phew thats done without a hitch
 

Just changed the fuel tank strap on my saloon.
I did find it stressful, wondering if I had supported the fuel tank enough or to much. Hurrying to remove old strap from the handbrake cables and then get the new one is position.

All went well but the strap really is a flimsy bit of metal. Been wanting to do this job for a year or more not knowing what condition the existing strap was in.

Perhaps a new one, all though I think is expensive, is worth the investment.

macafee2

I thought the same as yourself regarding how flimsy these things are, my tank though seemed to be well supported without the strap so maybe flimsy is 'enough' (Of course it is the fittings from the filler hose and under the seat that do this, and are not for this purpose!)

Just make sure it is well painted, and stonechipped and it should be fine. I gave mine a good few coats of a hammerite type paint (made by Akzo Nobel) and then covered in Dinitrol after fitting.

painted with por 15 so I hope it will be ok but I may invest in a new one.

macafee2

The new straps are pathetic.

Made in India, and the welds are seriously rubbish, and the paint finish just flakes off.

I had mine welded up properly, zinc primed, and finished in 2-pack black.

Its a bit of a shocker that new parts are such low quality. Xpart if you are reading this, please at least get a grip on quality control.

No-one minds paying a little extra for proper re-manufacturing, and with all the Black Country engineering shops which were utilised for a lot of the original bits, it shouldn't be very hard to keep production to the UK. Maybe there are rights issues with SAIC for component re-manufacture, who knows.

why bother with the welding? It is not as though it takes much weight (handbrake cables and their clip dont weight that much). Did it break when you blasted the old paint off?

You are joking?

It takes the weight of the fuel tank.

The welding is so fragile that you simply could snap them off with a small hand movement. I know because I saw someone do it right in front of me. The original one was an order of magnitude better made.

the only welding I remember on mine was on the horizontal bar going across the two single piece bars that supported the tank. The weld was on the outside of these bars, having a spigot welded onto it to hold the clip for the handbrake cables. The bar itself did not touch the tank.

1" of weld will hold 400kgs, a full tank is around 90kgs, I wouldn't worry too much about the welds..

lol thats exactly the point. When you have seen an Indian masterpiece yourself let me know. The welds are so small and poor its a joke. Crack on and fit **** to you car though, no skin off my nose! :)

As clf says, the only welds on the fuel tank strap are on the cross piece the two other pieces that hold the tank have no welds as they are one piece of steel. These would stay in place even if the cross piece failed due to the recess in the tank.

You seem to be worrying far too much.