Rotten fuel tank - help please!

Guys I've just taken my hood off today as i wanted to tackle a couple of holes I've found and need some advise. This is a picture of the corner of rust I will be using a mesh and then fibre glass/filler to fix - the picture does make it look a lot worse and bigger than it is so this one should show you how small the area is . Anyway I opened the fuel cap to see if there was any rust in the fuel tank and there apears to be some in there - How and where do I start to check if it needs replacing and how expensive/easy is it to do as my knowledge of cars is limited as I've just started out!

Thanks for your help
Jord

Nasty!

It would be better to cut out all the rust and then weld a new section in than to fill it. It all depends on how long you want to keep the car as a repair with filler and mesh won't last as long and you don't want to end up doing it all again. You'll need to cut it out whatever method you chose. Time to buy an angle grinder if you havent got one already!
Crazyquiff is breaking some cabrios so he may be willing to cut out the section you need.

As for the tank… how bad is the rust you see inside the fuel cap? Rust is extremely common here but its just the filler neck that will probably have gone which is separate to the tank. If there are holes then rust and road debris and water will have found its way into the tank so you will probably have to remove the tank to clean it all out properly. If its just surface rust then you may have just caught it in time (obviously don't poke it now as bits will fall in the tank!). Remove the neck when the fuel guage is on red. Cabrio necks are slightly different to hatchbacks and cost more. I've heard you can mod the hatch one to fit cabrios. have a search of the forum!

Good luck matey and keep us updated  :wink:

Cheers,

Ross

Ross said

Crazyquiff is breaking some cabrios so he may be willing to cut out the section you need.

Sure do