Gas tank rust
- Thread starter earlyride
- Start date
Gonna be difficult to avoid messing up the original paint but this may work if you are real careful.
I would carefully drain and remove, put some good size nuts and bolts in it, and shake it around as much as you can to knock the scale and rust loose. Flush it with water several times turning it upside down to drain until you dont see any rust particles coming out.
I have used some diluted acid on a few occasions but don't let it sit long or you end up with a tank full of phosphate. If you have fuel level sender it will probably need to be removed prior to the shaking and covered with plate or old sender.
After there is no particles observed,
Carefully put a few ouces or enough keronsene or mineral spirits to swish it around to coat the inside as best you can and drain if fully.
After you reinstall the tank put a large clear plastic filter inline close to the tank that you can monitor. The hot rod type that you can take apart and inspect work well.
I have used this sort of procedure a few times on vehicles that have sat and the problem doesn't go away but usually makes it drivable as long as you monitor the filter.
The other problem is the rust can clog the gas tank outlet line or the whole gas line, fuel pump, etc so you need to check flow to the carb after you do the cleaning.
Replace any gas line with modern Ethanol resistant line if you don't have a real gas source.
Some folks may recommend using a gas tank sealer but Ethanol gas will probably make it break down creating a bigger problem.
I would carefully drain and remove, put some good size nuts and bolts in it, and shake it around as much as you can to knock the scale and rust loose. Flush it with water several times turning it upside down to drain until you dont see any rust particles coming out.
I have used some diluted acid on a few occasions but don't let it sit long or you end up with a tank full of phosphate. If you have fuel level sender it will probably need to be removed prior to the shaking and covered with plate or old sender.
After there is no particles observed,
Carefully put a few ouces or enough keronsene or mineral spirits to swish it around to coat the inside as best you can and drain if fully.
After you reinstall the tank put a large clear plastic filter inline close to the tank that you can monitor. The hot rod type that you can take apart and inspect work well.
I have used this sort of procedure a few times on vehicles that have sat and the problem doesn't go away but usually makes it drivable as long as you monitor the filter.
The other problem is the rust can clog the gas tank outlet line or the whole gas line, fuel pump, etc so you need to check flow to the carb after you do the cleaning.
Replace any gas line with modern Ethanol resistant line if you don't have a real gas source.
Some folks may recommend using a gas tank sealer but Ethanol gas will probably make it break down creating a bigger problem.
Ronnie
Well-known member
dean333
Well-known member
Get an 18" piece of new tailpipe, I think 1 7/8" and a box of baking soda. Fill tank with water and pour in baking soda as tank is filling. Wrap a plastic cup, like from yogurt, around pipe to insulate it from the tank. Suspend pipe in sending unit opening, about an inch from the bottom, not allowing pipe to touch the bottom or the tank at the hole. Connect positive end of battery charger to pipe and negative to the tank itself. "Cook" on 12v fast charge for 24 hrs. Rust from tank will be drawn to and attach to the clean pipe. Flush the gunk from the tank and flush the tank with simple green and water. Tank will be rust free and squeaky clean. I will post pics later
dean333
Well-known member
You can also clean the filler tube by immersing in a 5 gal bucket of water and baking soda and another clean piece of tailpipe. Positive to tailpipe, negative to filler tube. Don't let pipe and tube touch each other. Charge at 12v fast charge for 5-6 hrs. Filler tube will b clean and tailpipe will have the rust.
Ronnie
Well-known member
blucar
Well-known member
Bill Hirsh Co. also sells an excellent fuel tank cleaning/repair kit.. The kit contains a cleaning solution, etching fluid and the tank sealer which is alcohol proof...
I just bought and used the Hirsh kit on a '49 tank.. The cost of the kit, including s/h was $67. The kit will actually do two average size fuel tanks.. Hirsh' sealer is actually air activated, in lieu of chemical, the left over sealer is pored out of the fuel tank and back into the can, to be saved for another tank repair..
The tank I cleaned had been sitting unused for over 38 years.. I rinsed the tank with water, put parts/carb cleaner in it and then put a large section of 1/2" chain into the tank, keeping the loose end secured to the outside of the tank.. Rotating the tank around moved the chain to create an agitation motion within the tank. The chain worked great. I was able to get most of the solidified fuel out of the tank before I used the Hirsh cleaner, etc..
I just bought and used the Hirsh kit on a '49 tank.. The cost of the kit, including s/h was $67. The kit will actually do two average size fuel tanks.. Hirsh' sealer is actually air activated, in lieu of chemical, the left over sealer is pored out of the fuel tank and back into the can, to be saved for another tank repair..
The tank I cleaned had been sitting unused for over 38 years.. I rinsed the tank with water, put parts/carb cleaner in it and then put a large section of 1/2" chain into the tank, keeping the loose end secured to the outside of the tank.. Rotating the tank around moved the chain to create an agitation motion within the tank. The chain worked great. I was able to get most of the solidified fuel out of the tank before I used the Hirsh cleaner, etc..
perrysmith
Senior Member
Dean 333, I am not trying to be a wiseguy, but how noticeable was your power bill affected by 6 hours of fast charge? Seems like it would be quite a bit.