Kingston Oil-Vac tank repair-update

[Max4Me]

I previously posted about my Kingston vacuum gas tank needing repair because it was leaking out the bottom. I took it to a welder to look at it. He agreed with me that the car had sat for some time and water condensed in the tank, settled to the bottom, rusting, and caused the three holes in the bottom. He said absolutely he could not weld it. First, a previous owner had tried to fix it by pouring some type of sealant into the tank, and would interfere with a weld. He also said that whether he electric or gas welded it would probably melt larger holes because the rusted area was so thin. He also poked around with a pen knife and poked through in two other places.

 

His solution was to float/flood the outside bottom of the tank with solder. He said solder was perfectly fine because the plate on the bottom into which the shut off valve is screwed is soldered to the bottom, the bottom itself (which he removed and cleaned out the previous ’repair’) is soldered to the tank, and the seam where the rolled tank is joined is soldered.

 

The soldering had some high spots which I filed down a little. Then put on a thin coat of JB Weld and then lightly sanded to make it look pretty. I painted it and re-installed it. At this time there are no leaks. With the adjusted carburetor and repaired tank the car is back on the road! Let’s see if it lasts longer than I do.

[wayne sheldon]

38 minutes ago, Max4Me said:

With the adjusted carburetor and repaired tank the car is back on the road! Let’s see if it lasts longer than I do.

 

That is almost exactly how I would have done it! Probably a little nicer than my usual work (no show cars for me!).

Now, the challenge is on! With a good repair, drive it to see which fails first! You or that repair? (And I hope it is a long - lo-ong - contest!)

[Max4Me]

Wayne,

Thank you. Challenge accepted! My bet is on Ruby (my daughter named her). Ruby's already lasted much longer than I have, and she looks a lot better than I do, also.

[JV Puleo]

You have used JB Weld in the only way I've ever found it effective...as a filler to hide a mechanical repair.

[DFeeney]

I have several parts Kingston vac tanks if push come to shove.

[Max4Me]

16 hours ago, DFeeney said:

I have several parts Kingston vac tanks if push come to shove.

Thank you. The internal parts are working fine. The concern was with the leaky tank bottom. The vac tank sits right above the down pipe from the exhaust manifold. That's a sure recipe for disaster. The current repair seems solid, but if it fails I may hit you up.

[DFeeney]

Attached are picture's of a 1928 Plymouth Kingston Vac tank.    The top unit lifts out of the main housing.  It will be hard to do because of all the crud that has accumulated.   Notice how the top unit is lifted about 1/2" on the complete tank.  It lifted easy then got hard.  If you open the top prime cover and spray a bunch of WD-40 down it, it will let the rest of the top slide out.  The next two pictures show the top unit and the main tank.