General Some sod drilled a hole in my petrol tank

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General Some sod drilled a hole in my petrol tank

hebby

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The local pond life where I am living at (until the end of sept) decided to drill a hole in my petrol tank of 2.0 marea on friday night and drain all the fuel out.
(n)
The police weren't bothered but I was left with a 10ml hole in the plastic tank which was slightly more pressing.

I have filled the hole with petrol tank putty (its an epoxy putty) and put a layer of fibre glass around the surface they struck, I thought about putting a screw in the hole but I couldn't get anything large enough which is self tapping or even a bolt.

So if it holds - fantastic, but in the event of it not being right but does anybody else have any ideas what I can do? Idealy I want to avoid a new fuel tank as these have to come brand new as scrappies have to drain all fluids and this usually involves cutting a big hole in fuel tanks........

Where does this leave me with reference to the MOT, I assume that its' only a failure if the tank is leaking?
 
As ever the police no longer seem to see fighting crime as part of their duty, too busy changing the film in Gatsos I guess. I think you are right re MoT, the stainless tank on my MGB had a small plate welded on years ago and it always sails thru. also-

From directgov UK
Motoring What does a garage look at during an MOT test?
Components tested during your MOT test:


Fuel system - no leaks, fuel cap fastens correctly and seals securely. The fuel cap will need to be opened. Make sure the key is available

This is backed up at ukmot.com where if you have a good repair that does not leak you should be OK.
 
Thank you.

I have put another layer of fibre glass around where the damage was done and will shortly sand this back a little bit before putting underseal on the bottom of the tank so it doesn't look so obvious.

A new petrol tank is £500 - which is a lot of money for £1300 car!
 
petrol tank repair patches work well, i scraped down a kerb and gauged a fine line in my plastic tank on the 309 gti, repaired it with a patch and it was perfect years later, fibreglass will do no good it doesnt like petrol, fit the patch then go over it with a bit more of the patch glue to blend it into the surrounding area then spray it with a black aerosol to disguise it good luck! Ant!
 
The hole was a bit big for a patch - I had to fill it with a special sort of putty. This set like concrete in 24 hours which was then flush with the outside of the tank. Because I didn't know how tough this stuff was and whether it could fall out in one lump I put fibreglass around the damaged area to provide additional support.

3 days later and it all seems to be holding - I spoke to a garage who said it would only fail an MOT if it was leaking, there is no advisory notes or checks of actual repairs.

So, £10 on kit, 24 hours and I avoided a new petrol tank.

I still want to find the ****** who did it.....but the Police would probably charge with infringing with someones' human right to steal petrol from a honest person.
 
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