Leaking wing tanks.

[FoxbuilderWill]

Curious do you have pictures with the bottom of tank in? Curious what it looked like and why it was leaking?

I'm assuming that question is directed to me and not the OP?

If that's the case I have attached a pic of the plate I made but not yet installed.

If I have my history correct when they figured out the tanks were prone to cracking welds they recommended a sloshing compound for the tanks. Problem was it was impossible to adequately scuff the interior of the tanks enough for it to stick and eventually it would flake off and clog things up. I'm not aware if my tank actually developed leaks as it only had 75 hrs on the airframe when I bought it but the wing tank had been disconnected due to the flaking issue. I cut the bottom of the tank out for 2 reasons: I wanted to make sure the sloshing compound was completely cleaned out. 2. I wanted access to all the interior joints so I could scuff them up and proseal them.

As to the question of how thick the tank walls are its .050" , which is also the thickness of the plate I fabricated. I still need to attach a spacer to the middle tank baffle/rib somehow.

For those not aware vans uses a pop type rivet that is closed on the end so fuel can't leak through it.

20221226_203012.jpg

[Shadowrider]

Thanks for posting! Looking good and very interesting.

Are you thinking because the tank flexes, the rivets will allow movement that is needed that the welds could not provide and cause to fail?