Re: gas tank cleaning

[Skip Burns]

No one in the local area wants to acid clean my tank. Because of the
three baffles inside, they want to drill holes in the back and sand
blast, a method I'm not willing to accept. For starters, the tank
appears to be solid in all respects, but there's gunk and an
undetermined amount to rust in the bottom, sides and on the baffles. I
ran some tests using 100 percent muratic acid on an old galvanized pail
which cleaned up very nicely and showed no indications of metal
reduction. I also dipped some rusted parts in the acid which removed
the rust. Again, no evidence of metal reduction. Because I am unsure,
I'm thinking of a 50 percent solution of muratic acid and water, but am
tempted to use 100 percent acid because of its effectiveness. After
sloshing the acid around, I intend to fill the tank will water and add
baking soda, the whole bit tested with my pool tester to make sure the
inside of the tank is ph neutral.
Has anyone had experience using muratic acid? Does anyone object to
using 100 percent muratic acid? Will a 50 percent solution do the job
just as well?
Any advice would be appreciated before I embark on the project over the
holidays. BTW, the submarine klaxon horn is installed on the firewall
in the engine bay and sounds great! Cheers and happy holidays, Skip
(TB 0304)

[Geoffrey WHEATLEY]

Skip, Take my advise and let the experts do the job. I have had several
tanks sealed and despite what you think you can do, its cheaper in the
long term to let the professionals do the work. The three holes in the
rear will not be seen and the inside of the tank will last another
thirty five years!

Regards Geoff

[Keith and Maggie Black]

Skip
Thats the way I did mine. If memory serves, I think I used it stright, but
I had washed out the inside of the tank first with lots and lots of water
trying break away as much flake as I could where the acid could get a good
bite to all inside surfaces. If directions call for using one can of
sloshing compound, use two !!! I used a 3M aircraft tank sealer, its super
thick and takes a week to cure. Smells like bloody hell, so the tank needs
to set outside. Would have been a better summer project, but then....well I
know, tings get done when tings get done.............regards and merry
Christmas, Keith and Maggie

[paroor@t-online.de]

Hi Steve Plath,

About the gas tank !!! There was no way to have a look inside my old TC
tank unless we open it from the bottom. Bottom metal was very thin. There
were so many methods. After normal washing and cleaning put some iron nuts,
stone or similar stuff inside and rotate to clean the heavy rust. Then use
lead pellets and rotate again to give a lead coating. The next method is
chemical cleaning. The motor cycle restores do have a kit containing stuff
to clean the tank. After getting it oil free, you can apply the fuel
resistant paint.

We cut opened the bottom of my TC tank including 2" on the front and back.
Side plates were kept. I sand blasted inside the tank. Then the inside metal
is rust treated and painted. After that the new made bottom plate was welded
to the tank. Now the new part is painted by pouring the paint in side and
moving it slowly so that the paint can seal all cavity of welded joints. I
got some experience from my motorcycles. It is a dirty job. One experienced
person did the job for me. It is no fun driving a TC stopping every now and
then because of bad fuel supply ?

I went through almost the same procedure like you are doing now last year.
I think your machine shop is doing a good job. You did not mention any thing
about nitrating the Crank shaft. My TC crank shaft bearing set is made in
Israel.

Madhu

[Larry & Marilyn]

Hi Everyone

I have had considerable experience with rusty fuel tanks. I was a farmer
and some of my older equipment (some older than my TC)had very corroded
tanks. Farm equipment sits around unused for much of the year so this is a
continual problem.

The quick fix for a tank with a lot of loose rust that plugs up the fuel
system is to use a coating which essentially glues all the loose stuff down.
Not elegant but quick, effective and it lasts.

I tried several methods but found that 3M EC-776 Fuel Resistant Coating to
be the best.

Here's what I did:

Take off the tank and clean it out as best you can. Steam or a high
pressure washer works well.

Let it dry completely.

Pour in the EC-776 and coat the tank by rotating it in all directions. The
coating is quite thick. Keep this up until the coating is tacky enough to
stick.

Let it dry and use it.

Happy Motoring

[djedgar]

If coating the interior of the TC petrol tank remember that there is a screen
over the petrol outlet. If the screen gets coated it will block the petrol flow
much, much better than the rust ever did. Be sure to take the screen out
before coating.

