LA Case fuel tank question

Bob in Australia · Oct 30, 2012

The fuel tank on my 1949 LA is rusty.

It appears as though the top and bottom sections of the tank can be separated. There is a gasket between the sections.

Can the top and bottom sections be pulled apart?

Are the section held together by a gasket sealant or are the sections welded together?

Thanks for any input.

Ron Sa · Oct 30, 2012

Your approach to your rust problem seems to be to get rid of the rust. Thats a good approach but generally difficult to do.

Another effective way to keep rust from plugging the fuel line is to install a short standpipe (about 3/4 inch tall) into the inlet of the sediment bowl assembly.

I use copper tubing and a drill bit the same size as the OD of the tubing. I enlarge the sediment bowl inlet about 3/4 inch deep and loctite the copper standpipe in place.

This solves my rusty tank problems and I only loose a pint or two of fuel tank capacity.

1031D · Oct 30, 2012

The tank is continuously roll welded. You would nearly destroy it to get it apart. Here in the states we have shops that can chemically dip tanks and other parts to remove rust and then be sealed to permanently prevent rust.

AllanC · Oct 30, 2012

You can use gas tank sealer to seal the tank, with the added benefit that it glues all the rust down. It works well. Radiator shops usually have it.

Bob in Australia · Oct 30, 2012

Thanks, I knew I would get the answer here.

Knew about the sealer, but it is difficult to get here. I will try Ron's solution.

The top of the tank is actually rusted through. I have a parts tractor and the tank on it is also rusty, but not rusted through.

Thanks again!

Christopher Mikesell · Oct 30, 2012

Ron's solution works well as long as you are not trying to use the tractor for serious work. However, bumps and high speed running can still clog the top of the sediment bowl assembly. Also, the tube tends to let water collect in the bottom of the tank when the tractor isn't exercised. I would suggest that you at least try to clean the worst of the rust out first. I don't like adding tubes myself, but I have done it to several machines at work and it does make a big improvement. If you don't want to mess with hours of cleaning effort followed by repeated cleaning of the top of the float bowl assembly, then this is your ticket. I prefer to get it clean, keep it clean, and then not worry about it. My way is definetly more work.

bcdave · Oct 30, 2012

I used a sand blaster and a piece of copper pipe with a bend at the bottom. I kept blasting and blowing out the sand and rust until no more dust came out. I used river sand for this because it"s not as aggressive. A coat of sealer makes the tank better than new

JimEvans · Oct 30, 2012

don't be afraid to just cut the front of the tank out in order to access the inside of the tank to blast and repair it. Weld the front back together, a little bondo on the outside, and a little tank sealer on the inside (if your welds aren't perfect).
I cut the front out of an RC tank to repair a loose baffle and to pund out dents where somthing fell on it. I also cut the entire bottom out of a CC tank to weld in new steel where it was rusted through. It is not my favorite job, but it can be done.

bcdave · Oct 30, 2012

Careful welding gas tanks!!!! A guy in our club just blew up a tank he thought was clean.
Dave

Ron Sa · Oct 31, 2012

Rust is about 7.6 times more dense than gasoline so rust flakes and rust grit tends to "sink like a rock". Rust powder is generally too fine to plug the system.

The majority of tractor operations on rough ground will cause the rust to skoot a little on the bottom. More active skoot will occur as the tank gets low on fuel but the rust is very reluctant to launch off the bottom. Sediment bowls do not launch sediment and neither does tank sloosh launch coarse rust generally speaking.

A powered refueling nozzle may cause the flakes and grit to experience much greater agitation that sloosh and thus get picked up off the bottom until the refueling stops or until the fuel gets deep.

Pointing any refueling method away from the standpipe will produce near zero chance of flakes or grit coming down on the standpipe's opening.

All the gasoline around here has ethanaol which absorbs any water but can cause other problems.

Andrew from Australia · Oct 31, 2012

Hi Bob,
It was interesting to read all the posts about rusty tanks knowing it's affected all of us at some stage. I liked the sandblasting one. I try to clean inside the best I can by shaking it around with gravel inside to sort of "rumble it".Hose it out etc. No matter how hard I clean I find that old tanks always seem to have flakes that find their way down to clog the pipe when the tractor is used under sustained open throttle condition and cause problems. I insert a piece of rolled up, crimped and soldered fine gauze into the top of the filter which extends into the tank.This stops any loose flakes from impeding the flow. Any really fine dust stops in the bowl.
Anyway that's just what I do.
Regards
Andrew

LA Case fuel tank question

Bob in Australia

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1031D

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Bob in Australia

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