hole drilled in gas tank by "professionals"
 

interesting story...
so i went to get an amp and speakers installed in my 85 300D the other day. i waited at the place while they worked on my car...after a few hours, an employee came in and informed me that they needed to keep my car overnight. why? because they had punctured my gas tank with a screw, and my full tank of gas was spilling all over the parking lot. they paid for a used gas tank, covered the cost of the install, and gave me a sweet deal on a new amp. they also re-wired my car and bypassed that scratchy fader, so now all four of the speaker outs on my head unit are actually hooked up :D

they steam cleaned my trunk, however i have my suspicions about the gas tank still leaking. the trunk seal needs to be replaced (water gets inside the trunk), and it just rained, but the liquid inside the trunk smells like diesel fuel. it could be that the trunk just still smells like that from an entire tank spilling out into it, but i thought the steam cleaning would have taken care of that. i'm not sure if the liquid is the source of the smell. the inside of my car also smelled like diesel for a while. should a steam-cleaning have rid my trunk of that smell, or do you think my gas tank is leaking?

Also a very common problem on police cars when they used to install radio units on the back of the trunk area. Would end up drilling right into the tank. If sealed properly it was okay until they took the radios out...then you had a problematic car (ie...cheap :D)

I think this was in the crown vic (early 80's) or possibly the caprie? Not sure...

The smell of diesel will probably hang around for awhile. I would take the carpet out and everything else out of the trunk. Clean everything then use a cleaner like Simple Green in the trunk. I would then leave the lid open for a day or two to let it dry. Also clean the carpets. Don't use to much water the old wire's and vac pump probably will not like it.

That's the exact reason why I do all my own aftermarket audio installations myself. Another reason, I don't trust anyone to do it as they can be the same thieves who may come around and steal it all back.
They know where you live.
They know how it's been installed.
So they obviously know how they can steal it all back.

Amazingly good point...hadn't thought of that.
I just generally don't like the quality work that is done on my stuff :D

How is the weather up there?

Nice, 60°, overcast and no rain yet.
I should be outside working on my 300D instead of glued to this forum like I've been for the last 2.5 hours. :eek:

We had that kind of weather here about a week ago but without so much snow but with about 50 MPH winds. Glad it's over with for now. :sun_smile

Marine epoxy
 

Marine epoxy is sold for several types of metal and you just need their stuff for steel. You must scratch the surface and it must be clean and dry. NO fuel wet spots. Devcon plastic steel is good stuff too.

I'm surprised that no one crabbed about your use of "gas tank". :P

It's the dead of winter on January 22 .. 80 degrees here. :sun_smile
Wish I could send you guys warmer weather.

:D I was going to but decided I need to work on letting that kind of stuff go...

i did the same thing to my car, installing amps....i got way ahead of myself and didnt stop to think there could be something behind that carpet covered metal panel....stuck the amp up there and fired 4 screws right through the fuel tank...i didnt even notice it until i left with my sister and a couple of other people to go to the mall, about 30 minutes away....my tank was nearly empty when i installed the amp, and we stopped to fuel up before getting on the interstate...filled the car up and headed out....about 3 or 4 miles down the road i start smelling diesel, STRONG...i pull over after like 10 minutes of trying to figure out where this damn smell is coming from....i get out, check my shoes...nope, theyre fine....walk around to the trunk, and it just about knocked me to my knees....diesel, all over the trunk...and i can see a steady stream running out the bottom of the panel....i almost threw up...half from the smell, half from all of a sudden realizing i had just put 4 holes smack through my fuel tank....

went back to the house immediately, ripped everything out and set it in the driveway....i soaked up all the excess fuel with towels, then sprayed some Gunk engine degreaser in there and started brushing....i did the same thing with the carpeting....laid it out in the sun, sprayed it down with Gunk, brushed the holy hell out of it, and then pressure washed it.....i did that twice with everything...and let the carpets sit in the sun for 2 days and left the trunk open to air out....the smell was gone in about 3 days....that Gunk worked pretty well


as for the tank, well....i had some kind of super duper epoxy, it wasnt JB Weld, i dont remember what it was called but it was kind of like clay in plastic tubes...i cleaned off the tank with acetone, ground down to bare metal about 3/4 of an inch around each hole...acetone again...then i put sheetmetal screws, the kind with a rubber washer, in each of the holes....then i used the epoxy around those to seal it up....its worked pretty well so far....i think its been almost 2 years since it happened....

i dont think ive done anything car related that has made me cuss as much as i did when i realized what i had done....i think Mercedes cars should come with a tag inside the fuel filler cap that says,"ya know the tank's behind the seat, right?"

make sure they know its a deisel.

When I got my '84 300D, it had an Okidata phone installed, and the main unit was attached to that flimsy steel panel behind the fuel tank. I think this phone came as an option in '84, but at any rate, it was installed at the factory or at the dealer. Several years of the sheetmetal screws grinding into the back of the tank took their toll, and I soon had the same problems as above. Cleaned, sanded, and J-B Welded...still holding fast.