Tank repair
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I need to do some repair work on my oil tank. Where the threaded holes are supposed to be in the top, I just have two holes, probably just under 1/2 inch in diameter. It looks like someone has drilled out the old inserts, presumably with the intention of replacing old threads, and never finished the repair. I can turn up some new inserts and silver solder them in, but does anyone have any suggestions as to how to localise the heat and stop all the other joints falling apart while I'm soldering the new inserts in?
Getting the correct helicoil is important. The threads for petrol taps of your vintage will be BSP (British Standard Pipe), but some confuse them with other threads. Since British pipe threads have been adopted as the international standard helicoils should be available - the Yanks are the ones out of step with the rest of the world again here.
As for silver soldering, how is the tank fixed together? Braze? Weld? Provided you fill the tank with water before silver soldering and use a localised heat source, like an oxy/acetylene torch, you should be OK. Filling the tank with water will avoid the possibility of an inconvenient explosion when you heat the tank too!
