have any problems but it is probably a good idea to drop the tank
There are two types of people. Those that learn the hard way how far gas fumes travel, and those that will learn Drop the tank and run the rest of the fuel from the line. The car is worth an extra 30 minutes...
Do you see the muffler shop drop a tank to weld tail pipes and muffles? They are welding closer to the vent tube and tank. If the air is still and not circulating then it becomes a problem.
I converted my 77 without removing the tank. I would do it again. They are nonvented gas caps so all fumes go to the carbon canister up front. Soak a towel in water and wrap it around the base of the filler neck.
i agree with Jeff., Harold does exhaust systems all the time...never drops tanks... you need to do what makes Bobby, feel safe... ...Frank...
That was my main concern, knowing that gaskets dry out, gas caps are changed. The towel trick sounds good, I'll use that one.
Ready for a "back in the day" story? I watched my boss weld up a leaky gas tank by putting a hose from the cars running engine tailpipe into the filler neck of the gas tank. What it did was push out all oxygen containing air from the tank and replace it with exhaust fumes that will prevent the gasoline from burning. Remember the fire triangle - you need fuel, oxygen, ignition source. Remove any one of the three and you cannot have a fire - in this example the oxygen was removed. What he did was shove a hose into the tailpipe and stuff a rag into the pipe to force the exhaust down the hose. The other end was shoved into the filler neck. He let the engine idle for like 10 minutes to make sure all air in the tank was exhaust. And weld away he did on the tanks seam. Like I said, this is a "back in the day" story .......
