I was taught by an old road racer the great Bill Skyler to always put a hose with running exhaust gas in any fuel tank that had fuel even if cleaned to prevent explosion. As a kid (50yrs.ago) saw a "cleaned" fuel tank explode when the welding teacher showed us how to weld MC fuel tanks did not work out well, ruined tank and himself, sad was a nice old Indian scout tank!! Charlie
You must be referring to Bill Schuyler of Dunellen, New Jersey. I bought his estate of Brit bike parts after his death 10 yrs ago. It included 3 complete Gold Stars. Friends and I moved the pile to a warehouse in Rhode Island in 3 trips.
What a character! His house had bike parts in every room, along with guns and munitions, stuffed in closets, under the beds, piled loose parts in the basement. Nearly everything was disassembled to the last screw, with piles of gears and shafts and flywheels. When we saw mortar rounds a neighbor alerted the police who evacuated the area to remove the explosives, including land mines.
After years of eBay and swap meet sales my garage is over-run with spares not rough enough to scrap but not worth selling. Many remain unidentified. In my eighth decade I fear the catastrophe I will leave my family, the curse of Bill Schuyler. At least there are no explosives or prohibited weapons. Perhaps I'll take photos to post on a dedicated sales website. I should start with the BSA M20 and pre-unit singles.
The exhaust fume method of making tanks safe to weld was the favoured way of emergency tank repair in the paddock at race meetings. Probably prevented now due to H&S. A friend who restored Frazer Nash cars had a more exciting method of fuel evacuation, shake out any remaining fuel, blow out with the air line, light up the welding torch and waft it around the filler neck, at arms length of course. The result was a whoosh and column of flame. He never had an explosion, and died of natural causes, but of course I would not under any circumstances suggest that anyone should try this themselves. It could be fatal.
That is exactly what I have done several times in the past with no ill effects. It is also how I mount new modern tubeless motorcycle tires ("tyres"). Fit the tire to the rim, spray starter fluid into the rim space, stand at arms length with an extended barbecue lighter, and it's seated.
I have done both the exhaust till the tank is too hot to hold and its counterpart a hot air gun.
Also the tank filled with water method
This is also a very old thread but worth a mention.
Solder should really be lead wiping rather than soldreing particularly if there are lots of pinholes.
If you go that way the trick is to strip all paint off, degrease then apply a mix of oxide & reducing flux called Panel Butter.
I know Eastwoods still sell it.
That will leave you with a tinned tank that will take solder beautifully either by direct flame or big soldering iron.
I have also done them with silver solder using my Henrob Torch, now called DHC 2000 .
Kent , the tin man ( google him ) does a much cheaper more conventionally shaped torch for those who find the pistol grip Henrob difficult.
I never liked the idea of bronzing a tank.
Bronze has a bad tendency to crack from vibrations
With the Henrob it is possible to weld pin holes with steel, done it many times, it is just a case of getting fine enough feed wire.
I use thin tie wire which is handy because you can put the coil ( donut to some ) of wire over one wrist and feed the wire in as needed.
Practice on some in cans first .
Once you can weld them without blowing holes you are there.
I remember seeing this method of tyre fitting on TV,Top Gear I think, it was being used on a huge FWD tyre in Iceland but I've never seen it used for bike tyres though.
