20 replies to this topic

[dodge trucker]

and secondly do you coat them to prevent future problems?

 

What do you do for rust?   What do you do for varnish?  Same thing for both?

 

What coating products do you use if any?

 

I myself have filled a nasty tank with battery acid before, drained, flushed with water,  and then coated them, I have used  both the POR 15 fuel tank coating and the Bill Hirsch stuff. so far so good. 

the only problem I see with the battery acid soak is that I feel a need to rinse them out after I pour off the acid. Problem being is that they start to flash rust again IMMEDIATELY.   As SOON as they are dry I would  have to use the POR or Bill Hirsch stuff to seal them from further damage.  

 

Once I took a 3 qt tank from a 5HP Briggs horizontal,  the kind that the carb mounts directly to,  over to a local radiator shop. he charged me $25 or 30  to steam and coat that tank.  I do not know what product he uses.  but when I can buy a qt of sealer for that same $25 and coat several tanks myself with that quart, I think I'd be stupid to send them off....

 

I have heard great things about a product called "Red Kote" but have not tried that yet.  I see that OReillys even carries that stuff.

I once used  product called "Kreem" a 2 part process on an old Honduh motorcycle  but I have heard a lot of complaints about that particular product, peeling and clogging the fuel line. I didn't have that bike around long enough to find out.

I have a 6 qt tank that I want to try it on  but I 1st need to clean it out of all the left over varnish.  I had this tank given to me about 3 years ago and I am just now wanting to use it.... but its obvious that it sat with old bad gas in it at one point in the past.

 

What ideas are out there besides the battery acid for cleaning out the innards?

 

I'd like to carb a que it and see what that does/ but instead of filling a can to put on the stove to dunk a carb into, I'd have to fill the tank itself and put the fire right to it for the "boil" part.... I am not too worried about fumes because the water/ lemon juice would displace any gas fumes///// and as long  as this tank has been sitting  (a few years, dry, in the attic)  that would tend to vent them too... though as soon as I pulled the cap it smelled of varnish...

so that's why I'm asking what you guys do with your old metal gas tanks that need cleaned out...

[Bolens 1000]

I have used Red Kote on a few tanks and have been very satisfied with the results.

I used to put some pebbles in the tank then shake them around to get all the crap out of the tanks but now I use Electrolysis to remove the rust in the tank. I stick an anode down the fill hole them let it go for a day or so and the walls are rust free.

[olcowhand]

I have only used KREEM fuel tank liner.  I buy the complete kit with rust remover, special rinse, and the liner itself.  The kit will do several small tanks.  I still have tanks I lined many years ago & they have never peeled.  If done right, almost any brand liner works, but if done wrong....well...

  One of my tanks was done 20 years ago, and no peel at all.  Back when I lined my last tank, I never heard of electrolysis or I'd have cleaned them that way.

[panzersarebest]

We put rocks in a moped tank and strapped it to a wheel on a truck and ran it around a bit and it knocked the rust loose. Por 15 is what I'd probally use to coat it.

[IamSherwood]

Diesel and a hand full of 1/4" nuts, and a good shaking works pretty good.

Best results I've had is with electrolysis.

 

[superaben]

The old farmers I know used to take a tank, toss in a handful of nails, and strap it to the wheel of the nearest tractor and go plow for a day.  By the time night came, the tank was shiny inside. 

 

I used Eastwood's sealer on one of my antique tractor tanks.  Otherwise, for sealing Gravely tanks, my local radiator shop offered me such a deal it isn't worth my time to buy the materials and do the work myself.

 

Ben W.

[Kfs35]

I used Works Toilet Bowl Cleaner the last time I did one.  Cleaned the rust right out, that is some nasty stuff.  Make sure you neutralize it with a bakng soda and water solution when you're done.

 

It worked pretty well, but needs some sort of coating to keep it from rusting again.

[framesteer]

For rusted and nasty tanks, my son puts old hardware inside, wraps the outside with old towels, duct tapes the towels, then puts them in the clothes dryer.  No, not the one his wife uses for the clothes, but an old one he has just for this purpose.  To get them shiny, he sometimes uses vibrator media for the finishing step.

 

To dry out tanks, my Dad used to put the tanks up to the exhaust outlet of a running small engine muffler.

[glgrumpy]

Red Kote must be what my weld shop used on bigger tanks for me. It is real red and stays kinda STicky for quite awhile. I even had the gas get red at first, but he said it will do no harm or clog carbs?? Have never seen it in stores. I think just Laquer thinner will kill the varnish. Get better auto store stuff, not the Ace hardware kind.  Haven't done anything small, all my big tanks had to be cut open, blasted and re-welded, then koted with Red Kote, as noted.

[dodge trucker]

i put about 1 qt of Muriatic acid in (straight) for about 1/2 hour sloshed it and dumped it out. What came out was quite nasty  looked loke Coke syrup  but I wouldn't try it.... The tank still looks nasty inside, gonna take some time to get this one clean....

The idea of nails, BBs and such, I'm not so sure would work; this tank has a baffle in it with a tennis ball size hole at the bottom of the baffle,  for gas to pass thru around it.  

I might try some sno bol or "the Works"    those of you guys that go this route do you use it "straight" or do you dilute it with something and what proportion?

 

What about using something like "Iron out"?   It's made to clean radiators in hot water heat systems (think of old houses)

[Kfs35]

I used straight The Works, no dilution.

[dodge trucker]

well I'll see if The Works, really does. I bought 2 quarts (probably shoulda bought 6,   that way I could completely fill it)  but it's sitting with the 2 quarts in it on its side since overnite, I'll flip it on another side for today while I'm at work, and again when I get home, I'm figuring itll take much of the weekend to flip it so that all surfaces get cleaned... hopefully it dont eat thru in any one place

Gotta mow my yard tonite maybe I'll set it on my mower while I'm at it and see if it sloshes around while I ride around the yard and gets everything coated and cleaned//

now do I have to do a balking soda/water flush after using the toilet bowl cleaner?

 

I'm gonna have to dig up some of those electrolysis threads for future...

Edited by dodge trucker, May 30, 2014 - 05:58 AM.

[Kfs35]

Yep, you'll have to do a baking soda/water solution to neutralize it when you're done.

[Grumpy]

Only did it once. I took it to a radiator shop.

[dodge trucker]

well for what my local radiator shop charged me the one time that I went there  I can do about 8 of them with the same quart of sealer; I wish I had your radiator shop near here