MTFCA Forum

Has anyone experienced a baffle coming loose in the gas tank? If so, how did you go about fixing it. Anyone try sealer or epoxy to bond it to the end plate? What’s your thoughts?

Yep, I had a tank with a loose baffle. I scrapped the tank. I didn't want it rattling around when I was driving. I had thought about filling the tank with water, drilling some "spot" holes, draining the water, getting the baffle into place along the holes, using argon or CO2 to inert the tank and spot welding the baffle and holes together. I found another tank and the price was right. Gave up on the first one. Happy ever since.

How about using some strong magnets on the outside to hold it in place?

That’s exactly what I did Ed. Rare earth magnet passed in through the filler neck and shifted the baffle plate onto it. Problem solved.

Hi Tom,
What style tank is it? Is the sloshing an issue or the rattling? if it's just the noise try putting a magnet in the tank to capture the baffle from
rattling.
Craig.

I have played with a few of them over the years. A long time ago, a friend's tank had a loose baffle. I used three foot welding rod with small hooks bent onto one end, working through the filler I managed to pull and push the baffle back into place in the creases around the tank. Frankly, I don't really recommend trying that. While I have always had a knack for such "fishing trips", most people I think would go crazy attempting such a thing. Because that baffle had come loose before, and not wanting to have it happen again, he used a small punch to dimple the tank on both sides of the baffle in a few places to make sure it could not slip out again. It was still good years later when he sold the car.
Another friends tank, was out of the car, so he stood it on end and forced the baffle into the end next to the filler neck. He then also using a small center punch dimpled that tank to keep the baffle in place.

One of my cars had a loose baffle, not near the filler opening. I used a small cut-off disc on an electric drill to cut a couple about two inch slits in the tank where the baffle belonged. Again, fishing through the slits (which was even trickier than working through the filler hole?), I positioned the baffle into place with its edges in the slits.
Then came the really tricky and dangerous part! There are several ways to accomplish this. CO2 has been mentioned, other inert gasses can be used. I don't really like that idea due to the probability of enough air exchange due to thermal expansion and rising creating ingress of oxygen at the wrong place and time. However, if properly done, with a continuous flow of inert gasses such that no oxygen can sneak in? It is a good method. In my case, the gasoline tank had been recently used, and although somewhat cleaned, was not thoroughly cleaned. So I went with one of the other methods, and filled the tank with water, leaving only less than a half inch "bubble" at the top of the tank. With the tank carefully positioned, with the baffle edges in the slit and in the air bubble, I worked through the slit, beginning on the baffles edge and brazed out to the outer shell of the tank, and filled in the slit closing off the tank. One needs to begin brazing on the baffle itself, or the baffle will remain too cool for the brass to stick, and then fill in the outer skin maybe leaving the baffle still loose enough to fall out again. The air bubble is necessary to get the steel hot enough to braze, but with a much too small air/vapor amount to become actually dangerous. I sometimes mention this repair when welding, soldering, or brazing repairs become necessary on gasoline tanks. While the vapor did ignite creating a momentary tiny light show and even blew out the flame on my torch? With a small enough airspace, the actual explosive potential was about the amount of your Roy Rogers cap pistol single cap as a kid. No harm, just an interesting tiny light show and reminder why great care must be taken when welding or other flames are used around gasoline tanks, even when they are empty.
Once that first slit was brazed full, nice, and pretty, I rolled the tank around, removed the water resistant tape and wire holding it in place to keep the water from running out. Then proceeded to braze up the second slit.
All in all, it was a very nice repair.

Someone gifted me with an oval tank that other than a loose baffle it's a perfectly good oval tank. Aside from a rattle which the donor said wasn't all that loud is there any reason not to run the tank as is?

TIA, Tom in Taylor Mill, KY

A lot of people, for a lot of different reasons, can give a long list of reasons "why" one should repair the loose baffle. The sloshing of the gasoline will slide the loose baffle around, scratching and clanking back and forth, up and down then over again. Some people are severely annoyed by the sounds. I had one person tell me that the scratching metal was going to create a spark in the gasoline tank and cause the car to explode like a Hollywood movie car! While that is theoretically possible? I doubt that it has ever happened in the real world, and the odds of actually happening are likely a million to less than one.
Without the baffles in place, the gasoline will slosh around more than it will with one or both baffles missing. That will speed up evaporation of the gasoline (not a big deal really?). and it will allow gasoline to splash up around the vented filler hole and leak out around the tank. That could lead to a slightly greater fire potential? It could damage paint (in mostly hidden places?). And it can smell bad.

Personally, I tend to like to repair the loose baffles. Not that it is really fun, more because my old engineering self prefers them doing what they were designed to do.

However, if the noise doesn't bother you (probably won't notice it over all the other noises a model T makes?)? If you don't drive the car several thousand miles every year? Your not worried about maybe scaring away future buyers if/when you need to sell it? A loose baffle probably won't actually hurt anything.

I have been driving with loose baffle in the tank of my 1919 for about 45 years now...