Pacific coast Datsun Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Was going to work this morning going bout 70-ish & the Astro van in front of me swirves hard all of a sudden to reveal a large metal goblet [mug/drinking cup] thats the size of football !!!!! I had.01 seconds to react..couldnt avoid id & slammed into it! I though tit just hit the front X member & that was it but no...a few miles down the road th etruck stalls & pull over to the smell of gas leaking out of the dime sized hole in the middle of the hand sized dent in my gas tank!!! :mad::mad: The chances of me actually finding a 521 tank @ the yards is kinda slim & it is my daily & cant be down too long....im thinking of using JB weld to patch the hole & see if it holds. Any advice...Is this safe & will it last? Quote Link to comment
Grahem Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 i dont think jb weld holds up to gas well, i have however seen 2 part epoxy made for gas tank repair it seemed to hold ok on my 4 dr chevette Quote Link to comment
kiznook Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Fuck that, JB weld can do anything!! http://jbweld.net/products/uses.php#jbweld go for it...it will work, just make sure it's good and dry before applying, get a good mix and make sure it has adequate time to set up Quote Link to comment
Pacific coast Datsun Posted February 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Ill get up under it in a few days & try the JB weld & see how it works..thanks guys. BTW i hate debris on the freeway! Quote Link to comment
dat521gatherer Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 damn, what are the odds. either option will work. i used an epoxy called liquid metal "cant find it anymore" on a freeze plug that had a pin hole in the middle, looked like it was taking a leak. the epoxy has been holding the hole for more than a year. usually the epoxy ends up not being strong enough for what i use it for. i even stuck some down in a cam tower bolt hole many years ago and had no problems since. dont use the clear on clear epoxy. black on white epoxy is best. there are 2 521 tanks down at the parkland/tacoma pull-a-part. i'm sure shipping would be about $30-35 to ship one from here. i had performance radiator weld up a tank for me once. they did a perfect job and pressure tested it for me, painted too. finding a place to weld up a tank these days is not easy. this was 8-10 years ago. cost about $60. car-part.com lists 11 tanks from 7 different sellers. http://car-part.com/ Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 JB weld will work on the tank. My first into to JB when I was a kid was using two packages of it to recreate the bottom of a rusted out motorcycle gas tank.....ran the bike all summer until the motor siezed up....tank was still good. They make gas tank sealer, which is two strips of putty type epoxy....never tried it. Just make sure the area you are epoxying is clean and dry. If there's still some residual gas in the tank, you can probably jack one side/end up enough to get the fuel away from the hole. Obviously, don't use a flame. You can use a fan to dry the area. OH...use 5minute JB!!!!! Holds as well as the 24 hr stuff, but curse in minutes. I'd give it an hour. And roughen the surround area up with sandpaper to give it some "tooth" for the JB to stick too. Quote Link to comment
Pacific coast Datsun Posted February 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Ratsun to the rescue again! It's a Datsun..i dont really wanna spend $$ on it, JB weld it is :D & yeah ill use the 5 minute stuff. Quote Link to comment
pope_face Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Hahaha, you could always try duct-tape and plastic wrap... It might hold up for a few minutes... How do you guys JB weld it? Do you just go over it several times, putting one layer on top of another until it closes, or do you cut out a small piece of metal and then JB weld that to the tank? Quote Link to comment
MrRobatoGato Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Try using soap...its a temp job...hah.. but it works... Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 How do you guys JB weld it? Do you just go over it several times, putting one layer on top of another until it closes, or do you cut out a small piece of metal and then JB weld that to the tank? .....yes :) Quote Link to comment
pope_face Posted February 28, 2008 Report Share Posted February 28, 2008 Er... which one? =P Cut out a piece of metal and JB weld it? Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted February 28, 2008 Report Share Posted February 28, 2008 ......yes :) ...uuummmm.....if it's the size of a dime....why not just use a dime instead of taking the time to cut one out? :) Quote Link to comment
fisch Posted February 28, 2008 Report Share Posted February 28, 2008 Man I wish I had read this thread before I cut all my hoses, removed the gas tank and took it to my radiator repair guy who patched it for $60. Now I gotta try to fit a generic hose in there. 5min jb weld sounds like the way to go! Quote Link to comment
BACARDI_DWB Posted February 28, 2008 Report Share Posted February 28, 2008 wow that sucks. i would say if you have time empty it out. clean it out. weld it up check for leaks and be done with it. btw there are 2 521's in the junk yards right now. don't know if they have tanks still on them. one is at the pick your parts off nirvana, go down the main isle and turn right on the other main isle and its on your right about 10 rows down the other 521 is at the ecology on nirvana, as soon as you walk in look to your right and its right in front. its a green one. hopefully the tanks are still there and not with punched holes. sometimes they punch holes to drain the tanks. wasteful i think also if you do weld it. take the time and put in a drain plug. haha perfect time to do it. Quote Link to comment
Pacific coast Datsun Posted March 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Thanks for the heads up on the JY info but not alot of time to get down there. I got up under yesterday & applied 2 coats of the fast setting JB weld & today ill put some gas in & see if it holds...gentlemen the hole-->..& yes thats my middle finger :D you can kinda see the outline of the dent too... Quote Link to comment
sdsurf Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 That is gnarly, mark, hope it works!!! Quote Link to comment
BEEBANI Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Mark, if you go to the POR-15 website, they have a tank patch kit that I've heard works really well. Quote Link to comment
fiveNdime Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 I would take out the tank fill it with water then weld the hole closed.....mmmm....yep....thats what I would do. If you want a fix for the moment use all of the above. Quote Link to comment
hang_510 Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Try using soap...its a temp job...hah.. but it works... not good for a big hole, but ive used it before. went over 400 mi through mexico too :D Quote Link to comment
Pacific coast Datsun Posted March 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Update...the 5 minute quick set JB weld is holding fast w/ no leaks! BTW you guys rock w/ all the advice & tips, Ratsun rules! & ya i missed driving my 521 85 on the freeway :cool: Quote Link to comment
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