On Sat, 10 Feb 96, rdonahue@holli.com (Robert J. Donahue) wrote:
>The gas tank on my TD develops positive pressure. I get quite a whoosh when
>I open the cap. Is this normal? Is there a vent hole clogged somewhere? I
>don't
>understand why the pressure doesn't vent out through the carburetors. Any
>thoughts? (The car is sitting in the garage, not quite ready to drive yet.)
>
>
>Bob Donahue " 50s FOREVER "
>rdonahue@holli.com
>1953 MG-TD under restoration
>1971 MGB
>
>
Bob, I am not a technical expert, but the gas tank must vent!. Funny story:
In 1983 I was restoring my TC and my then neighbor, Jim, was doing a TD. We
lived next to each other and our garages were 20 feet apart. I had my fuel tank
boiled out. I then sloshed the inside with sealer. However the sealer leaked a
small drop or two from the bottom seam. I took it to a friend to braise the
seam
and told him the tank had been boiled out. As he brought the flame of the
welder
to the tank which I was holding there was a terrific explosion and the tank
flew
out of my hands fifty feet away. No one was hurt and the tank looked like a
medicine ball in shape.I guess the acetone base of the sealer was as bad as
gasoline fumes.
When the cars were finished we drove together to a NEMGTR GOF in Maine. About
fifty miles from home Jim's TD began to loose power. We pulled over and checked
under the hood. Everything seemed fine, and in a few minutes the car started
and
ran OK. Ten miles further and it happened again. We stopped, checked under the
hood, found nothing and in five minutes were off again. This sequence happened
two more times with less and less milage. Finally the car stopped.
I then asked Jim if he had fuel, He had filled up and had only 70 miles from
the
house. I then popped the gas cap and BOOM. Now in light of my previous
experience with exploding gas tanks I was on the ground. What had happened was
an implosion. Jim noticed that the gas cap leaked when full and the cork gasket
was out of stock so he made a neoprene seal before we left. The vacumme in the
tank eventually became stronger then the pump. No damage was done, except the
seal went into the tank. I still don't like gas tanks, but I am sure that they
must vent from the cap.
Mike Leckstein
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