1980 fuel tank

[Tim T.]

I am searching for a replacement fuel tank for a 1980. Original tank has tiny rust holes in bottom. Gm parts man says unavailable,Quanta doesn't make one yet. Any ideas on repair? Source for a new one? Thanks, Aloha Tim #5308

[George C.]

Re: 1980 fuel tank

Hi Tim, Call Dennis at J & D Corvettes in Bellflower, Ca. he'll help you with what you need . Very honest and helpful. The number is 800 838 8353. Good Luck, Save The Wave.>George

[Jim T.]

Re: 1980 fuel tank

A used parts place advertises Corvette magazines called Contempory Corvettes that sells used and some new parts that might have a good used tank for your car.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1980 fuel tank

Tim-----

I'm afraid that you've got a real problem on your hand as others with 78-82 Corvettes have had (or, will have).

The 78-82 Corvette fuel tank uses an integral fuel bladder. The bladder is manufactured of a semi-rigid polyethylene or polypropylene-like material. In time, the bladder deteriorates due to the effect of gasoline. The problem is that most used tanks will suffer from the same problems as yours. So, a used tank will likely be, at best, a very short term solution. Unfortunately, there is no replacement or reproduction tank on the market. Due to product liability concerns with substitute fuel tank designs or, even, the original design, I kind of doubt that we'll see a reproduction any time soon. I sincerely hope that I'm wrong, though.

What I would do now if I were you is this: inspect the tank to see if the rust holes are actually leaking gasoline. If they are, this means that the bladder, the PRIMARY fuel containment structure for 78-82 Corvette fuel tanks, is sufficiently deteriorated that it is leaking. I know of no way to repair this and you will have to obtain a "good" used tank.

If the rust holes do not show any evidence of a leak, then that means that the blader is still ok. In that case, I'd carefully clean the rust off with a wire wheel. Then, fill the holes with an epoxy like JB Weld. Epoxies like this are completely impervious to gasoline and should return the integrity to the tank shell which is the SECONDARY gasoline containment structure for 78-82 Corvette tanks. After applying the epoxy to the holes and a generous area around the holes, let the epoxy cure for, at least, 2 days. Then, paint the tank in the entire area of the repairs, if not the whole tank. A "cold" galvanizing compound such as those available from Eastwood would be the best thing to use for painting the tank.

DO NOT attempt to repair the tank using any sort of solder or weld that involves the use of heat. Such a repair will definitely destroy the bladder since the plastic materials used are not capable of withstanding the sort of heat necessary for a "hot" repair.

[Paul B.]

Yes Joe, But.................

We had this discussion a few years ago about the '75-'77 "bladder" tank, which I wrote a Driveline article on how to make a "bladder delete" '75-'77, and we talked about liabilities of someone making this tank(or NOT making this tank)and now for the last year or so Quanta has been making them(well, at least the metal shell itself)without the bladder which can be used now just like a '68-'74 Corvette tank!!!

[Joe L.]

Re: Yes Joe, But.................

Paul----

I recall the discussion well. Nothing has really changed, though. I'm not surprised that Quanta has come out with the 75-77 tank shell. I don't think there's as much liability in the metal tanks, themselves. If there were, no one would even make the 53-74 style tanks. At the present, Quanta just reproduces the 75-77 tank shell. If someone choses to use this without the bladder that it was designed to be used with, that's an individual choice and neither Quanta or anyone else has control over it. Therefore, I don't think that Quanta would have any more liability than for any other steel tank.

The bladder, itself, for 75-77 tanks is not currently offered by Quanta or anyone else, for that matter. Partially, I think that this is because the manufacture and sale of the bladder causes more liability issues. There is a greater expectation of safety with something like this and, I would guess, that increases liability. On top of that, I expect that this bladder would be expensive to manufacture in light of safety considerations.

For the 78-82 tanks, the bladder is integral with the tank. If someone were to produce and offer for sale a 78-82 tank without the bladder, I think that there would be major liability issues. It might not even be legal, at all, under DOT requirements (but, that's just a guess on my part). So, I doubt that we'll ever see a commercially produced 78-82 tank without the bladder.

Even to produce a 78-82 tank with the integral bladder I would expect creates the incresaed liability issues for the same reason as producing the 75-77 seperate bladder. There is a greater expectation of safety with a bladder and if a bladder fails in a collision and the tank explodes, the manufactuer is going to be faced with huge liability issues.

Like I say, though, I certainly hope that I'm wrong on this. Even though I don't own a 78-82, I'd hate to see these cars "sidelined" for want of a fuel tank and I certainly don't want to see folks start resorting to "desperation" fixes for something as safety-critical as a fuel tank.

I recognize, of course, that any 75-82 Corvette with a steel tank minus the bladder is seemingly no less safe than any earlier Corvette which didn't have the bladders in the first place. I doubt that would be a legal argument that would carry much weight, though, in a product liability action.