Gas Tank Condition Go or No?

leo

leo

Well-known member
I have not started my 1930 coupe for a year now and I do not know the condition of the inside of the tank. I had the tank reddy-strip dipped many years ago when I first started to restore the car and when it was last running there were no issues. The car sits in an enclosed garage so it is not exposed to the elements except temperature changes and I drained the tank before it was put up on jack stands a year ago. I'm using a cast iron sediment bulb. Should I just start it up and go or be concerned about possible rust and sediment in the tank once I add gas?
 
Every time you drive clean the sediment bowl---if you don't find anything stretch the cleaning intervals---I cleaned mine every night at the beginning of a 3000 mile trip, by 1/2 way through the trip nothing was in the bowl, then i checked every year, after several years of nothing I stopped looking ---after 10 years it was very dirty so I am back to checking every year ( or if the car slows down)
 
Should be ok, install one of those stanpipe screens in the shutoff that should keep crap in the tank and out of the fuel line. Bob
 
A year is nothing. Mine has to set for the better part of a year between the beginning and end of salty roads.

Yes, to what Kurt and Roadster62 said. Put in the good gas and go. I never drain my tank for storage, unless it's more than 3 years, I just fill it to the top with good gas and start driving when the roads are salt free and the temp is warm enough for an open car.
 
It is an early 1930 and I used to have the glass bowl type sediment bulb but I had constant leakage issues with the gasket sealing the bowl. Once with another Model A that I owned the gasket failed while the engine was hot and gas dribbled down on the exhaust manifold creating a cloud of gas steam, very scary! That's when I abandoned the glass bowl sediment bulb. And I do have a standpipe screen in the shutoff valve, thank you for the tip.
 
I always use the cork gasket with glass sediment bowls and have no problems.
The black gaskets will self destruct with the crap gas we have these days.
 
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Tom, thanks for the info. I believed that like Tillotson carbs the pot metal type glass sediment bulb is prone to warping and if it has you will never get a good seal. And, if you tighten the bail too much you may also cause it to warp. I do not know if there are quality differences in the newly manufactured sediment bulbs or if the originals (how can you tell) are any better.
 
I switched to a glass bowl. :D
 

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Richard Wilson said:
Why not take a flashlight and look down into the tank. Quick, simple, easy.
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I did that the other day, and saw a kind of orange-brown coating on the floor of the tank. Was it rust? Maybe, but I'm not sure. About 20 years ago I put some of that special tank sealer in it (the kind supplied by Model A parts supplier) and now I am not sure whether I am looking at rust or the tank sealer. There are no obvious flakes or particles of any kind on the floor of the tank, just this strange brown colour. So after shining a torch down there I am really none the wiser!
 
Mad Mac said:
I did that the other day, and saw a kind of orange-brown coating on the floor of the tank. Was it rust? Maybe, but I'm not sure. About 20 years ago I put some of that special tank sealer in it (the kind supplied by Model A parts supplier) and now I am not sure whether I am looking at rust or the tank sealer. There are no obvious flakes or particles of any kind on the floor of the tank, just this strange brown colour. So after shining a torch down there I am really none the wiser!
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If you do not see any debris or flaking rust in the bottom you should be good to go. The brown color is probably the stained tank sealer.
 
Roadster62 said:
Should be ok, install one of those stanpipe screens in the shutoff that should keep crap in the tank and out of the fuel line. Bob
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Where do you get one of those? I just drained my tank..loooks like new inside except for some various hunks of crap hear and there. One of 'em plugged up the petcock...don't feel like flushing the tank, would rather install some sort of a standpipe...

How much do you have 'em stick up in the tank? An inch?
 
It's a fine screen that stands up and filters out junk. You can buy them from Bert's, Bratton's, Snyder's and other Model A parts houses.
 
Jim F-1 said:
Where do you get one of those? I just drained my tank..loooks like new inside except for some various hunks of crap hear and there. One of 'em plugged up the petcock...don't feel like flushing the tank, would rather install some sort of a standpipe...

How much do you have 'em stick up in the tank? An inch?
Click to expand...

Tom Wesenberg said:
It's a fine screen that stands up and filters out junk. You can buy them from Bert's, Bratton's, Snyder's and other Model A parts houses.
Click to expand...

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