To paint fuel tanks or not.

[rs74]

Getting ready to order a few tanks so that I can put them on before mounting the cab. I am thinking about coating them with something but I don't know what. The frame and underneath cab and bed are all getting treated with SEM Rust Shield. I would use this on the tanks but it is black and I didn't think that it would be good due to the summer heat.

I know these are galvanize coated but I think it will rub off pretty easy with all the vibration on the straps. I just thought I would give it another layer of protection. Any suggestions?

[Damon23]

I liked the bare look so when I changed the one on my 79 Z28 I put a few heavy goats of clear on it. Worked well.
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[88Jimmy4x4]

your suppose to have some tar paper insulators between straps and tank so coating shouldnt rub off from straps, I left mine silver the way it came just like factory.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by Damon23

I liked the bare look so when I changed the one on my 79 Z28 I put a few heavy goats of clear on it. Worked well.
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I don't know how putting some heavy goats on it would help anything, but who am I to judge ? What a man does with his goats is his business.

Just kidding of course. Sometimes typos are funny to me.

To the original poster, look at it this way. To prep for painting you'd need to sand the tanks. That nice factory galvanizing will be compromised somewhat when you do this. I'd run nice new insulators over the original galvanized finish and not worry about it.
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[dieseldawg142]

ok, i'll buck the trend, i hear ya rs74. i too did'nt want crusty tanks hanging off my truck in a few years. i used por15 & chassis coat black on mine. you can get por15 in silver as well. sand it down & spray metal etcher on it so the por15 gets a good bite. did the tanks on my crew 4yrs ago, miles of gravel & off-road- not a single chip! another thing to do is toss them tar paper insulators in the trash, they will eventually break down, or melt into a mess. i used epdm roofing (similar to pond liners), cut some strips for under the straps, good forever, never break down or melt.

[rs74]

My biggest concern was heating the tank and causing any kind of vapor lock if that is even possible. My insulators were long ago shot and someone had replaced them with fabric of some sort. I thought of painting them with the SEM black to kind of make them blend in underneath and disappear. I would put in a blazer tank but I really don't want to mess with filling the fuel doors in and also making a new access for the rear mounted tank. I do like the idea of it but more than I want to do at this point.

[dieseldawg142]

i actually bought some silvery por15 Hardnose paint for my tanks, but after holding up the galv. tanks to the frame, nope, made them disappear-black

[rsnafu]

I do mine with the silver por 15. We have a lot a salt used in the winter

[dieseldawg142]

looks good rsnafu! that was how i intended to do mine, but went the other way (black tanks, silver straps)

[motornut]

no paint used here on the 79
seems the pads,and rocks rotted out the top tho

[dieseldawg142]

^^^i truly feel sorry for old truck owners in ontario, the dreaded salt! is that something jammed between the tubes on the sender?

[motornut]

Originally Posted by dieseldawg142

^^^i truly feel sorry for old truck owners in ontario, the dreaded salt! is that something jammed between the tubes on the sender?

getting stoned all the time, caught up with it, lol,
that was after cleaning it out

[andrewmp6]

Did that truck only see gravel roads its whole life?

[dieseldawg142]

wow! surprised it still worked (or did'nt?)

[motornut]

It was a farm truck most of it's life,sold the year before i got it
about 3 hours west of me

in the heat i'd smell gas
looking above/across you could see vapours/fluid bouncing above the sender
the PO added a electric pump.....to compensate?
turn key,pump ran,never stopped,so much it cracked the rear rubber bit, in the 1/4 return

[silvereagle07]

Originally Posted by rs74

My biggest concern was heating the tank and causing any kind of vapor lock if that is even possible. My insulators were long ago shot and someone had replaced them with fabric of some sort. I thought of painting them with the SEM black to kind of make them blend in underneath and disappear. I would put in a blazer tank but I really don't want to mess with filling the fuel doors in and also making a new access for the rear mounted tank. I do like the idea of it but more than I want to do at this point.

Painting them or applying por15 should be fine. It's not going to cause any heating of the tank. It will not cause vapor lock. If you decide moving the tanks there are some options other than the blazer tank. Look around at some aluminum rear tanks like the one from no limit engineering. They are expensive but it's an alternative to the low hanging blazer tank.

[donut]

Doesn't look like it was suggested yet, but if you want you can get the tanks in plastic.
Black, abt 1/4 inch thick. IIRC it was 20-30$ more than steel and I had to order online. They come in stock configuration and use the same straps and sending unit.

I honestly don't remember where I got it, may even have been JC Whitney.