Fuel Tank Braces

[mtmace]

On my 1968 Camaro I replaced the trunk floor but it did not have the fuel tank braces, so I had to install them too.
I used body panel adhesive down the full length of each brace and drilled holes in the floor of the trunk to weld the brace to the floor.
Before welding I tried to clean the holes of all the adhesive material but when I was welding I could tell that the welds were not very good. I looked under the car and saw that only a few welds melted into the braces. Some actually appeared to "push" the brace away from the trunk floor slightly.
I pulled on the brace and it appeared to be very solid but I know the weight of the gas tank is heavy when it is full. So my question is, should I also add bolts to the braces to be sure they are secure? I was thinking about adding about 6 bolts to each brace.
I don't want to just rely on the body panel adhesive to hold the tank in place. With some issues with the welding I think I could have made things worse. The bolts seem like pretty good insurance.

[rickpaw]

You can try and stitch weld the sides of the brace to the trunk floor. That will look a lot better than bolts.

[mtmace]

That is a good idea.
I will give that a try.

Thanks

[Tictakman]

Have any pics? Im in the same boat but I dont have any mounting points for the tank straps at all....

[minendrews68]

wow, I started reading this post and had to look at who started it. I thought "I don't remember putting this on here". Yep, I'm there too. I also thought about using pop rivets along with the panel adhesive. It would have the part of the rivet hanging down but since it's covered by the fuel tank and never seen I don't see a problem. I do know that the 8115 3M panel adhesive is some really powerful stuff. I didn't want to weld, because I finished the underside of the trunk and it completely never crossed my mind it needed the fuel tank mounts. I was thinking these were built into the new trunk floor. Brain fart I guess. As far as the panel adhesive goes I think if it could hold some of the panels on cars and trucks it would probably hold a full gas tank. I don't know that for certain just a guess. I hope others will chime in on this also.