Cleaning a Fuel Tank
#1
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Cleaning a Fuel Tank
After sitting for at least 7 years, my 86's fuel tank was filled with rust flakes and unusable. Last weekend, I went to a junk yard and pulled a used tank. There is only very minor rust on the inside, but overall, a pretty good tank. However, there is some sediment in the bottom. Any recommendations on how to best clean out the junk so I don't have to constantly swap out my fuel filter?
#2
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what I did is I cut my fuel tank in half horizontally just above the original seem, then i used a wirewheel on a drill to clean up everything after that I coated the inside of the tank with 2 stroke engine oil then welded it back together. the 2 stroke oil was just for while the tank was sitting there with no gas in it. as long as theres always gas in it, it will never rust again. Any small welder will do the job. I used a 90amp mig welder at the minimum setting.
There are some cleaners out there made to clean out fuel tanks and stuff... they kinda work, but this way you get to see everything in your tank and clean up everything back down to bare metal. I even did a few mods in there to help the fuel from sloshing around in turns and cleaned up the fuel pump bowl by removing it cleaning it and re-welding it back into place.
Hope this helps!
There are some cleaners out there made to clean out fuel tanks and stuff... they kinda work, but this way you get to see everything in your tank and clean up everything back down to bare metal. I even did a few mods in there to help the fuel from sloshing around in turns and cleaned up the fuel pump bowl by removing it cleaning it and re-welding it back into place.
Hope this helps!
Last edited by KaLo_FC; 06-20-12 at 12:10 PM.
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While I'm sure that is a good option for a full restore, I'm just looking for a way to get the sediment out of the bottom. I know some auto parts stores carry fuel tank reliner chemicals. I haven't heard of any for cleaning out the silt though.
#4
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theres a product called evaporust and its made to clean out the rust out of fuel tanks and it would work for what you want. I dont know where you can buy it in the States...I live in Canada. Also you could use CLR thats a famous one and works really well. Another thing people do is they pour about a 2L bottle full of little rocks in the gas tank then shake it around for some time and then empty it and clean it after. this will loosen any rust and debris from the tank before cleaning it!
theres also a product called oxiclean and it works well because it is corrosif...
good luck!
theres also a product called oxiclean and it works well because it is corrosif...
good luck!
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milak (03-29-18)
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#10
I considered it, but I decided against it because:
1) its a mess
2) its difficult to get an even coat on all the inner surfaces of the tank
3) I didn't want ANYTHING to potentially compromise my fuel system again
4) I figured if it took 20+ years to get to that state I'd probably have a fuel cell before I needed to clean it out again.
1) its a mess
2) its difficult to get an even coat on all the inner surfaces of the tank
3) I didn't want ANYTHING to potentially compromise my fuel system again
4) I figured if it took 20+ years to get to that state I'd probably have a fuel cell before I needed to clean it out again.
#13
I took mine out, drained it, filled it with a bunch of bolts/nuts and rubbing alcohol (evaporates easily), shook it as much as I could without hurting myself, drained it and let it air out. It's not exactly what I would call a perfect restoration, but it knocked out the vast majority of the rust. As someone said, it took 25+ years for the rust to get as bad as it did so I figured this would be good enough.
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