Aluminum Gas Tank Repair

[Buccaneer]

I know some of you have cut holes, or cut in half your outboard gas tanks
in order to remove dents, etc. I have seen Youtube videos, and
even read in the old Evinrude manuals of such repairs.
I did cut the steel tank on my Champion D1D in half at the seam, sandblast
the old chrome plating out, pound out dents, and brazed it back up.
The OB34A Neptune I’m working on has an aluminum tank, badly dented
in in the back and one side. I’m toying with the idea of cutting it in half
at the horizontal seam, pounding out the dents, and trying
to gas weld it with aluminum rods, which I’ve never attempted.
I just watched a video on some new fangled HTS-2000 aluminum welding
rods that require no flux.
What’s your experience with these rods? Should I attempt it, or just
get the bondo out?
Thanks.

Prepare to be boarded!

[Mumbles]

If you want the patch in the tank to be structurally sound, you might consider paying the bucks and having it TIG welded by a pro.

[david-bartlett]

I think the learning curve is pretty steep using those rods. I would not want to try to master it with a Neptune tank.

[frankr]

My limited experience with those aluminum rods is "No Way" with a gas tank. Well, maybe somebody with a heck of a lot more skill than I have.

[RICHARD A. WHITE]

Cut the opening where the flywheel will cover it up, then remove dents. A good Tig welder can do that pretty dam quickly and should not be alot of money either. 2 friends you NEED in this hobby… A toolmaker/machinist and a welder. 😉 Tubs has some videos of doing a Speedster tank, very informative…Check them out

http://www.richardsoutboardtools.com
classicomctools@gmail.com

[The Boat House]

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• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by The Boat House.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by The Boat House.

[Buccaneer]

And it looked so easy on the HTS-2000 video as they were welding
up gas tanks 🙁
I would like to try out gas aluminum welding, but guess I should
practice on some OMC tanks!
Thanks for the input, much appreciated!

Prepare to be boarded!

[Buccaneer]

While looking at the gas tank again, I came up with plan "C"…… perhaps.
Instead of 1/2" of bondo on the back of the gas tank, how would it
work to drill a few holes for my slide hammer, play the torch on the edges
of the dent, and slide hammer away? Maybe I could get it so I’d only need
1/8" or 1/4" of bondo. Of course, I’d have to hope I could weld up the 3/16" – 1/4"
holes.

Prepare to be boarded!

[westwind]

One thing that is pretty critical for gas welding aluminum is the grade. Some weld great, no doubt what was used in the video, others not so much. It’s hard to say what grade the tank might be.

[The Boat House]

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• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by The Boat House.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by The Boat House.

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