Old Fuel tank- What's the best way to cleanse it?

Raider2532 · Post by **Raider2532** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:35 am

What is the best way to clean out an old fuel tank? Aside from shaking out all of the debris, is there a good liquid solution to help cleanse it out? Or just use gas?

oilleaker1 · Post by **oilleaker1** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:49 am

I have a body shop friend with a solvent re-cycler. I soaked the tank with re-claimed solvent and it ate and disolved the varnish quite well. Then simply returned the solvent for him to re-cycle again. A hot pressure washer next with all the openings open. If that doesn't do it, sand blast next and then solder up the holes. I don't like the coating miracle stuff, because nothing sticks to rust for any appreciable amount of time. You have to sandblast rust out of the holes before you can get solder to work also. The repro tanks are a last resort. I'd cut the bottom out and re-build a tank before I'd buy a repro. Now, a NOS tank is the holy grail!

John

wilfreeman · Post by **wilfreeman** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 10:11 am

The repro tanks are a last resort. I'd cut the bottom out and re-build a tank before I'd buy a repro.

+1 on that

SledDog · Post by **SledDog** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 12:09 pm

Mine was in really bad shape. I took it to a radiator shop and they "hot bathed" it and it came back looking brand new inside and out. I used Performance Radiator and I believe they have shops all over the country. Cost was around $150 and took 2 days.