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MG MGA - fuel tank

The fuel filter between the tank and fuel pump was full of black crud, so I decided to remove the fuel tank and clean it. Easy enough although I did lose a lot of gas. Now, what to do? Is there something to clean the inside or just rinse well and dry?
Also, since its off, what color should it be? Its black, right now and I plan to paint the car BRG (I know, not an original color, but it still looks good). I was just going to spray paint it again, whatever color I pick.
thanks, Jack
J Weiss

Why are you asking what colour the tank should be if you are not bothered about getting the main car body an original colour?

However the tank was the same as the chassis. Cheapest black paint the factory could purchase. :)
Robert (Bob) Midget Turbo

Jack

It's black. Barney covers all the colours: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/paint/pt1.htm

Great choice on BRG. There are plenty of us!

Actually there is an argument that could justify BRG and any other colour you care to wish for as being original. Many cars were exported from Abingdon in primer. Therefore, the dealer/potential owner would appear to have had a choice as to what colour he wanted the new car.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Jack,
My recommendation is take it to a radiator shop and let them clean it. Then paint it with POR15. You might consider using the POR tank sealer inside.
Cheers,
GTF
G T Foster

Nice one Steve

In actual fact like today the dealer or potential owner could modify anything so by that logic anything is possible. LOL
Robert (Bob) Midget Turbo

British Racing Green was an Abingdon factory colour.
The Sebring competition cars were painted BRG.
The factory build records also show that BRG was used on the MGA to special order.
There is a Twin Cam in the Australian State of Tasmania that was painted BRG at the Abingdon factory.
BRG was a standard colour for Australian CKD cars.

Mick
M F Anderson

Jack,

I am assuming that your gas tank is original. Given that it is now 50 years old and made of mild steel, rust is the number one issue. There is half a chance that if you simply strip it and repaint you will soon have pinhole leaks. Once you have stripped the outside of the tank carefully examine it for any rust pits, most often on the sides about ¾ up from the bottom, also check the areas under the straps.

My original gas tank had been sitting half full of gas for several years and as a result the interior was very rusty. Using a couple of short lengths of chain I was able to knock loose over a half pound of rust. I first had a radiator shop hot tank it and install a gas proof liner. They also painted the tank. I will not be using that shop again as the liner lasted less than 6 months and developed a half dozen pin hole leaks above the sending unit. That work put me back $175.

As a temporary repair I drained the tank and sanded the location of the leaks to bare metal. I used daps of JB Weld to seal the pin holes. Worked like a charm but at that point I was evaluating the risk and cost to repair a gas tank of unknown reliability. Since the tank cleaning and lining kit is almost $100 and a brand new Moss galvanized gas tank is just shy of $200, I went with the new tank. So in the end my new gas tank cost nearly $400 not counting a significant amount of lost time.

The attached picture shows the new and old tanks. The epoxy can be seen in the area around the sending unit on the old tank.

Safety Fast, John



jjb Backman

Good advice John. I had, a strong smell of petrol (gas) in the garage, very late one night and then found a pool of fuel dripping from the tank. It could have been very nasty - one of my neighbours told me lost half his house in a similar incident some years back. I must hold my hand up as my leak was undoubtedly caused by my "reverse sensors" not working 100% that day when I reversed into something, and that undoubtedly was sufficient to set the leak off. But dont take the chance!
Graham M V

""British Racing Green was an Abingdon factory colour""

No it wasn't? unless you have poetic licence on the use of the term FACTORY. I class it as meaning as it left the production line.

It was never offered as a standard colour. The factory however would if the right amount of money changed hands paint a car any colour the customer asked for.

The Sebring cars were prepared not on the production lines but in the competitions department where all kinds of modifications could be made.

IMO In a concours competition a BRG car should not score well unless it was either a Sebring car or proof that the car left the ""production"" line in BRG.

That said I love a BRG MGA but I would never claim it as a factory spec colour.

Any modification done to the car after it left the production line by someone such as the dealer ought to be considered as a period modification.

