So my aluminum fuel tank is suffering from the good old methanol blues. I had it made when I was in Florida and the corrosion started there. Back here in Colorado it's not so bad, but still enough that I'm going to swap it out just to prevent issues in the future. I'm going to build a new one from stainless, but having trouble deciding on what thickness to use. I've measured .075, .063, and .050, and it seems the .050 is what I'm wanting. It's still decent enough thickness to hold up well, but not so thick that my tank will weight a million pounds.

What thickness would you use to build a tank if you were doing it? Keep in mind, it's triangular shaped, fits behind my seat, and holds approx 7 gallons.

How much fuel does it use per pass. With that I would build tank at 2x that volume only for weight savings and use .063 for added stregth

That's a lot of fuel, how big is the fire extinguisher?

When I had the aluminum tank made, I had measured for it, but did the math wrong for the capacity. I had figured about 4.5 gallons, it ended up just under 7. However, that has worked in my favor as I run the car a good bit of the time alone, which means drive to and from the lanes...Bandimere is a BIG track...it burns a lot of fuel going from the pits to the lanes and back....so the capacity is a benefit. I don't always have help so just adding enough capacity for two passes would be risky...I once ran out of fuel at Immokalee.... As far as .063 goes, I'm looking at that as well, and there isn't enough weight difference to really matter much....

why not plastic

.050 ss should be plenty strong in my opinion if your tank is designed and supported correctly.

quote:

Originally posted by 1320racer:
why not plastic

I wish I could, but there isn't one made that will fit in the location mine is at. That would be the easiest fix.

I have the same problem in our truck, slowly corroding ........ I was told anodizing the inside will solve the problem.

quote:

Originally posted by HS professor:
I have the same problem in our truck, slowly corroding ........ I was told anodizing the inside will solve the problem.

We anodize all of our aluminum tanks that will see methanol. One step better would be hard coat anodize. Very inexpensive to have done.

How old are the tanks that are corroding for you guys? Do you know what alloy they are? I made mine in 2009 and have had zero problems with it. Always ran Methanol.

quote:

Originally posted by Fabman:

We anodize all of our aluminum tanks that will see methanol. One step better would be hard coat anodize. Very inexpensive to have done.

Who does yours, and will they do a tank that already has corrosion?

I think ss is going to be pretty heavy I would not make it any thicker than .050. make sure it back purged also or you will have sugaring on the weld seams.

Here is a possibility to keep your original tank.

https://success.kbs-coatings.c...nk-for-100-methanol/

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Koehler:
Here is a possibility to keep your original tank.

https://success.kbs-coatings.c...nk-for-100-methanol/

Have you ever tried that stuff? I know eastwood sells a coating but I've been told both it won't fail and that it won't last....

quote:

Originally posted by Coloradoracer:

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Koehler:
Here is a possibility to keep your original tank.

https://success.kbs-coatings.c...nk-for-100-methanol/

Have you ever tried that stuff? I know eastwood sells a coating but I've been told both it won't fail and that it won't last....

I have not but haven't had a need to.
I just happened to notice it specified mehanol as ok.

As for the does work/don't work crowd I would have to think that first step prep is the key.
Perhaps contacting KBS and ask questions would be in order.

At 10 years old, i took my aluminum tank out of my dragster and noticed significant corrosion in tank and around fittings. Removed the tank and took it to the local anodizing company they attempted to "hard anodize" it with ZERO success. External surfaces took about 70% of the coating but internal surfaces had zero coating. They didn't charge me for the effort. I had an new tank and had the same place anodize it and it came out perfect.

Oils and fuel additives in methanol (i always run/ran some sort of top end lube in my methanol) get into the pores of the aluminum on a microscopic level and without some method to get them out you will not have luck getting the old tank anodized. They dip the parts in a solution designed to remove oils and what not but for whatever reason it wasn't successful with my old tank but worked like a charm for the new tank.

Build a new tank and have it anodized.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Koehler:
Here is a possibility to keep your original tank.

https://success.kbs-coatings.c...nk-for-100-methanol/

So I called these guys and talked to them about their coatings. According to them, it's completely impervious to methanol, and various other liquids. It'll cost about $55 for the kit to do my tank, so I'm gonna go this route for now and see what happens. They have a cleaner that will remove the corrosion from my tank, and then the coating. I'll keep an eye on the filters to watch for debris, and see how it does. Still not ruling out building a new stainless tank, but for $55 it's worth a shot...

quote:

Originally posted by Coloradoracer:

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Koehler:
Here is a possibility to keep your original tank.

https://success.kbs-coatings.c...nk-for-100-methanol/

but for $55 it's worth a shot...

Unless it ruins your whole fuel system......it might be fine on the outside but I sure would not put it on the inside of my tank.

You might find a piece of old oxidized aluminum, put the coating on it, put in a sealed container with methanol for a month then check it before you even consider using it in your tank

quote:

Originally posted by Big Steve:
Unless it ruins your whole fuel system......it might be fine on the outside but I sure would not put it on the inside of my tank.

You might find a piece of old oxidized aluminum, put the coating on it, put in a sealed container with methanol for a month then check it before you even consider using it in your tank

Not a bad idea, and I do have some I can try. There were pretty adamant about it being totally impervious to methanol though.....but for sure I can do that....I think I still might get the materials to do the stainless tank...can't believe how much that stuff goes for either, holy hell they are proud of it.....