Gas tank cleaning

[dtkarst]

I know its been asked hundreds of times, but I couldnt find a thread, so i will ask again. What is the best way to clean out a gas tank? I havent cleaned mine out yet since i bought it, and it sat for a number of years. Feeds fuel through and everything just dont want it to be dirty. Plus I need to take it out anyway to clean behind it. Thanks

[MalibuKasey]

Eastwood makes a really good kit... all you have to do is buy muriatic acid... it works great!!

[theastronaut]

I copy and pasted this from my '65 build thread. We took the tank to a radiator shop to get the gummed up gas out but it still had rust in it.

Here's a pic of the sender, to give you an idea of how bad it was!


After a trip to the radiator shop to get dipped:


Still had some left over rust inside:


After cleaning with muriatic acid:


Last rinse with muriatic acid:



I nuetralized the muriatic acid with water/baking soda mix, then used PPG DX series Metal Cleaner to get the hazy rust off from the water/soda rinse. I let that soak, poured the PPG Metal Cleaner out, then rinsed the tank with PPG Metal Conditioner and dried it with a heat gun aimed into the sending unit hole. We've done a few tanks this way and the one in our '57 VW that we did a few years ago still looks like new inside. The PPG Metal Conditioner leaves a coating that prevents rust, and won't come off and gum up the fuel lines and carburetor like some sealers can.

[jkrenzel]

I just went and picked up a new hope I don't run into any issues. But the cost of some of those kits is as much as the tank without the hassle

[Corts60]

I took mine to have it dipped at a radiator shop and then had a liner installed to prevent future rusting since our "improved" gasoline these days retains moisture more than older fuels. I also had them modify my aftermarket sender and re-solder the fill neck that came off during dipping. All together it was about $350. I had a suburban tank that no one makes so I didn't have choice to buy a new one.

[benwah]

The Old school way,. The way I do it. I have a two foot section of tow chain. Remove the float, sending unit and empty the tank. Add one gallon of kerosine, drop the chain in the tank. Cap the filler and sending unit hole and rock, tumble, and roll. Depending on how bad the tank is I do this method at least twenty minuets the first go round. Rince and repeat untill clean. Next I stick an air nozzle in the tank hooked to my compresser and blow out as much as I can. Finding pin holes in the tank no problem! Sand blast the holes. Clean with M.E.K. , blow down with air and add ORIGINAL J.B. weld to the outside. Allow to cure. Now I use a gas tank sealer available at a good tractor store. Any good antique tractor resto shop or storethat sells parts will have this. Its a sealer casts around fifty bucks for a can. One can does one of our tanks. I can post the name of it later, I also sprayed the Herculiner bed liner on the whole outside of the tank. Its a sound deadner and sealer so the outside skin wont rust! I love overkill! The last tank I did was my own last year, 1969 IH one ton. Try and find a gas tank for that! It takes time. Three four days to restore a gas tank, around a hour and a half a day. I'm in no hurry. It cost me roughly a Benjamin to rebuild my IH 19 gallon tank. I will never have to do it again in my lifetime. I had a 22 gallon tank done over at a radiator shop, cleaned sealed the same work I did back in the early 90s and cost me over 400$!

[RAYDAY]

I HAD GOOD LUCK WITH 1QT MURATIC ACID 2 qt water and a hand full of nuts and bolts. Seal it up with duct tape and let it ride around in the bed of my daily driver for a few days rinse and repeat for a week. worked good and no hard work! lol