Chummy tank

[Henry Harris]

Terne plate is still available but is now stainless steel coated with tin alloy. If it works like the 1920's version though?
I'm thinking that brass sheet would be the best approach. Well proven for fuel tanks and very workable.

[Ian Williams]

Joss has a Copper Chummy tank made exactly the same way as a regular chummy tank, painted you would never know, and no doubt Brass would also work well as Henry says. When I made my tank with soldered seams I used steel sheet and tinned the base using the type of solder paste you would use when tinning a panel for lead loading, I found that it was possible to maintain control of distortion. Henrys suggestion of tin plated stainless steel is interesting, I imagine it would solder well but stainless is harder to work so it might be difficult to double clench the seams.....But then I am just an amateur shed bodger not a professional so I was probably doing it all wrong anyway.

[Henry Harris]

Plain, unplated mild steel isn't suitable for modern fuel. It will rust very quickly.

[Ivor Hawkins]

Would plain, unplanted mild steel treated internally with a two pack epoxy sloshing compound be an option?

[Colin Swinbourne]

A friend used plain mild steel for his tank (not an Austin) with seams welded and brass fittings riveted and soldered. The tank was treated with sealant, which as it was new raw steel adhered very well, and is still doing well 10 - 15 years later. Obviously this isn’t 80+ years later, but....

I have followed this route with the tank for my Delage....well see how it lasts!

One route that I was looking at was forming the individual sections, then getting them tin plated (there are a couple of companies in the midlands who do this) and finally forming the joints and soft soldering...May be another option.

[Robert Foreman]

I thought the tanks were originally made from tinplate. 
  When I built my reproduction Ulster Rod Yates made me a tank in tinplate. There  hasn't been any issues running on the cheapest unleaded petrol that I buy.

[Duncan Grimmond]

Tinplate seems to be the answer...

[Zetomagneto]

Is Zintec any good for petrol tanks, not seen it mentioned.
Tinplate would seem a good choice but can you get it in a decent thickness.

[Duncan Grimmond]

I did think of Zintec but would not want to guarantee that an acid flux would not attack the coating to the point of penetration.

[Spex]

About Materials for a petrol tank
My belief is Tern plate is Lead coated steel.
In Oz we have a product called Zincanneal which is zinc covered steel sheet.  Is this what Zintec is?.
I made a 27 petrol tank from Zincanneal in the early nineties, and it is still going strong, using unleaded with no ethanol.
You solder it just like Galvanised Iron.The car has done 25000 miles since.
Care must be taken that you don't use Zincalume which is a baked "paint" type coating.  Fuel dissolves this coating.
and causes blockages.
 Cheers,
Peter