Gas tank cleaning with acetone

[T. Cotten]

I have used about a cup full of # 8 x 3/4" sheet metal screws. I just picked a big jar of them up at a flea market one day for a few dollars. But any around that size should be fine. I would just pick it up and shake it around for a few minutes when I was in the shop over a couple of weeks. It worked really well. I then put a piece of heater hose on my shop vacuum and cleaned most of rust residue out. Then a trip outside with a long extension on a blow gun to finish it up.

"Used" aquarium gravel, Folks!

And a tumbler pulley'd down to a rev a second or so.

....Cotten

[lrcormier]

Metal Rescue works great but you really need to completely fill the tanks otherwise when you rotate the tank around the areas where metal rescue is no longer covering will flash rust really quick. I decided that rather then spending over 40 dollars for a couple gallons of metal rescue I would first try some white vinegar. bought two gallons today at less than 3 dollars a gallon and see how that does. Bought the general purpose stuff in the cleaning section of the grocery store and it turns out it's 6 percent acid versus 5 percent for the salad grade stuff. I filled the kreem cleaned tank and will let it work for 4-5 days. After I empty if it looks good I'll clean with dish soap and water to neutralize I'll dry with acetone, and then use dry coat to keep it from further rusting. Dry coat will keep it rust free for up to a year and will be dry to the touch so figure it will be safer to get painted that way. Once I get ready to fill with gas you can easily clean out the dry coat by sloshing some gas around the inside and draining.

[lrcormier]

Just emptied tank (right side) of the white vinegar and I couldn't believe how much crud still came out, washed with water and dish soap to neutralize the vinegar action and more crud came out, some of it looked like thin cardboard. I followed up the final water rinse with some acetone to help quickly dry the tank, some very light flash rust formed very quickly. I contacted an outfit "gas tank renu" and got the following reply "THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLAIN THE RENU TANK LINER. THIS IS A BAKED ON INTERNAL LINER THAT CURES INTO A SOLID CERAMIC LIKE COMPOSITION. RENU HAS A LIFETIME WARRANTY EXCEPT FOR IMPACT DAMAGES. WE PREP THE TANK INTERIOR INCLUDING MINOR REPAIRS AND SANDBLASTING AS PART OF THE PROCESS. WE WILL PRIMER THE EXTERIOR OF THE TANKS ONLY AS A TEMPORARY RUST PREVENTATIVE. THE COST WOULD BE $250 PER TANK OR $500. 00 PLUS RETURN SHIPPING CHARGES." There main business is automotive gas tanks but they also do motorcycle tanks. At this point I'm pretty happy with how this tank looks but still a little skeptical about leaving the metal bare. I know may folks advocate about not coating the inside of the tank, for those that do not coat, any regrets and do you wish you had coated. I know it can be done even after the outside is painted, it's just very risky.

[Lyle Manheimer]

Red Kote can be applied over flash or light rust according to Red Kote. The last tanks I did were a set of OP 1978 Low Rider tanks. I cleaned them twice with vinegar and was not happy. I then bit the bullet and bought metal rescue, it worked very well except for the area of the fuel line cross over fitting on the right side tank where there was a gummy build up of 20 year old gasoline. A careful splash of lacquer thinner and an hour later it was softened and removed. That was three years ago and no problems so far. Avoid use over flaking rust, it will not work.

[ihrescue]

I used the Renu Tank Liner service and while the price is steep it does end up with a durable liner that becomes part of the tank. Of course the preparation destroys the original finish, yes its a pricey alternative and yes I could have just bought another tank but hey I wanted to use the OEM original part and I liked the outcome. I have know folks that have had them line antique tractor tanks that were basically junk that would not hold liquid and they have survived without a problem for years and you would never know it had a liner unless you knew what to look for. It's best if you can find someone local that does the service because that doubled price I think can be a game changer.

Mike Love