[Longstreet]

My brother (who is a motorcycle technician and extremely mechanicaly inclined) told me about a time he was in the Caribbean visiting his friend. The car they were using developed a crack in the fuel tank and they needed to get it repaired as it was leaking gas. They took it to the local shop and were told that they did not have a replacement and it would take some time to order in a new one. It was then recommended that they visit the 'old man on the hill' and he would fix it. So they literally went up a hill and visited the 'old man'.

The old man looked at the tank and then said the crack needed to be welded. Rather than empty the tank, he hooked up a hose to the exhaust pipe, turned the car on and then put the other end of the hose into the gas tank. He let the car run for a number of minutes and then welded up the hole - without it exploding

Understandably, my brother was 'concerned' about the event and kept his distance as much as possible from the car. He later realized that he did not have to worry. Due to the car's exhaust being pumped into the gas tank, all of the oxygen was pushed out. And given combustion needs oxygen, there was realitively no chance of the tank exploding.

Although he would never do such a procedure himself (unless absolutely necessary) my brother told me that he was impressed with the ingenuity that the old man had. He also said it was amazing to see how people adapt to the situation at hand and working with what they have at their disposal, what they can overcome.