Adding a gas tank sender?

[widowmaker]

I have two 15 gallon tanks in my 19' Daytona, the Stainless Steel kind. Can I take the tanks out and drill holes and add senders if I fill the tanks full of water when I drill them??? I really get uncomfortable not knowing how much fuel I have, the other day when I got home I pumped the tanks that I thought were equal. one tank had about 12 gallons, the other 2....
Anyone else done this?

[centerhill condor]

you can do that...you could also ad a "sight glass" or clear plastic tube from top to bottom to accurately and simply tell the levels. I like the water idea and you can also use exhaust gases from a runing motor to weld if you have the skills, bro!

[Taylorman]

Why would you need to fill them with water when you drill them?
I just put new senders in my tanks, the centroid ones from Rex are the best.

[Goad]

Why would you need to fill them with water when you drill them?
exhaust fumes + spark + confined space = not a good idea.

[widowmaker]

The tanks currently have no senders and when drilling I wouldn't want to have it spark and ignite the fuel fumes from the tank even though they are empty.

[Taylorman]

Gotcha. When i drilled mine i rinced them out good with degreaser and water before i drilled them.

[G-Body]

I have had to weld on the gas tank for my El Camino a couple times. If you buy an aftermarket tank they are not vented properly and will puke gas out when you try to fill them. Anyway on to the useful info. The easiest way I have found to clear the fumes out is with a leafblower. I usually just drain the tank, pull it, pull the sending unit out and stick the leafblower in for an hour. Since you don`t yet have a sending unit hole you would have to put the leafblower in the filler and then open any other holes/fittings on the tank. I would drain the tank and leave it overnight, then put the leafblower in for a couple hours since you would not have as much airflow as I had, but I have never had a problem welding a used gas tank this way.

[victorfb]

filling with water works very well, especially when just needing to drill and or tap threads. when welding is needed i would suggest running argon gas through the chamber which is an inert gas and will not promote ignition as a 'leaf blower' would. if welding is needed and you use the water, just make sure you dont fill it to the point were the water would be were the welding is. just below, and use the argon gas, and you should be ok.

[ap67et10]

no see these are all the slow ways to get the fumes out...all you have to do is drain the tank and then drop a match into it and have it burn itself clean!!! you'll be ready to drill in about 10 min!!!
ok...no i'm not serious...thats not a good idea don't try it. i just remember my mom (burn nurse) tell me about a patient that did...except he really thought it through and wanted to make sure he didn't get burned so he positioned his fuel tank perfectly then got on the roof of his house and dropped the matches in...yeah i know...took him a while but eventually got lucky...very lucky cause not only did he get his face burned from the flame thrower he created but he also fell off the roof. talk about a bad day. anyways just be cautious cause all it takes is a min of carelessness to get you burned.
water does work good.

[Goad]

ok...no i'm not serious...thats not a good idea don't try it. i just remember my mom (burn nurse) tell me about a patient that did...except he really thought it through and wanted to make sure he didn't get burned so he positioned his fuel tank perfectly then got on the roof of his house and dropped the matches in...yeah i know...took him a while but eventually got lucky...very lucky cause not only did he get his face burned from the flame thrower he created but he also fell off the roof. talk about a bad day. anyways just be cautious cause all it takes is a min of carelessness to get you burned.
Thanks for the good laugh to start off my day :eek: :jawdrop: :eek:

[centerhill condor]

no see these are all the slow ways to get the fumes out...all you have to do is drain the tank and then drop a match into it and have it burn itself clean!!! you'll be ready to drill in about 10 min!!!
ok...no i'm not serious...thats not a good idea don't try it. i just remember my mom (burn nurse) tell me about a patient that did...except he really thought it through and wanted to make sure he didn't get burned so he positioned his fuel tank perfectly then got on the roof of his house and dropped the matches in...yeah i know...took him a while but eventually got lucky...very lucky cause not only did he get his face burned from the flame thrower he created but he also fell off the roof. talk about a bad day. anyways just be cautious cause all it takes is a min of carelessness to get you burned.
water does work good.
Great story! and I'll remember better.