Mickey and I were unable to find a used fuel tank. I did find someone in town who claimed to be able to solder the tank back to functionality, but it was expensive and I wasn't sure it would really work, since Mickey was very skeptical about it. Mickey found a place that could actually build a tank, which was very tempting to me: not only will the tank be new and clean, but it could also be somewhat larger.
I was in Europe at the time when Mickey told me that the tank had been rebuilt and it has a capacity of 20 gallons (instead of 13 gallons). This made me very happy, because it means that not only can the car drive a long time due to efficiency, but also because of the large tank. It means that if I were to go at 50 mpg, which I doubt, I could get to NYC from Florida on about one tank. For about 40$, with (close to) minimal pollution. Reality of course is less optimal, but in terms of hypermiling, this is becoming quite a car. Add to this the biodiesel non-volatile nature, which allows carrying containers of fuel inside the car, and I should in theory be able to drive extremely long distances without having to find a fueling station.
So, the tank obstruction, which seemed to be an insurmountable problem, has lead to a great improvement.
