welders - anyone ever made a tank?

[ttocs]

I have been trying to find an easy place to put a premade tank somewhere for my meth kit but between the planned stereo and all the other changes going on with the car it doesn't seem like it is going to happen. I have one spot in the trunk that might work, but otherwise I am considering making my own tank to fit where I want it too. I have a couple of ideas from no top of the radiator(approx. 2" x 4" x 32") or in the trunk in what would be a pretty funky shape. Up front would be the best and it would probably be the easiest to make since it would be a long rectangle and the line would be shorter to run, easier to fill.

But with all this remember I am as amature a welder as there is. One of the reasons I like this idea is for the practice as it would help... I do have a spool gun and tank for aluminum but my aluminum welding is even worse then my steel right now which is saying a lot..... Is this something I can do?

 

[Pete@FTR]

If you can't do it right I wouldn't do it yourself. I would either rivet it together and use a bladder or make all the pieces and take it to a local tig welder to have it welded up.

 

[1997GT4.6]

I'd tig weld it. But tig welding aluminum takes some skill. I'm an amateur welder myself and practice on off road pieces for my beater.

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

have you looked into buying a windshield washer tank or coolant overflow tank for some other vehicle that would be the approximate shape/size you want? I have a buddy that did that with his meth setup on his ol cutlass.. I think he ended up getting a coolant reservoir from a Taurus or something to store his meth in the trunk..

 

[ttocs]

If you can't do it right I wouldn't do it yourself. I would either rivet it together and use a bladder or make all the pieces and take it to a local tig welder to have it welded up.

I have thought about this and yet I need the experience to learn from as well. I would like to hide it under a radiator cover anyway so it would not have to look perfect but of course I don't want it too look horrible either....

I'd tig weld it. But tig welding aluminum takes some skill. I'm an amateur welder myself and practice on off road pieces for my beater.

I have a mig and a spool gun for aluminum. I have not yet tig'd myself.

have you looked into buying a windshield washer tank or coolant overflow tank for some other vehicle that would be the approximate shape/size you want? I have a buddy that did that with his meth setup on his ol cutlass.. I think he ended up getting a coolant reservoir from a Taurus or something to store his meth in the trunk..

Want to buy a canton tank aluminum overflow tank? I have one from a fox and an new edge hoping they would work but after trying them out everywhere as well as the tank from the snow kit I am still stuck....

I finally found a place that does night classes for welding. I would love to take it but I am afraid that my chrones BS would end up getting in the way like it always does and the tuition would just be wasted. I could definitely use the pointers as every time I fire up my welder I feel ferris buehler with his clarinet.....

 

[kb1982]

The kind of mig welder you have plays a vital role in welding thinner metal. For thin gauge aluminum, the flux core wire isnt a good choice. Also your wire size plays a vital role as well as does the type of gas. A spool gun makes life alot better also. Pure argon for shielding gas and smaller diameter is the best choice for thin aluminum after tig welding of course. I dont weld anymore, but I took lots of welding vocational classes in highschool, pretty much for every elective course. After finishing school, I naturally got a job in the field, but decided seeing a blue glow for 8 10 and 12 hrs a day wasnt for me.

 

[ttocs]

I have a miller 211 with a miller spool gun as well. I knew I would have enough problems learning to have to worry about cheap gear somehow making it harder so I went with miller after asking around. Might get some cardboard today and see what it would look like, how much it would hold ect...

 

[ttocs]

Thinking about it last night it occurred to me that since it is a regular rectangle that I could make most of it with one piece and a metal brake to bend it into shape and weld the ends and top or bottom then to minimize the welding I could screw up. Any problems with a meth tank made from metal or does it need to be aluminum?

 

[kb1982]

Gotta love a Miller. Best welder out there I think. It doesnt have to be aluminum, thats used mainly because its lighter and its natural finish. most factory gas tanks aren't, but if you have any concerns, they have coatings that are for use in fuel tanks that can be applied to the inside. As for figuring out how much, uses your dimensions and math to figure out your volumes.

 

[ttocs]

can you check my math? The tank I am considering is short height-wise but long, so when I calculate that it should hold almost a gallon it just seems strange to me. 2" x 4" x 32" = 256 cu inches right?
When I plug that into my handy dandy Ti85's volume conversion it shows up as 1.1 gallons?

 

[kb1982]

Yep your right. Its 1.10823 gallons to be exact LxWxH

 

[ttocs]

I was wondering if my old TI85 had started to fail me after all these years. just didn't seem like a 1+ gallon tank ya know? Right above the radiator but under the rad cover would be a convenient place for it and 1 gal isn't a bad size. My dad knows a guy that has a heater/ac biz with a large metal brake so I am hoping he would let me come over with the bottom precut to do a few quick bends on it.

anyone know where I can score some kind of filler neck/cap

 

[ttocs]

working on the car this afternoon I had another thought on this. Why reinvent the wheel?

http://www.discountsteel.com/items/6063_Aluminum_Rectangular_Tube.cfm?item_id=147&size_no=15

3 foot of that, close up the ends and combine some mounting tabs and then I just need to figure out some kind of filler neck and a place to drill the hole for the output........ Any concerns with this plan?