Oil & Fuel Tank Help

[steve pollina]

I am building a WACO Taperwing replica and need to construct a 6 gal oil tank and a 60 Gal. fuel tank. Any suggestions on thickness, alloy and hardness of the aluminum. Original WACO fuel tank was made out of 24 gage tern plate.

[martymayes]

5000 series is usually used for tanks and such. 5052 welds good, has natural corrosion resistance. Not heat treatable but does harden when worked. So I would use something like .040", cold work it to shape, weld it up and you're good to go.

[WLIU]

Check out the Kent White "Tin Man" metal forming videos. He explains how to hammer shapes out of aluminum for wheel pants and oil tanks. I suspect that you will start with 0.050 if you are forming an end of an oil tank.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[steve pollina]

I went to several of his forums at Oshkosh. He was very informative. Just his forums alone were worth the cost of admission. In my opinion the forums and workshops are what the convention are all about. Yes I remember when it was OUR convention.

[Aaron Novak]

Steve,
Excellent question!!! While some favor the 5XXX series aluminums for fuel and oil tanks, they do have their drawbacks, mainly in lower formability, lower ductility and the inability to be brazed/soldered readily ( and believe it or not there are some corrosion issues with modern MoGas ). The 3XXX series, mainly 3003, makes an ideal tank material, easily formed, worked, welded ( gas or tig ), brazed, soldered and with very high ductility. 5052 has higher initial strength, however when welded the strength drops to close to 3003 due to annealing. Thicknesses on original tanks in that size depend on geometry and application however most I have seen range from .040 to .062. Avoid corner welds and flat slab sides, use geometry to strengthen the tank ( ribs, curves, flanges etc ). I can envision a beautifully formed tank with flanged end plates, gas welded neatly, a few ribs, raised bung locations with brazed in fittings....all very safe, durable and period correct. I sent you a PM with my contact info if you are interested in any more information.
-Aaron