84 GL Brat Fuel Tank

[TimothyFinn]

 I just acquired a 1984 GL Brat that needs serious work.  First order of business - the fuel tank has some bad rust on the outside and is full of two year old fuel.  I'd like to just replace the tank and the gas lines instead of trying to clean the gunk out.  Where can I source these parts?  I don't need OEM, just something that will fit/function.  

I have searched this forum to no avail.  

 

Thank You!

[Al Zhiemer]

Without sounding sarcastic...

 

Yep... Good luck with that. Apart from a complete custom tank, only choices are to clean the old tank or source a good secondhand unit.

 

Sourcing a good secondhand unit is probably the best option if yours is seriously rusted on the inside as well. You will become very capable of the remove, recondition and replace technique with these old girls and find yourself with an extra one or two cars laying around for parts. Which is a shame because there are better quality cars now being scrapped by those of us in the quest to keep ours on the road.

 

Regards

 

Al

[SiriusBlack]

I have done some looking and while you can get new tanks for the Leone sedans and the XTs, its pretty much impossible to get a tank for the brats and wagons. My main problem, is that the studs that hold the fuel sender on rust and snap. I am thinking the best route to go, for the brat anyway is to buy plastic fuel cells. If you measure and get the right size you should be able to get even more fuel capacity than stock. You have alot of unused space under the bed near the fuel pump and filter, that is where you can fit some extra capacity with the fuel cells. Hang them from the "frame rails" with self drilling screws and stainless steel bands, then if you feel they need protection from road debris hang some slabs of rubber between them and the road. The rubber belts for grain cups at the local Mill should do nicely. Connect the various fuel cells with rubber lines from bottom to bottom and run them in series. Never done this yet myself, but is something I have researched and highly considered.

Hope this helps and good luck.

[SiriusBlack]

I fixed my fuel tank on my 86 BRAT recently. I used some thin sheet metal as patch material, and soldered on the patches with 60/40 acid core solder and a propane torch. It looks pretty damn good, going to test for leaks soon, then if there are none going to anti rust coat it and reinstall it. Wish I could share the pics, but the files are too large apparently. Thought I'd share the idea here though for others that want to try it. Make sure to purge the tank of all fumes before applying flame. I put a block of dry ice in mine then let it sit for probably 2 weeks, did a good job of ridding it of fumes. Good luck to you if you try this method.

[SiriusBlack]

The patch worked for the most part. As is the case with rust i had another couple leaks spring up but they were outside of the area i patched. The patch material and solder hold back most of it, but you will end up with some small leaks. To seal those up i used fiberglass resin from a fiberglass repair kit, just apply the resin without the fiberglass cloth and let it bond and cure. Did a beautiful job of sealing the smaller leaks around the patch. Make 100% sure you have it fully clean though, clean the area you are soldering and applying the resin to THOROUGHLY. I used an angle grinder and a flap disc, slight grinding so you don't remove too much metal. Solder on your patch then coat the entire thing in the resin, should do the job. Best of luck to you.