Fuel tank restoration

[sftamx1]

How were fuel tanks from the  early 1930's  cars originally finished?  Zinc plated, natural metal, or painted chassis black?

Any recommendations on who does tank repair and sending unit restorations?

[Rusty_OToole]

By the 30s they were mostly all made of terne plate, a coated steel product. Some early tanks may have been made of galvanized steel or even copper. If they were under the car they were mostly left unpainted and had a dull silver gray look. If they were visible they would most likely be painted black if the fenders and running boards were black, or possibly body color.

[R Walling]

 To remove all the rust from inside of a fuel tank, first fill it up with a very strong detergent to remove varnish and gunk.

 

 Than fill it up with a mixture of one part of molasses to nine parts of water. Let it sit for a few weeks, then flush with a pressure washer, Presto! no rust!

( the process removes the oxygen from the iron oxide and leaves fine iron particles in place)

 

 It will develope a fine coat of rust quickly, you will have to change your filter often.

Edited October 6, 2016 by Roger Walling (see edit history)

[sftamx1]

Inside is all set. I'm just concerned with correct outside appearance.  Judges, what do you look for?

[60FlatTop]

2 hours ago, Roger Walling said:

 To remove all the rust from inside of a fuel tank, first fill it up with a very strong detergent to remove varnish and gunk.

 

 Than fill it up with a mixture of one part of molasses to nine parts of water. Let it sit for a few weeks, then flush with a pressure washer, Presto! no rust!

( the process removes the oxygen from the iron oxide and leaves fine iron particles in place)

 

 It will develope a fine coat of rust quickly, you will have to change your filter often.

I think you are well on your way to having 20 gallons of rum at that point.

Bernie

[Willy]

Bernie, I have been using heavy molasses (from a farm feed store), mixed with water (1/5), and have been removing the rust very successfully. No toxic fumes, no danger of fire.

[Beltfed]

Question...Could one run this molasses mix into the engine water jacket?  I have an engine which will not quit rusting and clogging up my radiator.  I would pour the mix into the radiator, turn the motor over briefly to get it into everything (thermostat removed), then let it sit.  Radiator is aluminum.  Thanks.

Edited October 8, 2016 by Beltfed (see edit history)

[Spinneyhill]

It seems fermentation of the molasses forms acetic acid. it will happily dissolve the aluminium, probably faster than the rust in the block. Pot metal will dissolve quickly in molasses too.

 

Use a "stocking" sock in the radiator return hose to catch the bits. Clean it out from time to time.

[Beltfed]

Thanks, I had not thought of it but the stocking idea is a good one.  I am in the middle of replacing the water pump.  The stuff, whatever is/was dissolved the vanes on the pump and it died.  

[Spinneyhill]

The "stuff" was probably water and a galvanic cell. I don't know your water pump configuration but mine ('30s) have a cast impeller, a nice machined steel shaft and an Oilite bush (=sintered bronze) very close together. The impeller is lower on the galvanic series than the shaft which is lower than the very nearby bronze, so guess what disappears first.

 

You may also have some cavitation (caused by collapsing bubbles in the water = pressure below atmospheric) but don't know how to tell or fix that. I would need to read up on it. Maybe you should too.

 

Most importantly, put in a good anti-corrosion additive and change it every two to three years. It breaks down with time and use and forms acids and you know what happens after that.

[Rusty_OToole]

You should use antifreeze, summer coolant or a can of rust inhibitor/water pump lubricant. Plain water is not good enough if you don't want your engine to corrode.

[Beltfed]

Not to 'toot' my horn, but I do try to take care of my stuff, can not afford to do otherwise with what old parts cost.  Got car about 10 years ago and the PO had been lazy about the coolant maintenance.  Changed coolant with a 50/50 mix and problems started.  Been fighting it ever since.  This problem happened last week when I was changing coolant to fresh 50/50 mix for winter.  Got new pump in yesterday.  Install today and hopefully put this problem away for a few years and move on to alow speed miss after it get hot on an old Chevy truck.  Gotta be a vacuum leak somewhere or the distributor advance failing.  Thanks.

[Curti]

Auburn painted the chassis after the tank and exhaust were installed. The tank, straps and anti-rattle material, fuel lines and loom were semi-gloss black.  I doubt Auburn was the only manufacturer to do this. After all, it is the underside of the car.

[sftamx1]

Thanks for all the responses! While at the very damp Hershey show yesterday,I dropped to one knee and checked out tanks from the early '30s vehicles.All appeared to be painted gloss black or a gloss silver. I didnt see any natural metal tanks.

[auburnseeker]

I have 2 tanks in my attic NOS from the 30's.  Both Mopar.  One is black and the other is a zinc type plating.  The zinc one could be a later made replacement tank.  My 48 Plymouth was Zinc from the factory. 

[Beltfed]

As a follow up and apology.  My water pump was completely eaten up. No vanes left to pump water. Oh well, it's got wheels.  My apology for hi jacking this thread.  Thanks to those who stayed on subject and also those who helped me.  

[Spinneyhill]

I would be very surprised if the tank was left unpainted. It would be fairly rusty in 5 years otherwise, esp. in the winter salted areas. The zinc or other coating would be passivating the steel all around it and disappear fairly fast with galvanic corrosion.

Edited October 10, 2016 by Spinneyhill (see edit history)

[ply33]

1 hour ago, Spinneyhill said:

I would be very surprised if the tank was left unpainted. It would be fairly rusty in 5 years otherwise, esp. in the winter salted areas. The zinc or other coating would be passivating the steel all around it and disappear fairly fast with galvanic corrosion.

Original poster was asking about a '30s car. Back when I was wandering the university library "stacks" in the early 1970s I came across a number of studies on the economics of salting roads. My impression from those was that they only started really salting the roads in ernest in Upstate New York in the late 1950s and early 1960s. By extrapolation, I'd guess that was about when it became common throughout the rust belt in the US.

 

If my recollections are correct, then I doubt the 1930s automotive engineers were too worried about salt accelerated corrosion. As mentioned earlier, by the 1930s many (most? all?) the fuel tanks were terne metal (steel coated with a lead/tin coating) which was probably considered sufficient protection against the corrosion hazards of the day.