Did I ruin an otherwise usable Fuel Tank?

[wbrian63]

The tank I removed from #1164 when parting the car out was to become the replacement tank for #521, but I may have ruined it.

There were two holes in #1164's tank that had been repaired with some setup that used a stainless steel sheet-metal screw and a rubber washer with some sort of sealant.

I didn't like this setup, so I decided to close the holes up by welding.

The tank has sat in my workshop storage for >3 years open to the atmosphere, so welding was not an issue for safety.

One of the holes was along the back side of the tank, that was easily sealed.

The other was at the top corner (where the back face curves to become the top) on the end opposite the filler neck.

I got this one sealed up without much trouble, but when I went to move the tank after the work was done, I heard some stuff rattling around on the inside. I shook the tank around a bit and a chunk of what appears to be melted plastic fell out.

A little visual inspection via the sender hole with a remote camera device reveals a plastic (I think it's ABS) 'tank' that's attached to the top of the metal tank. It starts adajacent to the sender hole and stretches across the tank to the end where I repaired the hole.

I think it's a baffle to allow the vent to function properly without dumping fuel when the tank is full of gasoline.

I can see where the plastic has melted where I did the "repair", and now there's a hole in the side of the plastic tank.

Have I scrapped an otherwise serviceable fuel tank?

[siddiqiumar]

if it ain't broken....... don't fix it
If its fixed don't refix it until it breaks again

[wbrian63]

Very helpful