Rusty gas tank

[Guest 22Coupe]

The gas tank on my '22 is pretty rusty inside. The outside is not rusty with no leaks. I would like to have the inside cleaned out. So, any advice from you guys would be appreciated. Any thoughts on removing the tank and throw in a couple pounds of nuts and washers and then tumble the tank a couple hours strapped to a tractor wheel in low gear? Or, should How about that Renu gas tank sealer? I also thought about a couple gallons of Evapo-rust splashing around while on the tractor wheel too. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Gary

[unimogjohn]

Gary, you do have options, from cheap to very expensive. If you decided to go on the cheap side, be prepared to jump to the next level if you find problems like pin holes and or split/leaking seams.

Your options are (in my opinion).

You can get some sealer from Eastwood, Bill Hirsh, etc (many vendors out there), follow their instructions for cleaning and coat yourself. Probably cost you less than $100 and some of your time. Note: if the tank is not prepared correctly the sealant will not adhere and will come off in big slabs. No warranty.

You can take your tank to a shop that specializes in radiators and have them boil out your tank, and then seal it. Cost about $150 or higher if they find problems after the cleaning. Warranty usually 30 days, depends on shop.

You can go the Renu way and they will clean, use their specialty coating on the inside and outside. They also cut open your tank to make sure the baffles are secure in good shape. The cost is about $700. Warranty is forever if you are the original purchaser. I consider it prepaid insurance. The warranty is not transferable.

Several of my car friends have done the sealer with some good and bad results. I had the Avanti tank done by a local shop, so far no problems. I have the 23 McLaughlin Buick done by Renu, and the Jaguar XK120 was done by Renu by the previous owner. All the anticipated costs are based on my experience, yours and others may vary.

Let us know what you decide to do.

[5219]

I have had two cars, a 1940 LaSalle and a 1956 Continental Mark II done by Renu. I have been pleased both times. Both of the tanks had been done by previous owners and the jobs did not last.

As John said, they are not cheap, but the work is very good and guaranteed for life.

[trp3141592]

Hi,

Gas Tank Renu in Elkhart Indiana did my LaSalle's tank--A-1 job! About $400 as I recall.

--Tom

[crazycars]

A little off the exact subject, but would you be kind enough to give me the dimensions of your tank? Mine (1922) is missing and am hoping to adapt other oval tank.

BTW, I have had good results pressure washer,steam cleaning rusty old tanks as long as they weren't full of holes. I then would dry them with a heat gun. Looking inside with a light, I often saw nice clean metal.

[Guest 22Coupe]

Crazy cars,

The gas tank is 10" round and 30 1/2" in length.

I am considering the Renu method, but do not like the idea of cutting a perfectly good tank open. I will be calling a shop nearby to see what is involved in the Renu method.

Thanks,

Gary

[Dwight Romberger]

Gary,

I did the "bolts in the gas tank strapped to the tractor wheel" 15 years ago for my 1952 International Cub Low-boy (tractor). I used a tank cleaner and sealer made by Bill Hirsch. Still works well. No rust. No flaking. No dirt in the glass carb bowl. I would recommend it. Put a cheap, replaceable fuel filter out-of-sight of judges and snoops! (No way to do that on the tractor!)

Dwight

P.S. Actually, I strapped it to a cement mixer and ran it for about four hours. It didn't take me long to figure out the tractor wouldn't run very long without the gas tank.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Dwight Romberger
additional info (see edit history)

[Terry Wiegand]

I have a 1920 Buick K-46 that sat in dry storage for 61 years. Needless to say, it had gasoline tank issues. Last year at about this time I went into the shop and the strong smell of gasoline met me at the door. Following the nose led right to the rear of the '20 and a sizeable pool of fuel on the floor right under the tank. I got the car pushed outside immediately and the mess cleaned up on the floor. I drained the tank and pulled it off the car right away. I sent the tank out to Linings, Incorporated in Ravenna, Ohio. It took them about two days to get the outside stripped clean and then they went to work on the tank. They told me the bottom of the tank between the baffles looked like a screen door. They cut a section out that was about 7 inches wide X 15 inches long. While they had it open it was cleaned thoroughly. They made a new piece of the correct gauge and ran it through their roller to get the correct contour and then stitch welded it back in place. The coating is a ceramic material and has a lifetime guarantee on it. Heck of a deal. The gentleman that I dealt with was a really nice guy and he knows his stuff when it comes to fuel tanks. He said to me, "I dare you to find where we cut it open". I couldn't - these guys are that good. They charged me $325.00 for all the work they did and I thought that that was very reasonable. It is under paint and it is one beautiful tank.

