Aluminum B2B Fuel Tank Project

[johnsartain]

This weekend was a new project for my B2B, Dewey. The old fuel tank was roached out. Holes everywhere, and the metal around the sending unit was paper thin and rusted out. I had som aluminum I had bought a while back, a 4X4 sheet, So what the heck, lets make a gas tank. First step is to lay out and cut the parts. Best practice is to make as few welded seams as possible. One of ting tools he great things about working with aluminum is that you can use a skil-saw to cut it all out. 

Edited September 11, 2017 by johnsartain

[johnsartain]

Bending can be a bit of a challenge as the metal gets thicker. The piece I had was 1/16 inch thick, 16 gauge. It can be bent to come degree by clamping it to a metal table and rolling it with a hammer. It better to use a sheet metal brake. There's nothing like having access to a hydraulic one. The brake we used was home made and was originally designed to bend up to 3/8 steel so the aluminum was not a problem.

Edited September 11, 2017 by johnsartain

[johnsartain]

With all of the pieces cut and bent, it time to put it all together. First all of the baffles are placed in and welded. 3/8 inch gap was left at the bottom of the baffle. These add rigidity and stop fuel from sloshing so badly as you stop, start and corner. Next the top is tacked into place Clamps are used to draw and pull the aluminum to keep warpage out. Aluminum warps much worse than  steel. Being thicker it holds heat longer. It also does not glow red when hot, so if you try welding aluminum treat every piece as hot. A block was welded into the end for the fuel outlet and pickup tube. the the final end cover is tacked into place. Once all the tacks are done it time to weld it up. We were fortunate to have a Millermatic 350P with a high production aluminum feed gun, (not a spool gun). It made the whole process much simpler. 

Edited September 11, 2017 by johnsartain

[johnsartain]

So finally after a work, here is a partially finished tank. I still have to put in a bung for the sending unit, drain plug, end brackets for mounting, and a couple of bars along the side to add more rigidity. A tig welder will be used to clean up the welds and repair any seams that fail pressure testing.

Edited September 11, 2017 by johnsartain

[B1B Keven]

Awesome!  If you go into production, let me know!

[johnsartain]

It was more of a " Let do this because we can" not a "Because its cheaper"  with tanks inc pricing at about $250 + shipping, that's a price that is hard to beat. The only gain is it will never rust out. I may be dismayed when we fill it with water and go to find leaks.