Gas tank restoration

F

ford35lh

Senior Member
The under the seat gas tank from my truck has only some surface rust
on the exterior chafing points. Looking in the sender hole I see residue
from the last gas and some very light surface rust streaks. Flipping it
and shaking and rapping on it produced no sound of loose particles.
Truck and tank came from Colorado

What can I use to clean/flush the interior ???
 
ford35ih, if it ain’t brokke don’t fix it. If ur not having issues maybe the last owner kept up with good practice. What makes u think u need do anything. Was it causing issues?’if u start futzing u may loosen crap that’s been secure and fine for years. Sounds like it looks pretty good as is? Good flush with clean gas & be done. Put a good inline filter in & see what happens. Outside of tank do what ever u want to pretty up.
 
I cleaned mine with safety solvent and gravel, I added both to the tank and shook it till all the inside was clean.
 
This may sound crazy but, tie a small strong magnet to a piece of string or fishing line and "go fishing" in the tank for rust particles. From what you describe, you won't find many. Hence, don't worry about it.
 
If it doesn't have much fuel varnish build up then most of the battle is won. If you use an acidic type cleaner, the rust might come back if a sealer or conversion coating isn't used. The Ospho will convert the rust to iron phosphate so that may not be a bad idea if your not planning to use a sealer. Mild phosphoric is also mixed in with acid etch primers to get the etch action. If you use a sealer, get a good quality one. The modern fuels are hell on gas tanks.
 
Anthony G, I am going to try your idea first.
If I get problems, the tank is right there and
will be easy to remove and try something else.
 
We have a shop here in South Africa that do resin coatings on the inside of fuel (gas) tanks and supply you with a 25 year warranty that it will never leak. The preparation involves the tumbling of the tank with small abrasive triangular stones in it. Once cleaned and done, the resin is poured inside and the same tumbling system is used to ensure the coating is applied evenly on all sides of the tank. All small holes that is required is properly sealed with a pull wire inserted. the resin curing is time based and the pull wires is pulled out just before the resin hardens.

Surely this must be available in the USA.
 
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