Gary Coffman wrote in message . ..
On Sun, 8 Feb 2004 21:26:29 -0500, "Peter Reilley" wrote:
"Gary Coffman" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 22:00:00 -0600, wrote:
I think someone must have tightened the hell out of this plug years ago.
The tanks are 3/16 steel plate, and the plug is mounted in a very heavy
boss.
I think that an impact extension could be mig-welded into the plug
and it could be turned.

The only problem might be my hands shaking too bad to get a decent bead.

My neighbor said: "Go on and weld the damn thing. Hell, she aint goin'
to make but one bang!".

It'll be fine. Remember the fire triangle. You have to have fuel, oxygen,
and heat all come together at the same time in the same location. The
plug is under liquid gasoline, so oxygen is missing from the fire
triangle.
Some of the gas will boil, raising the vapor pressure in the tank. But it
will be below ignition temperature when it finds the vent. You will have
a flamable mixture just outside the vent, make sure you don't throw any
sparks that way. (You might want to run a hose from the vent to some
point downwind of your activities.)

Gary

Wonderful theory. Remind me to stand back a long way while you
try it. I will use my video camera (the long distance telephoto lens is
pretty good). This is one of those things that sound great in theory
before the fact, afterwards no one can explain what happened. ;-(

Not a problem. I've done it hundreds of times. The only time I get
leery is when I'm asked to weld on an *empty* tank. Won't do it.
Wouldn't be prudent. *That's* a situation just asking for an explosion.

Consider that every late model vehicle with a fuel pump in the tank
has sparks in there any time the pump is running. They don't go
bang. The reason is the fire triangle isn't satisfied.

Gary

Agreed. Empty tanks are frightening, but a full(at least above point
of heat) tank is really not an issue. Stay away from the vapors and
you are ok. Keep the A/F ratio way above or below 14:1 and you will
have difficulty getting it to ignite(even if you try).

Considering you are pulling the tank(or at least the plug) fill it
with ANYTHING that makes you feel better. Water would be fine. To
get it out later you will need to some gas w/ some alcohol added.
Gas would be fine. A few gallons of diesel might be the best choice.

Weld something on to it and turn it out. As other have said, the heat
from welding will probably almost allow you to turn it out be hand.

JW