Old gas in 32 tank

The marine clean usually takes two treatments but much less is needed than what you used. Probably work out well. I used a piece of inner tube and a hose clamp to seal the inlet so it doesn't Leah when you rotate it. Trick is ti splash it around to get it on the baffles.
 
I have cleaned & sealed three tanks with the por 15 products , 31 chevy, 48 DeSoto, & 34 ford pickup.Worked very well for me & no noxious fumes.
Gary. ( I still have & drive all of them)
 
OK, the latest on the gas tank saga. 21/2 days laquer thinners then 21/2 days of Marine clean it's looking pretty good. The Marine clean came out looking really brown even after the thinner. I loaded it up with some simple green and sloshed it around for few hours today and then flushed it out with clear water. Now it has 2 gals of pool acid and I'm sloshing it around every 2-3 hrs. I'll probably do that till the hurricane passes. Next is rinse out and then POR15 Metal prep and then POR 15 tank sealer.
 
Phil..... YOU MUST use a hair drier or heater for a day to make sure the the inside of the tank is dry before you seal it. IT WILL NOT AIR DRY EVEN IN THE SUN....Otherwise parts of the sealer will separate from the sides. Then you have to spend days with stripper to get it back out. USE GLOVES...the sealer will not come off your hands unless you scrub them raw with a scouring pad... clean up any spills immediately, if some of it drips down the side of the can, do not set it on a trailer or work bench. it is like super glue......as they say....don't ask me how I know all this....

For future reference you should have split the marine clean into two treatments. As you noticed the first comes out pretty crappy, the second comes out pretty clean.
 
Oh....I assume you are not sealing it with the pickup unit in right? Find some small rubber tubing or something to insert in the pickup screw holes or the sealer with screw up the threads....again, don't ask me how I know. Some old screws with grease on them might work as well.
 
To dry the inside of the tank I set it upright with the gas filler opening down. I inserted a heat gun into the gas filler opening and a shop vacuum hose into the sender opening with the hose pushed as far up to the top as possible.

The combination of forcing hot air into the bottom and sucking air out from the top of the tank dried it out pretty quickly. I suspect it was dry within an hour, but I let it run for several hours just to make sure.

The only thing that I found that will remove the sealer from your hands is time. That stuff just doesn't go away.

The good news is the tank sealer will stay put forever. I've heard a couple of stories of tanks sealed with something else that came loose (possibly helped by ethanol gas) and plugged fuel filters.

Tom
 
Thanks for the input guys. Splitting up the marine clean is a great idea. I'm in no rush to seal it so once I rinse it out it I'll take my time drying it before I put the tank sealer in.
 
I did a gummy tank with lacquer thinner, it was an experiment. Wow, it worked wonders....so what's the deal with all the more expensive and fancy cleaners, acids, etc. A bit of patience, slosh around occasionaly, rinse out the dirty thinner, add fresh, and that is that. Home remidies are always best....R
 
I have great luck out of KBS Coatings you can go to their website and buy the whole gas tank kit for around $80
 
Robert Dip said:
I did a gummy tank with lacquer thinner, it was an experiment. Wow, it worked wonders....so what's the deal with all the more expensive and fancy cleaners, acids, etc. A bit of patience, slosh around occasionaly, rinse out the dirty thinner, add fresh, and that is that. Home remidies are always best....R
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone is listening
 
Robert Dip said:
...so what's the deal with all the more expensive and fancy cleaners, acids, etc.
Click to expand...

If you know the tank is in good shape except for a layer of crud, then lacquer sounds like a good option. I hadn't known of that before until this thread.

In my case we had a 36 pickup that had sat with gas in the tank for 39 years. At least it was gas 39 years ago. Getting that tank out was a real pain. Could have swapped the engine several times in the time it took to get the filler neck free and the tank removed past the tight clearances.

I wanted to clean and re-coat it so that I knew it would be good for a very long time once it was back in. So I got the POR-15 kit which includes the 3 steps of marine clean, metal prep, and coating.

It is now clean and coated and back in the pickup. I don't expect to have to mess with it ever again.


Tom
 
OK the final installment 21/2 days Lacquer thinner, water rinse,then 21/2 days marine clean, water rinse, 2 gal straight pool acid for 2 days, water rinse, POR15metal prep ready for 2 days , water rinse, leaf blower on & off for 2 1/2 days in the 85 degree hot sun. Por15 tank sealer. Gotta shake it in the paint shaker to mix it up. Won't have gas in it for another week at least, meantime it's in the sun everyday.Also did the sending/pick up unit by brush with tank sealer too.
 
Caution when using swimming pool cleaner, or muriatic acid. Muriatic acid will take out the rust overnight but it will then start to attack the steel itself. On the other hand, Phosphoric acid will take out the rust and then stop. It does not attack the steel. You can get it at a hardware store as Concrete Etcher and Rust Remover.
All acids should be neutralized after draining by putting a solution of water and baking soda in the tank. If not, the acid residue can come back to bite you after everything is painted.
 
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