David Edgar, TC 5108
El Cajon, California

--- In mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com, "Larry & Marilyn" wrote:
> Hi Everyone
>
> I have had considerable experience with rusty fuel tanks. I was a farmer
> and some of my older equipment (some older than my TC)had very
corroded
> tanks. Farm equipment sits around unused for much of the year so this is a
> continual problem.
>
> The quick fix for a tank with a lot of loose rust that plugs up the fuel
> system is to use a coating which essentially glues all the loose stuff down.
> Not elegant but quick, effective and it lasts.
>
> I tried several methods but found that 3M EC-776 Fuel Resistant Coating to
> be the best.
>
> Here's what I did:
>
> Take off the tank and clean it out as best you can. Steam or a high
> pressure washer works well.
>
> Let it dry completely.
>
> Pour in the EC-776 and coat the tank by rotating it in all directions. The
> coating is quite thick. Keep this up until the coating is tacky enough to
> stick.
>
> Let it dry and use it.
>
> Happy Motoring

[Donald Wilkinson]

Hey Steve:

digitaldon can pass along a method for removing the gunk produced by that
current MISERABLE substance still laughlingly called "gasoline", if left for
a while in fuel tanks. This problem is also common in boats, which are
stored all winter, at least here north of the frostline. Put a gallon or so
of acetone in yer tank, let it soak overnight, slosh around, run thru yer
lines, etc. Follow with steam cleaning, then methanol rinse (gallon or so).
You should see bright, clean metal in there, unless rusty; (then bright,
clean rust). Carbies oughta be done separately, either in Gunk, or
ultrasonically, which I favor.

Don
TC 7993

Got my gas tank off and it's full of "varnish" that gunky residue from
leaving old gas in the car. My PO only ran the car 300 miles over the last
20 years. As I told you all before my carbs are sticking and full of this
gunk. You recommended I attend to the entire gas system. So what's the
best way to clean the gas tank especially since the outside is painted a
nice pretty green and I don't want to damage that? I think I should replace
the gas lines and the fuel pump, is this the smart thing to do or overkill?

My car was converted to negative ground and somewhere I saw an article on
converting your car to negative ground. I want to review it to insure mine
was done correctly but now I can't remember where I saw the article.
Anybody know where I saw it?

By the way my engine is at the machinists. Pistons and sleeves look ok at
.060 over. Will replace the rings. Crank also looks ok and will replace
the bearings both main and rod at .010 after machining. Am also replacing
the main bearing studs although he says the bolts for the connecting rod are
like new so we can reuse them. Will also be replacing the valves, valve
guides, valve springs and he going to harden my seats. He's also replacing
the bushings and rod in the rocker arm assembly. He's also balancing
everything. He has been very conscientious and is showing me everything
he's doing and explaining why he's doing it. He figures I don't want to do
this again. I'm buying all the parts and just drop them off to him. I plan
to have him put the crank and pistons back in the engine so he can insure
it's all properly done. I'm out of town for the next couple of weeks so
should have it back by the early part of Oct.

Going to the Palo Alto British Car Show tomorrow in my Jag. But I plan to
go hang with the TC boys for a while. Hope to see some of you there.

Steve Plath
TC5731

[John Taylor]

Wood Bleach, aka, Oxalic Acid, works very well, also........ Cooling
system too........... John

Donald Wilkinson wrote:

>Hey Steve:
>
>digitaldon can pass along a method for removing the gunk produced by that
>current MISERABLE substance still laughlingly called "gasoline", if left for
>a while in fuel tanks. This problem is also common in boats, which are
>stored all winter, at least here north of the frostline. Put a gallon or so
>of acetone in yer tank, let it soak overnight, slosh around, run thru yer
>lines, etc. Follow with steam cleaning, then methanol rinse (gallon or so).
> You should see bright, clean metal in there, unless rusty; (then bright,
>clean rust). Carbies oughta be done separately, either in Gunk, or
>ultrasonically, which I favor.
>
>Don
>TC 7993
>
>Got my gas tank off and it's full of "varnish" that gunky residue from
>leaving old gas in the car. My PO only ran the car 300 miles over the last
>20 years. As I told you all before my carbs are sticking and full of this
>gunk. You recommended I attend to the entire gas system. So what's the
>best way to clean the gas tank especially since the outside is painted a
>nice pretty green and I don't want to damage that? I think I should replace
>the gas lines and the fuel pump, is this the smart thing to do or overkill?
>
>My car was converted to negative ground and somewhere I saw an article on
>converting your car to negative ground. I want to review it to insure mine
>was done correctly but now I can't remember where I saw the article.
>Anybody know where I saw it?
>
>By the way my engine is at the machinists. Pistons and sleeves look ok at
>.060 over. Will replace the rings. Crank also looks ok and will replace
>the bearings both main and rod at .010 after machining. Am also replacing
>the main bearing studs although he says the bolts for the connecting rod are
>like new so we can reuse them. Will also be replacing the valves, valve
>guides, valve springs and he going to harden my seats. He's also replacing
>the bushings and rod in the rocker arm assembly. He's also balancing
>everything. He has been very conscientious and is showing me everything
>he's doing and explaining why he's doing it. He figures I don't want to do
>this again. I'm buying all the parts and just drop them off to him. I plan
>to have him put the crank and pistons back in the engine so he can insure
>it's all properly done. I'm out of town for the next couple of weeks so
>should have it back by the early part of Oct.
>
>Going to the Palo Alto British Car Show tomorrow in my Jag. But I plan to
>go hang with the TC boys for a while. Hope to see some of you there.
>
>Steve Plath
>TC5731
>
>
>
>
>
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--

John Taylor
johnni42@comcast.net
http://home.comcast.net/~johnni42