tpenfield

Hi Folks:

I've been working on removing the fuel tank for the past couple of days . . . very tedious work.

I have got the foam removed from around the tank, but it still does not want to budge. I have been trying to cut the foam away from the tank that remains underneath the edges etc.

Eventually, it will come up I suppose, but I am wondering if there is a trick or technique to it that has worked well for others

T.I.A.

Ted

FIXX

iTrader: (2)

get a long piece of picture hanger cable,,put on a pair og gloves start at one end of the tank,slide the cable under the tank,wrap each end of the cable around your hands and pull side to side the legnth of the tank,,alot of work but it works..electric hedge triller works good for the sides also..i have seen some guys use chainsaws to dig around the sides of the tank to get access to the bottom..if theirs no leaks a electric wire cutter works wonders also..

tpenfield

I tried the cable method to remove the fuel tank and it did not seem to work . . . the cable eventually broke. Repeated the process a few times, but it does not seem to cut through the foam.

It seems that a fair amount of the pour-in foam worked its way under the tank, so there is quite a bit of foam to cut through.

Anyway, I came across another method that I will try soon . . . a pressure washer . . . to cut through the foam. If I can get a wand with a slight angle, I believe that I can direct the pressure spray under the tank to cut the foam out from underneath.

I found this method by Googling and it came up on a couple of forums. Has anyone heard of this method of fuel tank removal?

Formula 3ls 1983

I have read nightmare stories about the foam around tanks getting moisture soaked and rotting the tank. I was so concerned that I removed my floor panel on my 83 f3 to find no foam !! Lucky me.

Audiofn

Once I got my sides out I just took two guys one on the front and one on the back and used long prybars to pry on the front and back. It took som carefull prying to get it to pop with out messing up the tank but it did eventually pop. I would be worried to shoot water in there and have the water get blasted at 2000+ PSI into the glass.

tpenfield

I got the tank out today . . . after 3 days of working on it. I had to rig up a hoist to get enough force to 'pop' it from the hull. Anyway, the tank is out and now to look at the structural issues . . .



Cheers

BTW - did you know that Formula's are made with garden hose?

Audiofn

They use that as a spacer so that fome gets under the tank.

tpenfield

Possibly, but by looking at the tank and the foam contour, it seems that the ribs provide a good 2" of clearance for the foam to go underneath. Plus the position of where the garden hose is in the foam does not seem to do any good in providing space. So, I don't know.