fuel tank claening.

[bpirie1000]

quick question i have since my cars getting to the end of the resto....

i am currently using a jerry can as a petrol tank since i found that the ank i have had fuel in it when it was taken off the road in 1968.....
slurred it our with fresh petrol and it comes out like treakle...... is tehre a better way of cleaning this out... i know there is stuff from frost available and the sealer but anyone else got any tips or hints. would normally order new tank but alittle expensive.........

and trying to keep it original...... and to be totally honest ... i am skint....

[InimiaD]

Have you tried using Cellulose thinners.?
That should get rid of the treacle. Take the sender unit off just in case it gets damaged.

[Will Grant]

This is what i did

1.Large quantity of small size fastners plus thinnners. Shake for 30 minutes.

2. Drain tank, add patio cleaner, cheap, hydrochloric based, plus fastners, swill for further 30 minutes.

3.Washed throughly with G101 / hotwater.

4.Add tin of Gibbs / WD40.

Tiring work, but crusty tank looks like new inside, and ready for sealing. Plus fastners are ready for plating!

[andy1071]

I did mine similarly with a load of large nuts and washers tied on a length of string, and some fresh petrol.

-THINK TWICE ABOUT USING THE SEALER STUFF!. I was going to seal mine, but luckily they were both OK.
BUT, more importantly, the higher % of ethanol that is being added to petrol (5% now but will be 10% soon) is said to dissolve the sealant (it messes up fibre-glass tanks as well), and cause big problems!
There has been quite a bit of talk about this in the Classic and Motorcycle press.

-When I cleaned the RH tank, it looked like it had a plastic bag in it. It came out in one piece, and had been some sort of coating on the inside surface. -Would have been fun trying to find the fault of that collapsing in the tank and blocking the outlet!

[bpirie1000]

thanks folks looks like i'll be captain sore arms tomorrow........

patio cleaner it is.......

[mini13]

I sealed my tanks with that PQR stuff, the marine clean stripper worked really well, took the tank back to a matt metal finish, looked a bit like a zinc plating.

[guru_1071]

another tip is to wrap the tank in bubble wrap and jam it into a concrete mixer (so it cant rattle around - saves the arms!) with pea gravel & water inside it for 20 min or so, then slosh out with water or thinners.

the tank sealer stuff is a pain, about every six months the mini sprint starts to run slower and slower as the fuel filer gets blocked with a chalk like substance, once the filter is changed its fine again, but this deposit is from the frost sealer - the tank isnt leaking anywhere, but i do wonder if one day it will spring a million leaks