A little progress XL H-58

[mike ketteman]

the baffle was riveted in and then weld rivets

installed tank

[914pete]

Following. Nice work guys.

[Tom H]

Chuck, this may be a bit late for you to consider.  I've made three alum. tanks, one for our Legal Eagle, two for our Double Eagle.  The first, for the LE, I made overlaps like you show.  And, like Wayne said in a previous reply, it was very difficult to keep the flat panel tight against the turned down flange.  On the two for the DE, I laid the flat panel on top of the turned down flanges.  The bend of the flanges help to keep that part from moving from heat, and the flat panel overlaid on the flanged part can be held tight with weights (but maybe not bullets?) in the area of initial tacking.  As Wayne said, put small tacks all over, and keep the heat build-up low by moving from one area to another area while tacking (and, also, while finish welding).  I did use alum pop rivets to hold things together, then welded over them at the end.  Here are two pics showing the welded up first tank, and showing the parts of the second tanks before welding.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Thanks, guys.. good stuff. I went down a rabbit hole looking at fuel tank design this morning. Probably should have done that before designing a tank.    I really couldn't find *anywhere* that gave volume/baffling requirements, though.
On this site, I see Les says it isn't necessary, and Frank's tank doesn't have baffles, either.
Just the same, it looks like a good idea to me, with only a minimal weight gain.
Thanks, all! 
Oh, and Tom? Not to worry. They are just bullets for reloading.. not loaded cartridges. 

[Wayne Munich]

Mike's tank is excellent. With the flanges bent outward, you can edge weld almost the entire tank , which is fairly easy and fast. don't dwell when welding and let things simmer down. too much heat can do horrible things to nice straight piece of thin aluminum. pre tack!

[Chuck in Indiana]

Fit up a baffle today, and was starting to finish it, drill some 1" dia. flanged holes, file, sand, etc. when I got the feeling I was screwing up. I have visions of fuel sloshing and working the aluminum pop rivets that hold it in. Hmmm. Have I mentioned how much I hate fuel leaks? Especially in the wing?  My gut feeling is to leave it out, but I'll sleep on it.

[Wayne Munich]

The way you have built your tank, you could use Proseal and sealing rivets. a lot of wet wings are done that way... Mooneys for one. Then there would be no welding and probably just as lite. Just a thought. There are different brands available. kind of messy but it works.

[Chuck in Indiana]

The way you have built your tank, you could use Proseal and sealing rivets. a lot of wet wings are done that way... Mooneys for one. Then there would be no welding and probably just as lite. Just a thought. There are different brands available. kind of messy but it works.

Thanks, Wayne.. I'll let that thought marinate for a while, too.

[Wayne Munich]

If you do decide to glue the tank together, get bungs with flanges, you can glue those also. if using weld in bugs do those before tank assembly.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Ok, decided to go with it. I'll use AD rivets around the sides and bottom, and pop rivets on the top. Drilled some holes..

Formed the flanges..

and it will look sorta like this.

Still have to radius all the square corners, polish, etc. but that is a job for another day.

[Wayne Munich]

If you are going to weld it Don't use AD rivets, they are a 2117 alloy which are not weldable. Use soft rivets they are weldable and are the same alloy you are using. BTW you do nice work.

[Chuck in Indiana]

If you are going to weld it Don't use AD rivets, they are a 2117 alloy which are not weldable. Use soft rivets they are weldable and are the same alloy you are using. BTW you do nice work.

Doh!! I shoulda known that when I typed it.  Thanks..

[Chuck in Indiana]

Fuel tank clecoed. Oil tank in the background.. some assembly required. 
Now all I have to do is practice welding aluminum..until I'm confident I can do it. (whistling)
A nice project for a snowy day, and another bite off the elephant.
Edit to insert a gratuitous picture.,

[Chuck in Indiana]

As some sage once said, "A man's got to know his limitations." 
I can weld thick aluminum pretty well. I can run a nice bead if it's laying flat with this .040. I can weld over pop and conventional rivets. I can fill a gap as big as 3/16".
However, I'm not happy with what I have. I'll just take it to my old friend Scott, and have him do it. I would probably waste enough argon practicing to pay him..

I learned a lot, though, and that's always good.

[scottiniowa]

As some sage once said, "A man's got to know his limitations." 
I can weld thick aluminum pretty well. I can run a nice bead if it's laying flat with this .040. I can weld over pop and conventional rivets. I can fill a gap as big as 3/16".
However, I'm not happy with what I have. I'll just take it to my old friend Scott, and have him do it. I would probably waste enough argon practicing to pay him..

Chuck,

I am not so sure that you are not on the edge to what you need to have because I   think that your corner welds were pretty close.

Just some quick thoughts, 
Clean, I mean super clean?
Not sure which welder you have but you do have the green tip tungsten?
AC setting?
For this, you may be happier with 1/16" tungsten blunted tip, not sharp like for steel
And your on the AUTO-Clean setting on the welder (some try to beat this setting, but is hard to do) 
A tiny bit matters on the fill rod, but hardly enough to talk about.
Did I say clean?
Gas lens? I mean are you using a "gas lens" these will flood the weld area SO MUCH better. Not a requirement, but a great help.
Some insist on various pulse settings, they tend to give me a headache, but some really like it for the Timing of heat-fill-move.
The beauty of tank welding is that you can move the tank to nearly always have it flat for the weld, this may require both stool and chair (height) , but certainly at a bench or table.
clean, if you clean one hour before welding, that is almost to long, as oxidation can set in pretty fast.. so we clean/dry/weld. Bing/bang/boom.

I have watched your work all along, and I can taste how close you are. 
Best of Success~
Scott, the other scott.