Terry Wiegand

Doo Dah America

[Guest greg walsh]

I found that muradic acid works well but it should be dillutid, also put fresh gas in it right away.

[DavidAU]

I have used POR 15 tank repair kits on 2 cars and they work great.

The tanks weren't what you would call rotten but they had rust on the inside so I put some gravel in them, strapped them to my engine stand and rotated for half an hour or so. cleaned all the gravel and junk out and then used the POR 15 cleaner, metal prep etc, flushed it out then let it dry in the sun and poured in the sealer as per their instructions. I then rotated them around a few times to completely cover the inside and poured out the excess.

The sealer looks like thick silver paint and sets absolutely rock hard. I'm very pleased and think it will outlast me by a long time.

http://www.por15.com/FUEL-TANK-REPAIR-KIT_p_62.html

[michaelod]

The gas tank on my 1930 Buick had been repaired with POR-15 by a previous owner. That repair had failed leaving a horrible mess inside the tank. I sent it out to Renu in an effort to save it. They did an excellent job although they were rather expensive at around $600.

Edited October 19, 2013 by michaelod (see edit history)

[Dandy Dave]

Got gum? Use laquer thinner. Get that out first. Got Rust? Use muriatic acid. Be sure you have a garden hose turned on and handy, and do it outside. Don't go smelling the stuff. If your tank is thin and holes are rusted up, you will know about it shortly. When everything is CLEAN and DRY, then you can put in the tank sealer. Never mind the directions that say 48 hours and Let it harden up for a month or so. The coating fails when everyone is in a hurry and puts gas in the tank before the coating has fully cured. I never had a problem doing tanks this way, and some I have done are 20 and 30 plus years ago. Dandy Dave!

[27donb]

On 10/8/2013 at 9:25 AM, unimogjohn said:

You can go the Renu way and they will clean, use their specialty coating on the inside and outside. They also cut open your tank to make sure the baffles are secure in good shape. The cost is about $700. Warranty is forever if you are the original purchaser. I consider it prepaid insurance. The warranty is not transferable.

 

John,

 

I was reading the website for Gas Tank RENU.  My 24-45 tank is very rusty inside, and after cleaning and soaking here at home for a couple of weeks now, is still not clean enough for me inside, and pin holes leaks have begun.

 

My question is, the coating used by that company, it solves the rust and leak problem, but is it a rough finish or one that can be painted?

 

Originally the tank would have had a nice finish, I wonder if the coating surface eliminates that option.

 

Thanks,

 

Don

[Hubert_25-25]

I had a pretty decent tank on my 1925 Buick Touring.  The outside looked great. No rust as far as I could tell.  All the gas had turned to dust.  The problem was that my baffles were lying in the bottom of the gas tank.  I took it to the local Renu tank shop.  I brought the fuel gauge.  They cut one end off (as I understand it) and blasted out the inside (I think sand blasted, but not entirely positive but you should ask how they clean the metal.  I asked them to not put the coating on the nozzle projections as these stick thru the chassis and show.  They kept the coating in a 1" circle away from the filler and gas gauge nozzles.  The coating looks like a rubberized undercoating material.  When I picked it up, they had welded the baffles in wrong and the gauge would not work.  They had to recut open my gas tank.  They fixed everything at no cost to me.  I was afraid I would have Frankentank on my hands, but they did a pretty good job.  The tank looks very nice inside.   Hugh

[Guest 22Coupe]

Wow, hard to believe this thread is almost 3 years old now?! Well. What I ended up doing was, tumbling with nuts, bolts and washers which working quite well and then using Evapo-Rust, which worked okay too. But, then pin holes developed so, I ended up having Gas Tank Renu do the job. It turned out very nice. Took about 5 days, I think. They cut 3 1" holes in the tank. 1 where the pin holes were where you could not see them and sandblast the inside. They coat the inside and outside and is warranted for life or as long as you own it. You can have them just coat the inside, but they won't warranty the job unless it is coated inside and out. The inside coating is a reddish orange and the outside looks like black undercoating. Hope this was of help.

 

Cheers,

Gary