Gas leak under dash on driver's side

kingsley

kingsley

Junior Member
I bought my 30 5w-coupe about 6 months ago and have had a mechanic friend doing general work on it like steering box, rebuild carb and the like. This weekend I noticed a small amount of gas on the mat under the steering column. I looked under the dash and saw the attached. I am a novice at this but I expect the gas tank has been leaking for some time and the long term damage is shown in the pic.

I looked at the Les Andrews Vol I on gas tank removal. Are these generally repairable/restorable or is it more common to just replace them.

Has anybody seen this type damage before and what can I expect?

Thanks
 

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I see it commonly. It is generally caused by people using the steering wheel and pulling them into the cabin of the car. There is rivets that go through the tank and into a reinforcing plate, and usually what we find is the holes around the rivets become fractured. Usually when we are restoring the tank we will remove the rivets, weld up the holes and re-drill them, then install the column bracket and re-buck in new rivets. Some people say they can get tank sealer to seal this area --but we seem to get quite a few in that have had this done unsuccessfully. It is worth a try I suppose.

BTW, what part of Texas are you in??
 
Brent, the car is in the San Antonio area. Thanks for the info. I will do a search on the forum to gather more info to send to my mechanic for his next project.
 
I had a 30 tudor with the same leak. Pulled the tank had it boiled out at a radiator shop. They applied pressure to find the leak. It was a rust through near the steering bracket. They tinned the area and applied a coat of solder in that area and pressure tested it again to verify the problem was corrected. That was done over 15 years ago, the person who now owns the car said it is still dry as a bone. No inside tank sealant was used.
 
it is never safe to mickey mouse a fuel tank leak, especially when its over your legs and feet, there not a fuel tank sealer that will last more than a few months,pull tank, find leak and have it fixed, when you put the tank back in install the later year steering colom bracket, it goes on the sreering colom and bolts to the bottom of the dash, the only way to permanately fix that problem, ford seen the problem and fixed it
 
Ford3, I do plan on a proper repair of the tank. My coupe appears to be a 29 and 30 mixed bag of parts but it does have the later version bracket but the pic is taken too far under the dash to show the bracket. I am now trying to figure out how to repair that large rusty section of metal under the dash shown in the pic. I am not sure if it is a separate piece, part of the under-dash or some kind of repair.
 
its the bottom of the tank, that spot was probably caused by the fuel leak, you wont know till you get the tank out and inspected, get the spot down to bare metal then decied what needs to be done
 
Is it REALLY true that pulling on the steering wheel causes these leaks, or is that just "OLD HUSBANDS" B.S. STORIES?
Think about rust from the inside of the tank & maybe the rivets rusting through & vibrations through the steering column, etc. (Yes, many Model A's VIBRATE like a *****)
Most of us couldn't even git in our cars without PULLING on the steering wheel, that's why Ol' Henry was kind enough to put it in the perfect position to help us old "stove up" folks GIT IN!!! (THANKS, HENRY!) Bill W.
 
kingsley said:
Ford3, I do plan on a proper repair of the tank. My coupe appears to be a 29 and 30 mixed bag of parts but it does have the later version bracket but the pic is taken too far under the dash to show the bracket. I am now trying to figure out how to repair that large rusty section of metal under the dash shown in the pic. I am not sure if it is a separate piece, part of the under-dash or some kind of repair.
Click to expand...


Remember down under, Mickey Mouse is a good thing.
 
BILL WILLIAMSON said:
Is it REALLY true that pulling on the steering wheel causes these leaks, or is that just "OLD HUSBANDS" B.S. STORIES?
Think about rust from the inside of the tank & maybe the rivets rusting through & vibrations through the steering column, etc. (Yes, many Model A's VIBRATE like a *****)
Most of us couldn't even git in our cars without PULLING on the steering wheel, that's why Ol' Henry was kind enough to put it in the perfect position to help us old "stove up" folks GIT IN!!! (THANKS, HENRY!) Bill W.
Click to expand...


I think it is from ruining on rough roads in the early days. With frame flex and vibration hitting all those bumps and ruts in the road. That would transfer back to the steering Column. But I do not pull on the wheel while getting in and out. But I do pull on it hard to turn it some times.
 
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