Rust: My enemy- Fuel tank coating questions

[texanidiot25]

In Eastwood, and POR 15 both provide kits that help reseal gas tanks, and also coat (and stop) internal rusting. My sending unit is rusted solid and my tank is rusty on the inside, which put a damper on giving it a test drive...

Curious as to y'all's opinions about the POR15 and Eastwood rust kits for gas tanks.

And, how many gallons do these monsters hold?

[cdowns]

por15 manufactures what they sell/// eastwood manufactures nothing they're a catalogue store that sells rebranded merchendice thier biggest investment is in catalogue production

have never had a problem with por15products

[Ace in the hole]

I used a qt. of this on mine- http://nomorerust.com/silver.htm
this is from their instruction sheet-

GAS TANKS INSIDE AND OUT
ACID ETCH THOROUGHLY WITH CAPTAIN LEE’S METAL PREP AND CONDITIONER. THIS WILL DISSOLVE THE RUST AND ETCH THE GALVANIZED SURFACE. DUMP ENTIRE CONTENTS OF CAN INTO THE TANK SENDING UNIT. SLOSH THOROUGHLY. DUMP ENTIRE CONTENTS OUT. STAND TANK UP ON END AND LET DRY FOR 48 HOURS. THIN COAT IS RECOMMENDED. DO NOT ALLOW IT TO PUDDLE UP IN THE TANK. IF TANKS ARE PINHOLED OUT, PAINT THE OUTSIDE OF THE TANK FIRST. FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, CALL 1-800-833-8933.

[W. Higgins]

I'm not a big fan of gas tank coatings. I have a restoration shop for older cars and I've seen them fail a lot. Just last week I removed this:



.... from a Packard gas tank (and that's only part of it). The owner had it sealed about six years ago.

Just like paint, all coatings will fail in time. Once they do, they are a major headache to get out. I find that after most tanks are steamed, they still have a lot of their original plating inside. The orange rust color most people see when they look into a dirty tank is gas that has turned to goo. I think what a lot of people confuse is that rust itself is not corrosive, corrosives are corrosive. Rust is the result of corrosion. Even once a tank has a coat of heavy surface rust inside, it is pretty stable, just like pieces of sheetmetal people here own that are covered in old surface rust. Once they reach that point they stabilize and from there on out they rust very slowly. You don't see things rust away to nothing unless exposed to a frequent application of salt, or some such.

The other myth about coatings is that the inside of your tank will be forever clean, and that's simply not true. Most of the contamination problems people have from old tanks is the gas turning to goo, and the sealer won't prevent that. If you use your truck and keep fresh gas in it, you'll be fine, just like you are with your daily driver. My recommendation is to steam it out and use it as-is. I know I'll catch a lot of grief for having this opinion, but I've seen a lot of others catch grief for having used sealers in their tanks.

[texanidiot25]

Originally Posted by W. Higgins

I'm not a big fan of gas tank coatings. I have a restoration shop for older cars and I've seen them fail a lot. Just last week I removed this:



.... from a Packard gas tank (and that's only part of it). The owner had it sealed about six years ago.

Just like paint, all coatings will fail in time. Once they do, they are a major headache to get out. I find that after most tanks are steamed, they still have a lot of their original plating inside. The orange rust color most people see when they look into a dirty tank is gas that has turned to goo. I think what a lot of people confuse is that rust itself is not corrosive, corrosives are corrosive. Rust is the result of corrosion. Even once a tank has a coat of heavy surface rust inside, it is pretty stable, just like pieces of sheetmetal people here own that are covered in old surface rust. Once they reach that point they stabilize and from there on out they rust very slowly. You don't see things rust away to nothing unless exposed to a frequent application of salt, or some such.

The other myth about coatings is that the inside of your tank will be forever clean, and that's simply not true. Most of the contamination problems people have from old tanks is the gas turning to goo, and the sealer won't prevent that. If you use your truck and keep fresh gas in it, you'll be fine, just like you are with your daily driver. My recommendation is to steam it out and use it as-is. I know I'll catch a lot of grief for having this opinion, but I've seen a lot of others catch grief for having used sealers in their tanks.

I'll post pics of the tank. We just ran water through it go help get some the bad gas out last weekend, and let it dry out in the sun for the day.

It's had this sludge sort of stuff at the bottom since we've opened it though. (The rust goo your talking about? "The orange rust color most people see when they look into a dirty tank is gas that has turned to goo")

Thinking this steam cleaning would get that out? I've got a fuel filter at the carb and the sending unit has this mesh "sock", but would putting a finner filter in between and driving it a few tanks clean it out to an "acceptable" amount of rust? I'm guessing that's what your saying, is there is a layer of rust inside normally that won't cause harm to the truck.



