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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Fuel tank refurbishment

I've had a fuel smell in the boot but not really outside the car for a few years. It's got worse of late so I dropped the tank, expecting to maybe find the sender gasket was leaking. However the area round the filler neck is damp with fuel and the paint has lifted so I have a leak somewhere in that area.

Time was I'd have put a new one on but as that one has been part of the car for nigh on sixty years I'm inclined to get it fixed.

So does anyone have recommendations or otherwise for fuel tank repairers / refurbishers please.

Thanks.
Jeremy Cogman

I used a company called West Mercia Radiators, although as they are in Wednesbury in the West Midlands, they’re quite a way from you.

They featured in an episode of Car SOS, repairing a radiator for a Toyota Celica.
Dave O'Neill 2

My tank leaked around the edge, where the welds had failed. You will be horrified to hear that I welded it. But as the car was stripped down I left the tank for months before doing this, so no vapour was left. There's an apocryphal story about a chap who wanted to do the same, and decided to suck the vapour out with a vacuum cleaner. Not a good idea.
Les Rose

I ensure fuel tanks are suitable for repair using the following sequence :
Soak and wash out using hot soapy water
Steam using wallpaper stripper for around 30 minutes
Force dry using vacuum cleaner on blow.
Once the tank has been cleaned internally the exterior can be power wire brushed to remove paint and corrosion with joint flange spread between spot welds to clear debris bore adding further spot welds to close faces.
Repairs have included soft soldered patches, silver soldered drain fittings and grp sheathing.
It should be noted that sheathing with grp is not considered to be suitable for leaking tanks as the resin is not ethanol tolerant.
The internal filter fitted to the end of the outlet pipe makes 'slosh sealing' problematic although with care it may be possible to remove and replace this filter through the sender opening.

S G KEIL

I had a fuel tank with some rust pinholes repaired by a company in Avonmouth, Bristol. Cost was around £160 IIRC. It was off a car where fuel tanks are not easily replaceable. For a midget its probably not worth getting it professionally repaired compared to the prices of a new tank.
Chris Madge

Mine cost around £60 IIRC.

I had already bought a new tank, but it wasn’t baffled (MGB), like the old one. The original also had a drain plug.
Dave O'Neill 2

I "repaired" the tank in my pre war MG using slosh tank sealant. I sealed all the appatures with spare bolts and pipe fittings. When the sealant had set I tried to unscrew these but they were more than rock solid and I had to use heat to remove them. This destroyed the coating I had just applied! Even if you use wooden pegs to seal appatures the threads in the tank will still be gummed up and you will need appropriate taps to clean them up.

Jan T
J Targosz

Some years ago I put slosh tank sealant into my Midget's tank. When I came to drive the car it barely ran as the internal gauze in the tank was almost totally blocked. I ended up buying a new tank, which is what I should have done in the first place.
Mike Howlett

This thread was discussed between 28/08/2021 and 17/09/2021

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.