ground the rust off of my buggy's fuel tank (59m beetle floor pan) to find two small holes in the top half of the tank. i made them a bit bigger and soldered over them, making sure some solder got inside the hole... will this last/work?

hope so cos i've now painted the tank! ahahaha

I wouldnt have trusted solder, to do the job properly it should be welded.

I wouldnt mess with fuel tanks unless you know for a fact that the solder will be O.K. and last for years.


Cheers
Dave

The instructor of my panel beating course reckons that solder is the best thing for filling small holes in panels. I cann't see that pin holes in a fuel tank are any different. As long as you prepare the surface properly and the solder sticks, there is no reason it shouldn't last last 20 years.

yeah solder is good stuff. Plumbers and panelbeaters use it. Quite often on really old old cars the lead filler will outlast the steel that rusts around it.

DON'T BLOW YERSELF UP!!

Tanks should be filled with water for weld repair etc --- use a radiator dude

I have repaired pin holes with solder before, done right it's fine.
(on a motor bike tank)

ONLY use ELECTICIAN'S solder!

Plumber's solder is corrosive and will slowly eat the surrounding metal, and your holes come back. Electrician's solder is not corrosive and so should last forever.

The BugShop FAQ article on fuel tanks recommends solder for mending small holes
http://www.thebugshop.org/bsfqfuel.htm 

tank hasnt had fuel in it for years...stripped all the surface rust off it and used acetone to clean it up before applying 60%lead 40%tin solder that i used on every electrical terminal on my buggy... seems solid enough, time will tell i guess.... thanks for the input fellas!

Ooooh. Have to remember that one. Would it work on small cracks in other panels?
How is the best way to prepare the metal. Just stripping, de-rusting and cleaning with solvent? or does it need a flux applied to the surface?