It is easier to simply not bother with such competitions and then enjoy doing whatever you like with your car.
Safety Fast!
Robert (Bob) Midget Turbo

I thought that everything inside the perimeter fence was the "factory", not just one particular part of one building.
My records, copied from the actual factory production line records, show a few British Racing Green cars were produced.
They may have been to special order but they were on the production line.

Mick
M F Anderson

Jack,
Get a new tank, and do not put anything inside it. (It comes painted a gloss black.) Many coatings just cause problems down the road when they start to break up. Get a new fuel tank sender unit gasket also - SF supply a very good one guaranteed to not leak.
Peter.
P. Tilbury

Ditto what Peter said, put nothing inside the tank. Just keep gas in it and drive it regularly. They only rust inside when in long term storage with less than full tank, or if you make a habit of never filling it more than half full.

I'm still using my original tank, 53 years, 385,000 miles. I cleaned it and slush lined it prior road in 1986 (at 150,000 miles). By the early 90's we were plagued by gasohol with 10% alcohol. Within a few years my tank liner dissolved and washed away with the fuel flow, absolutely bare inside. The saving grace was that I drive a lot and flush several hundred gallons of fuel through the tank each year, so the liner was gone without a trace and no problems for me. Other people report terrible problems when the liner comes off in sheets and clogs up everything.

Newer liner materials might be better, but I wouldn't bet on it. No liner at all is very good. Some liner is somewhat risky. Why waste time and money doing something risky when it is not needed? In my openly blatant opinion, the only good use for tank liner is to preserve a tank during several years of storage, but a bag of desiccant works just as well for lots less money.

The other side of the tank is much more important. Put a very good coat of paint on it, keep an occasional eye on it, and repaint it when needed. The only leak I've ever had in my tank was where it rusted on the outside. It didn't leak until I buffed it with Scotchbrite and repainted it a few years ago. Apparently I buffed through some rust and opened a small hole. A touch of JB Weld sculptured on the outside fixed that, no more leak 3 years and 22,000 miles on.

The rust and leak point was half way up the front side in the stiffening groove, hidden behind the rubber packing strip for the support band. Apparently water and dirt get in from the top and eventually fill the groove, then holding moisture against the tank. Perhaps the steel band chipped the paint once.

I will be happy to report if my tank ever springs a leak again, but don't hold your breath waiting.
Barney Gaylord

I really recommend you look at the Por-15 web site. Their stuff is ausome!, including their well priced fuel tank repair kit
regards
Mark
Mark Mathiesen

I agree with Barney and Peter. The POR lining I put in the car in '92 broke up in current fuel formulations. It gave no problem until ethanol was introduced to the fuel. I only solved it with a New tank.

You will only be confident with a new tank. It costs less than that towing bill and a mad wife when you get stranded. Besides who know what they will decide to mandate be put in the fuel next.

Jim

Jim Ferguson

If you end up buying a new tank from Moss or one of its distributors, insist that they test fit the fuel line/tank connection. I had all sorts of problems with a new Moss tank a couple of years ago. It would appear to be tight but the OD on the outlet was slightly undersized which caused the tightening nut to jump the threads when tightened or it would loosen up when the car was driven. Hopefully they have sorted out the problem.

Good luck.
Don Carlberg
Don Carlberg

Thank's everyone. I took the tank to a mechanic friend, who also works on British sports cars (he also owns a A-H 3000 and a Spitfire coupe). He checked out the inside and said it looked good. His A-H tank looked similar and he just put it back on. I'm going to pray paint it semi-gloss black. Now, what color (colour) is the extension filler neck that sticks out of the trunk? Color of the car, black, or silver?
Jack
J Weiss

Jack,

The extension should be silver.

For what it's worth I plated my filler extension with the Eastwood tin/zinc plating system. It look the proper silver and has held up for the last 5 years.

Jim
Jim Ferguson

This thread was discussed between 29/01/2011 and 06/02/2011

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