Fuel tank leak check

April 12, 2011 – Today I leak-checked the tanks. I took the tanks to Addison where my friend Kato had some of the equipment to do the job.

We hooked up the regulator and gauge to the vent fitting.

We put 2 PSI to the tanks and sprayed soapy water.

We found three leaks. Two were rivets, one of which is for the baffle (no sweat there). The other is a rib fastener just forward of the baffle.

The other leak was in the other tank, and was a bit bigger. Turns out I left a hole in the corner between the outboard rib, the baffle and the skin.

That was easy to fix because luckily, it is in the same bay as the fuel filler point. I put sealant on the outside, and I taped a long q-yip to a long screwdriver, put some sealant on the end, and reached in and applied it in the corner on the inside.

I brought the tanks home, and attempted a poor man’s fix on the internal rivet. I placed the hose of my shop-vac in the filler hole, and it fit perfectly. I held the hose there tightly while I applied some thinned sealant to the outside of the rivet. We’ll see if it did the job. The rivet leaks were both very small.

Time: 2:15