Subject: motorcycle gas tank welding -advice needed
From: "wallster"
Date: 13/08/04 23:57 GMT Daylight Time
Message-id:

I have an old gas tank off of a motorcycle that needs a mounting tab tacked
on to it. When I emptied the tank, the gas was real old and smelled like
varnish so i flushed the tank with acetone (rusty in there), then rinsed it
out with soapy water several times. I dont think it would explode because of
the age of the fuel that was in it and it was thoroughly rinsed but i'm not
a big fan of blowing my fingers off my body so i'm a bit relunctant to mig
this thing. A friend suggested to go outside with the cap off and stick a
propane torch in the opening and see if it flashes. If it doesn't, it most
likely wont explode. Any comments before I muster up enough nerve to tack
this tank.

One traditional method is to pipe car exhaust fumes into the tank to flush out
anything combustible and to displace all the air so there's no oxygen. Exhaust
gas, having been burnt once is pretty much inert so any remaining petrol vapour
won't ignite anyway. You need to keep the exhaust running while you weld of
course.
--
Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines (www.pumaracing.co.uk)