hey,

my sisters fiat x-19 has been rotting away in the local workshop for the last year with a busted fuel tank and cannot think of what the hell to do..

would any of the auto mechanics out there know of someone in australia who would repair it? (i believe its split).

its pretty hard to find a 1960s gas tank these days
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put a racing style fuel cell in it instead

People do repair fuel tanks, but if it's badly rusted it's probably a bit hard and you'd be better off trying to adapt a different one or getting something made up for it.
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The Engine Whisperer - fixer of things

yes i agree pull out the old one get an aliuminium one welded up ,and away you go
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as a last resort i'll try tiging it

depending on how bad it is she might be able to JB-weld it up
its a metallic epoxy.
not the "right" thing to do but that JB-weld is some good stuff
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Mechanical engineers build weapons, civil engineers build targets

Think a Lada Riva tank fits, but I could be wrong on that....

nice car.... there is only 15 of those up here in QLD, 7 of which are in Toowoomba. There are still genuine parts available for the X-19's but they are only available through the authorised Fiat repairers (therefore big $$'s).

try your local "european", "historic" or "classic" car clubs for cheaper options
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There is no such thing as excessive carnage.

I'm kinda sad to see a model I once owned in trouble From what I remember about doing repairs, half the battle is getting access to parts. The tank would be a right bugger to get out, being between the engine and the seats! Careful TIG welding or what Jake suggested would do the trick and it would be heaps cheaper than a custom ali job.

When I had an X19, there were zero performance parts in Australia. I was so jealous that there was a racing comp for them in America and their auto mags were (at the time) full of good parts. You might try googling around to see if there are any US aftermarket parts or enthusiasts still around.
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Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

is it a good idea to weld a fuel tank?

2 options generally
fill it with either fuel or water

on ships they typically fill it with fuel (presumablly so they dont contaminate the tank)

yeah the fuel will leak through the crack and burn, but your welding its pretty fucking hot anyway.
by fill, i mean right to the top, so as there is no air anywhere near it.
what you want to avoid is fuel vapour and air mixing then getting hot.

JB-weld is an epoxy type substance and depending on the size of the crack would probbly fix it up untill something more important breaks. it also costs around $10 and would have the car drivablle in <24 hours
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Mechanical engineers build weapons, civil engineers build targets

If the fuel is leaking out the bottom then wont it drip burning fuel onto the ground near you and start a fire under the tank as more fuel drips onto the burning puddle?

Id say fill it with water and then rins it out with fuel after you finished.
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Tim Team Reaper.

WARNING Do not atempt to weld on a fuel tank filed with petrol it will explode .

If you can get the tank steamed out is a good idea failing that fill it with water but it will make it hard if not imposible to weld another way that works well which you will have to do out side is to atach a flexible hose to a cars exaust and put that inside the tankwith the engine running and the motor warmed up with out the choke on (or a diesle engine is even better) while welding or soldering make sure that there is enough room for the presure to get out the burnt exaust gases will warm and evaporate any fuel vapours as well as keep the tank filed with already burnt gasses that wont explode

Also that epoxy putty stuff works well i have used it on numerous fuel tanks with great succes my old falcon was repaired with it about 5 years ago and its stil not leaking it got a small stress fracture on the bottom of the tank that i just dented in slightly with a hammer (and small piece of timber to avoid sparks )to relieve the tension and cleaned it and put the putty on you can also just clean the area slowly with sand paper while the petrol is leaking and the wipe it and put the puty over the leak it wil harden and seal the leak my falcon tank was sealed this way as well as i couldnt drain it .

well since they *do* weld fuel tanks full of fuel i'm guessing it can be done.
if there is no air in which the fuel can burn it cant burn or explode. But yes filling the tank with water would be preferablle.
The fuel tank will explode if there is fuel vapour and air present, anything that allows air to be in the tank can cause an explosion.
Presumably the correct way to weld it given time and equipment is to purge the tank with nitrogen then weld it under a heavy argon sheild.

as for gassing myself with carbon monoxide i think i'll pass and that would also leave a large amount of oxygen in the tank which would mix with the fuel vapour and then explode.

when people gas themselves in their car generally it isnt a lack of oxygen that kills them, its carbon monoxide poisoning, carbon monoxide attaches to the hemaglobin in the blood 140 times stronger than oxygen.
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Mechanical engineers build weapons, civil engineers build targets

Not worth stuffing around with if you have never done it or know of someone that has done it, Don't bother trying.

There are companys around that do this type of work. It may cost more, but it is better then the posibility of having the tank explode.

and trust me you do not want to see the results of a tank exploding.

Yes the tank filled with water, fuel (normaly diesle,) or Co2 all work and is the normal way of doing it.

But let the people that do it for a living fix the tank for you.

Go and have a chat to a vintage car club, or a mechanic that works with vintage cars. They should be able to direct you in the right direction.
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It's all about the destruction.

Yes it can be done but for those with no experiance it is dangerous my warning was for those with no experiance in this area i have repaired quite a few fuel tanks over the years mainly smaller mower tanks .as i repair a lot of mowers .
But have worked on a few car tanks as well .. diesle or fuel oil might be reasonably safe for the experianced but i would never attemp to weld on one with petrol or even kerosine in it .
As it was stated whats to stop the leaking fuel catching alight . I have used the exaust method sucesfully but mainly used it from diesle engines that have been warmed up the warm exhaust gas tends to evaporate most of the explodeable fuel vapours and flushes them out of the tank. another method i have used is to take all the bungs fuel gauges ect out and drain all the fuel then put the tank out side in the sun for several days to a week this will evaporate most of the explosive vapors but you stil have to be extremly carefull as some times thee is still a bit left in the metal pores and seams enough give a bit ofa whumpf sound when it gets a flame or a spark ..
I have tried welding tanks with water i them but it is tricky as the water steals the heat very quickly and the steam produced can create pores that are hard to seal .Like Ajax said if you are in doubt take it to a proffesional .