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Reply to "Any interest in coolant tanks or fuel tanks??..."

Until y'all get around to pulling the engine, transaxle and old fuel tank out of the Pantera, to replace it with one of the much better aftermarket assemblies, have you had trouble getting the stock drain plug out of your OEM tank? I'm one of those unfortunate owners that got a car with the drain plug apparently corrosion-welded in place. We've owned #4366 for almost 40 years and even with all my tools and a heated shop,  I've NEVER been able to remove the OEM drain plug!

The tank steel is so thin that putting a correct size socket and a breaker bar on, I can see the tank bottom begin to bend, ripple and distort enough that I'm afraid I'll literally tear the tank bottom open. But the plug stays in place (no leaks, though). So at this point I see two simple choices: drill the thing out from underneath & retap the threads, or try a friend's method with a big air ratchet. He sets the air pressure low enough that the tool just sits there and chatters away- he swears that after 4 or 5 minutes (with periodic air pressure adjustments), most ANY drain plug will come loose without tank damage. Me- I gave up after a few minutes of unbelievable noise from the 2-horse compressor and the air gun.

I don't like the idea of drilling under a tank with a half gallon or so of residual gas in it (from my siphoning efforts)- seems like when the drill bit STARTS to break thru and fuel comes dribbling out onto my running ELECTRIC drill, I'm not in a healthy place.... Anyone got a better suggestion that worked for you? Not theory but that actually worked?

J DeRyke

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