painting behind welded panel

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laguna80

laguna80

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Joined
Sep 27, 2006
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Question for you all: What would you recommend on how to paint behind the panel that I'm welding today? I'm welding in my rear sill which is a 4x4 square tube. It comes extremely close to the gas tank so space is very limited up there. You can see how close it comes in the pictures. Secondly, is it safe to weld that close to the gas tank? I am gonna be welding on the outside so no sparks or splatter should hit the tank, but I'd feel better knowing others haven't had a problem or anything like that.

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nuclearlemon said:
does your gas tank leak at all;)

you could always wedge a welding blanket in between. better safe than sorry.
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Thanks for the response. No leaks that I know of or can see at all. I'll try to figure out a way to protect the tank before I start. I wholeheartedly agree that it's better to be safe than sorry.
 
Laguna, you can put a piece of scrap metal between the tank and were you are welding this will prevent any sparks and heat from getting near or on the tank. I have done this many times in the past, just make sure there are no fumes before welding.

Thanks Bob.
 
Lil'John said:
Be VERY careful around the tank. Best bet is to remove it completely. Better a little "wasted" time dropping the tank than the possible danger of igniting it.

I had a covered tank blow up on me once. Good news was no fire... bad news was $100 to get a new tank:rolleyes:

I know another guy who burned a house down with welding around a tank.
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Holy s***, I've been lucky I guess. I have the tank covered as best I can. I've almost got the welding finished. It's gone ok, sucks though because the welds are s***ty since that back area is so rust pitted and I'd have to replace the whole rear bed in order to make it nice.
 
Lil'John said:
I was lucky for about 45 minutes worth of welding before the tank blew up.

It was like an m80 blowing up in the garage with my head ~5 foot away from the tank. Needed to clean my shorts after that:lol:

I try to learn from my mistakes and pass on some words of wisdom.

Dropping the tank isn't too bad... a few bolts to remove the spare tire cross member then 4 bolts for the tank.
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Did you end up draining it or was it empty already? That sounds like a close call! I always imagined the tank blowing up would be like an IED going off.
 
bobm said:
Laguna, your choice but you can never be too careful.

Thanks Bob.
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Thanks, that's very true. I've got it all welded up now. I'm going to por-15 the area and try to get behind there as best as I can, then I'm going to bedline the outside.
 
I use the Eastwood internal frame coating for areas that I want to paint but I cant get at. The can comes with a 18" flexable tube for the nozzle so you can stick it in a tight spot and drag it around to paint
 
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