fuel tank resto

[RivVrgn]

Hi all, I'm kicking around a few things and thought i'd get some opinions. I've pulled my fuel tank and figured while i'm there....... I'm looking to put some kind of coating on the inside and was wondering if anyone has done this and what you've used, there are a few out there. Like KBS, one from Eastwood, POR-15, and a few industrial. I've read about and googled till i see it when I close my eyes. Even on Eastwoods website reviews are 50 50. I've come to the conclusion that it sounds like prep, prep, prep is the answer to it being successful. It sounds like after the cleaning it has to be dry, dry, then dry it again. Just wondering if anybody had a preference for a particular brand. I'm leaning towards the POR 15 because I have had success with everything I've used from them.

Also I'm wanting to leave the outside bare metal color. Is the tank itself galvanized or is it coated from the factory to prolong its life? if I wire wheel or the like to clean it (already done) will i remove the coating? I know Eastwood sells a tank paint they say is close to factory color and prevents corrosion. Tank isn't in bad shape just figured while it"s out might as well do it so I won't have to maybe pull it down the road.

Thanks, Joey

[tenugent]

post on the main forum-i read about this pocess about a month or so ago-one guy had a good plan with pics and material info-goodluck.T.Nugent roa 12969...

[1965rivgs]

" If it aint broke, dont fix it" As long as the tank is free from heavy corrosion inside and does not appear as though corrosion from the outside to create a leak is a possibility there is no need to do anything but address the cosmetics. Save your money and put it into another area, preferably one that will increase the value of the car.

Tom Mooney

[wildcat1562]

we are having them reproduced now and the sending units as well, i will let you know when we get the first one in

[JZRIV]

Curious why do you think you need a coating?

As for the finish yes they were galvanized metal and there is no paint that simulates it. Eastwoods Tank Tone isn't close to the original galvanized look in my opinion but despite that it is widely accepted in point judged shows and many use it. Tank Tone is an excellent example of good marketing. Eastwood has some great products but saying this stuff makes your tank look like it came off the assembly line is really stretching it. Having said that I've used it for lack of anything better. I found Seymour Alumi-blast is a dead ringer for Tank Tone and may be easier and cheaper to find.

Wire wheeling will change the appearance of the galvanized metal and if there is any rust that area will look different. Pretty tough to clean up a tank and restore to the orginal finish. Almost always people will prefer to see either a uniform clean look (painted) or an original untouched tank in good condition.

You'll just have to try wire wheeling a section and see what it looks like. You are the one that has to be satisfied. If you don't like it you can paint it.

Edited March 24, 2013 by JZRIV (see edit history)

[RivVrgn]

post on the main forum-i read about this pocess about a month or so ago-one guy had a good plan with pics and material info-goodluck.T.Nugent roa 12969...

ok thanks I'll check it out

[RivVrgn]

" If it aint broke, dont fix it" As long as the tank is free from heavy corrosion inside and does not appear as though corrosion from the outside to create a leak is a possibility there is no need to do anything but address the cosmetics. Save your money and put it into another area, preferably one that will increase the value of the car.

Tom Mooney

Thats the problem, won't know if the 40 plus year old tank is corroding from the inside out until it does especially the seams. what i can see it doesn't look bad but I'm after the dependabilty factor. just some peace of mind. thanks

[RivVrgn]

Curious why do you think you need a coating?

As for the finish yes they were galvanized metal and there is no paint that simulates it. Eastwoods Tank Tone isn't close to the original galvanized look in my opinion but despite that it is widely accepted in point judged shows and many use it. Tank Tone is an excellent example of good marketing. Eastwood has some great products but saying this stuff makes your tank look like it came off the assembly line is really stretching it. Having said that I've used it for lack of anything better. I found Seymour Alumi-blast is a dead ringer for Tank Tone and may be easier and cheaper to find.

Wire wheeling will change the appearance of the galvanized metal and if there is any rust that area will look different. Pretty tough to clean up a tank and restore to the orginal finish. Almost always people will prefer to see either a uniform clean look (painted) or an original untouched tank in good condition.

You'll just have to try wire wheeling a section and see what it looks like. You are the one that has to be satisfied. If you don't like it you can paint it.

there are a few repairs on small holes done somewhere down the road and some flakes, pieces of something came out of it, so really just peace of mind. As far as painting i just didn't want to go black just for cosmetics, because everything else around it is black. granted not many people will be under it looking at it but i'll know. it's not a show car just a real good driver. thanks

[RivNut]

Joey,

On the website for Evaporust there's a write up about pouring their product into a gas tank, standing it on edge and rotating it every hour or so. Evaporust is a rust soak that I've used on other things but if it works as good on the interior of something as it does on the exterior, it will probably remove any thing you're worrying about. Then if there are problems you'll have to figure out how to get them fixed.

A guy here locally took the tank from his '63 to a radiator repair shop and had it cleaned, repaired, and sealed.

Ed

[petelempert]

I had so many problems with gas contamination in my 63 that I almost gave up on the car. It is an evil problem if your car has the sickness. It runs fine for a while...then won't run at all...then it runs fine. I replaced the tank...twice. The problem: When you replace a 50 year old tank with a 50 year old tank...you've still got a 50 year old tank. Pouring liners in and/or coatings is worth trying, but I've heard horror stories about people who went mad picking out rust particles...then went mad picking out liner particles. After two tanks and about a million filters, I got a new tank (actually a repro for a Lemans) from Quanta, had the neck customized. End of problem...period. When I read Wildcat 1562's comment about reproduction tanks...I almost fainted. Wildcat, is that true? Did you mean a reproduction tank? PRL

[48Super]

Since we're on the topic of fuel tank finishes, I thought you might be interested to see a nice example of the original tank finish on the '65 GS I'm currently working on. The tank was amazingly well preserved. The picture of the markings show how it looked when I first removed it and cleaned the accumulated dust/dirt off the top surface. The part number and mfg. info was stenciled with some kind of semi-transparent blue ink. The second picture shows the bottom of the tank after removing the old undercoating. It looks so nice I just put it back in without any additional coatings.

[RivVrgn]

Since we're on the topic of fuel tank finishes, I thought you might be interested to see a nice example of the original tank finish on the '65 GS I'm currently working on. The tank was amazingly well preserved. The picture of the markings show how it looked when I first removed it and cleaned the accumulated dust/dirt off the top surface. The part number and mfg. info was stenciled with some kind of semi-transparent blue ink. The second picture shows the bottom of the tank after removing the old undercoating. It looks so nice I just put it back in without any additional coatings.[/quote

WOW.... that's all I have to say...