New fuel tank problem.

[Hasbeen]

I'm shattered. New air con.
New paint job.
Triumph club run Sunday, & I can't go. I've got a new type of fuel tank leak.

I have noticed an increase in fuel consumption over recent months. I tuned the carbs, fitted new hoses in the engine bay, made sure of no leaks at the pump, but consumption still up.

I found the area around the fuel gauge, fuel pick up fitting on my fuel tank was a little damp looking, & had tightened it a little a couple of weeks back. I decided to replace the pickups gasket, & the hose back there.

Lowered the fuel in the tank, pulled the the sender, cleaned everything, fitted new hose, using injection hose, as I no longer trust the ordinary stuff.

Fitted new rubber gasket thing, & tightened the fitting lightly. I then added 10 liters of fuel, & found it now dripping out.

Inspection shows it is coming out around the tank fitting the sender fastens into, between the 2 metal surfaces. I have not heard of the tanks leaking in this area before.

I looked at an old tank, & it appears that there are 2 parts to the fitting, one inside the tank & one outside. I haven't stripped & polished the thing, but it appears to be spot welded in. If so, it would have to be silver soldered or some such to seal.

There is no sign of damage or rust, so the joint must have just become porous.

I hope this is not another tank problem we will all suffer. This is the tank I repaired 10 years ago, so rather than solder it up, I'll probably just replace the thing.

Not a major problem, but why now?

Hasbeen

[Stag76]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Triumph club run Sunday, & I can't go.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

That's disappointing...bring the Honda.

TR7 Convertible
Sprint Motor
MegaSquirt EFI

[Hasbeen]

Yes Stag, that's the plan. I did want to show off my new paint job.

These Triumph things have a very high ability to bring you back to earth, when you get a bit too confident or cocky.

Hasbeen

[Cobber]

<font face="Comic Sans MS"><font size="2">Hasbeen, I've got a tank you can have, the bottom is rotten along the leading edge of course, but I can cut the whole section from around the gauge unit with my plasma cutter if you want to use it as a repair section.
It'll cost bugger all to post the section up to you</font id="size2"></font id="Comic Sans MS">

80'Triumph TR7, , 73'Land Rover (Ford 351. V8),
'89 Ford Fairlane
'98 MG-F, 69'Ford F250.
76' Ford F100

[Hasbeen]

Thanks for the offer Cobber. I have this cars original tank here, the one in it is the one out of my spares car, that I rust repaired about ten years ago.

I found a new old stock tank in Melbourne, & am about half way through fitting it. Getting the old one out was much more fiddly than I remember the previous efforts were. Probably just getting old & slow.

The sender float had fuel in it, probably about 10%. I had the float from a previously failed sender, & used that. In an emergency some years back I had a float with fuel in it. I simply drilled a small hole in it, got the fuel out, & plugged the hole with a wooden plug. Wood must swell in petrol, as it does in water, as that float was still dry 3 years later.

I hope our UK members are sitting down. I wouldn't want you to fall over in shock, & hurt yourself when I quote the price of this tank. How does A$680.00 sound.

Little wonder our cars are a bit dearer than those elsewhere.

Hasbeen

[busheytrader]

Ouch...That's approx £440.00

Haven't some of the guys on the forum been paying that for Speke cars with a valid MOT?

Adam



TR7 V8 DHC Jaguar Solent Blue. 9.35cr Range Rover V8, Holley 390cfm, JWR Dual Port, 214 Cam, Lumention, Tubular Manifolds, S/S Single Pipe Exh, 3.08 Rear, 200lb Spax & PolyBushes all round, Anti- Dive, Strut-Top Roller Bearings, Capri Vented Discs & Calipers, Braided Hoses, 4 Speed Rear Cylinders, Uprated Master Cylinder & Servo, AT 14" 5 Spokes or Maestro Turbo 15" Alloys, Cruise Lights, S/S Heater Pipes, Replacement Fuel Tank. No Door Stickers. Mine since July 1986, V8 from 1991 courtesy of S&S V8 conversion and big brake kits.

[John Clancy]

Very few rusty Speke cars left Adam. In the main only the good ones have survived this long and because they are now so sought after are more likely to be restored if a reasonably poor one comes up for sale.

New fuel tanks here are around £200 so the cost in Oz doesn't seem too bad considering.

<center><b>[url="http://www.triumphdvd.co.uk"]Triumph TR7 and other car documentaries on DVD here[/url]</b></center>

[Troy ODoherty]

It's moments like these that you need Minties. I have seen rally cars with nasty leaks in the fuel tank finish rallies when we chewed a couple of Minties until soft and then used them like wood putty over the leak. I know one trusting lad that sanded them
Down after the rally and painted the tank. Lasted for years.
And they always make you feel better when things are grim.

Cheers Troy

[FI Spyder]

Makes me feel really good about the $200 I spent on materials, cleaning out old failed sealer and POR-15 sealing the cleaned tank. Took me 6 weeks but at least the old sealer saved the tank as it showed no signs of rust except for a patch above center line at the back of the tank that was slightly pitted where the sealer had failed.

- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[Hasbeen]

Glad to be able to make you feel good Spyder, like to come & massage my old back, to make it feel good too.

Tank went in last night as it grew dark. 7 liters of fuel & gage still reads empty. Added another 8, & I think it is off the stop. Have I stuffed up another sender?

Tried to start car, nothing. Wondered if the sender, pick up could go in upside down. Good Triumph engineers, it can't

Getting dark, put charger on battery, shut door, & had a long hot shower trying to ease some kinks out of this old body.

This morning, another 6 liters of petrol, total 21 liters, [almost 5 gallons], brings gage up to almost 1/4, good, one win.

Still refuses to start. Check carbs, have fuel. Checked plugs, no spark. Remember that I have not started car since I fitted new fuel hoses into & out of pump. Put the wire I'd knocked off, back on coil. Engine starts roughly. Put breather hose back on front carb, engine runs nicely.

Sounds like an exhaust leak. I think the muffler has a new kink, probably damaged it when the tail pipe hit the skip. Will look at it later.

Good, I can't hear it with the car out in the open. Went for a run. going great. Exhaust hitting something on the bigger bumps. It was dropped of course to get the tank out. Brakes need some more bleeding, since the rear hose was disconnected. Always takes a couple of goes.

There's a rough old bushy, runs an exhaust shop in town, he is a genius at getting exhausts in cramped spaces, might have to see him.

Parked the car in front of shed. Pulled the carpet out to clean it before car goes back in. Came down the house to get brooms etc. I'm batching this week, so put the stuff in the bread maker & turned it on. Hot bread for afternoon tea.

Will now clean shed, & put carpet back. Will know about exhaust, once car is back in shed.

No fuel leaks, so success. What a nice feeling.

That's my last 24 hours, how were yours.

Hasbeen

[Beans]

Good to see that the car's is back on the road [:)]
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Hasbeen</i>

... That's my last 24 hours, how were yours ... <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Had a nice BBQ with some Petrol head friends yesterday evening [:D]
But rather quiet on the TR7 front, concluded that the horn relay on the DHC isn't at fault.
Must be a bad earth or a fault at the horns themselves .
Which seems rather strange to me bearing in mind how I treated the earth points and when I finished the car ...
But as I thought it to be an easy fix I didn't take any spanners with me to the shed.
Well leaves me something to sort tomorrow afternoon.


<center>
<font color="blue"><i>1980 TR7 DHC (my first car, now restored and back on the road)
1981 TR7 FHC Sprint (better known as 't Kreng)</font id="blue">
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