Plastic petrol tanks

Discussion in 'General Vehicle Chat' started by dodgy, May 21, 2023.

  1. dodgy

    dodgy Paid Member Paid Member

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    Being devoid of volkswagens at present I've turned to getting our mgf back on the road.
    So where its been sat for 18mths outside its succumbed to a bit of rust, rear of sills where filler had been used before our ownership, and rear of tub in front of rear subframe there's a lip that water sits on.
    Anyway, whole day off and good weather and set for the repairs, decided to strip car out as the tank is behind the seats, and about an inch from where I had to weld.
    So everything apart, seats carpet, consoles etc, inner engine cover, then the bulkhead and membrane to reveal the plastic tank.
    Then I decided just to Google the removal method to check filler dismantling and the like.
    Heart sank as basically every post was saying the tank can't be removed without wrecking the bulkhead, or cutting the tank up as they swell with fuel in them.
    Alternatively people have removed the fuel pump, completely drain tank and leave vented for a month or two which allows it to shrink back to a more original size.

    Which got me thinking back to the mk2s we had, Allie's we needed to drop the tank and then struggled to get the straps back on, even to the point where I used longer bolts and a nut to wind it up, whereas my mk2 got a mk3 tank swapped in (twice due to a hole) and went in easily presumably due to the tanks being empty in storage for a few months prior to fitting so had shrunk back.

    Perhaps it's the reason that some stainless straps are snug to fit.
    Cheers Dave
     
  2. PhilRyder

    PhilRyder Paid Member Paid Member

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    I hate to fart on your theory but when we put the mk3 tank into the mk2 it went in no problem and it had had petrol in it up until that point.
    I have just removed my BMW tank to fit a fuel pump and to get rid of fumes I filled it with water. Being plastic though I’m guessing your MGF tank cannot be drained, much like the golf tanks?
     
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  3. Savagesam

    Savagesam Moderator Staff Member Moderator

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    Drain it, fill it with water, weld to your hearts content, drain the water, full it back up again.
     
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  4. dodgy

    dodgy Paid Member Paid Member

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    The tank is a nightmare shape, as well as being angled backwards in the bulkhead compartment.
    Did flood the floor with water to minimise heat/flame transfer as couldn't remove it.
    As everything is a job and a half on the F, filling the tank with water would probably have been the last straw for it.
    Welding now done, just got to tidy it up next.
     

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