Behind my car so that it could be out in the sun for pics...





The truck has been with out gas in it's tank for roughly two years now. Since before I bought it, and after I bought it.

[myoldchevytruck]

Took mine over to the local radiator shop. They boiled it then coated the inside. Seem to be just fine.

[Ace in the hole]

No doubt some of them fail. I thought long and hard before doing it to my tank. A lot will depend on how clean and well prepared a surface you have to begin with as to how well it will stick. Time will tell just how well the stuff I used works, so far so good but it has only been a few months. I am going to wait and reserve final judgement till after a few years but for now it seems to be working great.

[msgross]

why not just buy a new one... Might be cheaper sites, but they are rust free...

http://www.tanks-to-pans.com/site/82...oduct/FN-GM49A

[texanidiot25]

Originally Posted by msgross

why not just buy a new one... Might be cheaper sites, but they are rust free...

http://www.tanks-to-pans.com/site/82...oduct/FN-GM49A

Slim teenage budget

[primetime]

mine was recently just as bad. i layed it out used sand paper on the tubing. soaked it in rust remover after that, dried it out. it cleaned up pretty well. but the main thing is that it works. didn't have to buy a new one for the truck.

[W. Higgins]

Cleaning with true saturated steam, or as Harry said, having a radiator shop boil it out, are both excellent ways to clean your tank. It is getting more and more difficult to find a radiator shop that will work on gas tanks, which is why I now have a steam cleaner here. After letting this most recent tank steam for five hours, it was clean enough that I could weld on it. That said, never ever ever weld on a gas tank, pressure vessel, or anything having contained a substance with a low flash point unless you absolutely know what you're doing.

But yes, the steam cleaner will remove all the goo, sludge, loose scale, whatever you may have. If you still have some scale that won't come loose without some mechanical cleaning, drop a chain inside and let it slide around to knock it loose and then rinse it some more. The type of rust I'm talking about is as you would have on a hood or the roof of your truck that might be covered in well established surface rust, is what I'm describing as being stable. Your tank sitting empty is what most likely caused the scale you have, generated by the moisture in the air. If it had been left full of clean gasoline, it wouldn't have done that.

There is no reason to add a second filter.

Here are the contents of a '32 Buick tank that I steamed out last year:



You would think the inside was shot from seeing that, but it looked like this afterward:



The color of the sludge is just the color it naturally turns with age. You've seen this if you've cleaned old orange gasoline out of your lawn mower.

The best suggestion given so far may be msgross' to just buy a new one. By the time you pay someone to clean it, it could get pricey depending on what they charge. I'm just used to dealing with things you can't buy new tanks for.

[texanidiot25]

Thanks for all the info W. Higgins, I'll talk to my dad tonight and see what we come up with. What's your typical cost to have tanks steam cleaned?

If it had been left full of clean gasoline, it wouldn't have done that.

There's lots of things that the previous owner before my neighbor (bought it from him) could have done differently... Ghetto-rigging everything from bolts in the coil springs to compensate for the sagging, to alligatorclips connecting rusty wires...

[W. Higgins]

Originally Posted by texanidiot25

Thanks for all the info W. Higgins, I'll talk to my dad tonight and see what we come up with. What's your typical cost to have tanks steam cleaned?

No problem. If anything, just get it clean first and see what you have. Even if you still want to seal it, you should get it as clean as possible. If you don't have a way to steam it yourself, take it somewhere. Just sloshing solvent around inside doesn't get it squeaky clean without using a lot (and a lot of effort).

[kbs71]

I've got an origional tank in my truck. I wrecked it about a year ago. It's still got $2.00 gas in it. If you want it, I'll drain it and you can come pull it.
Don't think it gets any cheaper than that.

[texanidiot25]

Originally Posted by kbs71

I've got an origional tank in my truck. I wrecked it about a year ago. It's still got $2.00 gas in it. If you want it, I'll drain it and you can come pull it.
Don't think it gets any cheaper than that.

You have a PM!

[Yukon Jack]

I had my K5's tank cleaned and sealed - when I finally had the K5 roadworthy I went and filled it up - it starting leaking like crazy - lots of pin holes that didn't get sealed up - a waste of $100 - ended up buying a new K5 tank for $200.

[TDs6t9]

I had the same problem with mine. I thought about clean and coat but in this area it was just as cheap for a new tank and sending unit. Got mine from GMC Pauls and never looked back.

[texanidiot25]

I'm pickin' the tank up from KBS soon.

Thinking of painting this:


Just to double on the looks of people's faces when I say the gas tank is right behind them.