The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I need to have my fuel tanks on a 1948 ragwing welded.
Do you have a shop that specializes in this that you can recommend?

N2540V (Seattle WA Area)

I bought my 170 as a non-flying aircraft. It sat on an airfield for 10 years with the final five years, the wings were stacked under a tree.
The tanks did not look very good. Between the weather and the poor repairs in the past..... The fuel line nipples were sealed with a body putty.

I sent my four tanks to Hartwig Aircraft Fuel Cell Repair.
http://www.hartwig-fuelcell.com/

I got nervous when I had not heard from them.... It would be nice to tell me that the tanks had arrived.
Finally I receive a phone call.
Hartwig has acid dipped the tanks several times before they could inspect them.

The right outboard tank was the worst.
23 leaks and 30 pits that exceeded 50 percent of the tank thickness.

The right outboard will cost $1400-1500 to repair.
The other three tanks run from $800-900 each to repair.
This includes the cost of putting a boss on the bottom of each tank for a drain valve.

Don't know specifically about Hartwig, but most fuel cell repair facilities specialize only in rubber tanks and do not have aircraft certified welders on staff, and rarely have the necessary qualification to repair/recertify metal tanks. It'll be interesting to see what kind of documentation Hartwig provides. (Not criticizing the choice of Hartwig... that family has been in the business many years and does excellent work.... just describing the problem of getting metal tanks repaired.)

It's important to keep tanks full when the aircraft is idle. Purchasing an airplane should include an inspection of the integrity of the tanks (something that a thorough annual inspection may overlook if the aircraft has metal tanks.)

The last member who came to me with this problem, I sent to a local A&P who is also a welder. Although he had never taken the exams to certify, he could weld aluminum foil to castings... he was that good. (I had used him to repair cracked stainless heat shields on my Baron that a certifed shop has refused to repair. The only reason I knew they were repair jobs instead of replacements is because I watched him do it. As for the member with the fuel tank problem, his AI accepted the repair, I suppose as an owner-produced part.)

Shipping would be prohibitive, and with the aircraft facilities in your area, I'm sure you could find a local welder who could help.