Well, my 49 is still undrivable because there is something purple in the fuel tank. This purple substance is never ending, and clogs fuel filters in about an hour. Turns out it wasnt the carb that crapped out of me during the first run, but both fuel filters that clogged solid. By turning them upside down, and tapping on them, the car ran again. I changed them, and the same thing happened. What is the best route to go here? Im thinking of trying the POR15 fuel tank restoration kit, replacing the fuel line, and the fuel pump (because it doesnt seem to always pump for some reason, and its original) Any input?
What do you know about the history of the gas tank in question? I know from experience that you can line gas tanks and have really good results with them. However I do recall that as I was lining the tank, while reading the instructions completely, there was some mention of either not getting all the gasoline out first, or filling the tank before the liner material completely cures will cause problems similar to what you describe. I wonder if someone tried to line this tank and got impatient. I have never had this happen to me personally, as I always tried to avoid it. I'm not sure what the remedy might be if this is the case, but help it points you in the right direction to start with
We had problems with fuel and ended up taking the tank to a radiator shop and having it cooked out and sloshed with a por 15 type compound. It was money well spent, however we still run a inline fuel filter in an easy to acess spot before the fuel pump and carry a spare in the glove compartment.
You might be onto something here. For some reason, no one has any idea what this purple stuff is. Infact, its the exact color of this smiley ironic eh? It turns the clear-fuel filters this color, and its some kind of sediment that lays in the bottom.
I had some pretty strange stuff in my tank when I got my truck out of storage a few years back. I pulled the tank, removed the sending unit and took it to a local 18-wheeler shop and had them use a high-pressure sprayer on the inside of it. The pressure washer they used was like 200 psi and 150 degrees. If you do that, then dry it out thoroughly and coat things, you should be fine. The only drawback is that the high pressure will find any "weak spots" in a helluva hurry, so be sure your tank is up to it before you try this.
I wonder if the purple stuff could be old gas that turned to shellac. I have heard that if a gas tank sits around for 20 years or so with gas in it, that the gas starts to decompose or something and it turns to something that looks like shellac. Didn't they used to dye the leaded premium gas with purple dye so you could tell it apart from the other grades? Just a guess, but maybe that's what that is, 20 year old gas that turned to purple shellac. Sounds like you need to get the tank flushed out and seal it. I like the sealer I bought from Bill Hirsch. It looks kind of like white house paint. You pour it into a clean dry tank and slosh it around, then pour it back out and let it dry. It dries into a rubbery coating. Worked great the times that I used it. One thing nice about it is that you can pour the stuff back into the can and use it again for another tank someday. You know they add a lot of methanol and ethanol and crap to the fuel now, and it might be that some tank sealer that somebody put in there years ago can't handle the methanol or ethanol, and it's just peeling off and clogging up your fuel filters. Yeah, I'd install a big clear fuel filter and keep some spares.
I have my local radiator shop clean my tanks out. I think they use acetone to remove mystery stuff like that. It sounds like a bad sealer job. They charge about $150 to clean it up and do a sealer in it the right way. They have done a bunch of car tanks for me and a few bikes too. Always had good results. He guarantees his work too....MIKE.
Ok, I just dropped the tank today. Using water, I flushed I'd say about 10lbs of crap out of the tank. I have no idea what it is, it looks like clay. It hardens into... well... clay when it dries. Its orangish/browish, but if you chip it, it hardens like coal inside. Anyway, just flushing water through it got a good amount out, and right now I have Castrol Super Clean soaking in it, and a few times I sloshed it around with a chain. Tomarow I'm going to take the whole tank up to the local carwash and pressure was it out, see how it looks. If it looks clean, I'll throw it back in with new line, and a new pump, and see what happens. If its still dirty, then I guess I move onto Acetone, or Aircraft Stripper, or Muriatic Acid.
Moloko: Last weekend, I removed a gas tank that had been sitting full for 35 years. The gas had turned to something that looked very similar to tar, and the tank was 75% full of it. In my humble opinion, you should just replace the friggin tank. Repops are cheap, and if you don't get every bit of that crap out of your old tank, it's only going to cause problems in your carbs. And you don't know how close you are to having pin holes in the tank. Does your tank have baffles? If so, how do you get to the other blocked areas? No, by the time you've pissed off time, money, and effort on radiator shops, solvents, and POR15, you're still going to end up with an old, eaten-out, questionable tank that should have been replaced from the beginning. I'd replace the fuel lines, pump and anything else between the tank and the carbs as well, otherwise you'll always be chasing this problem. But if you insist on keeping the old tank, I would at least use a commercial outfit for professional results: http://www.gastankrenu.com/index.htm Good Luck!
Mcloud is right..just put in a new tank. Tanks has one for your `49 chevy for $195 put in all new fuel lines too..all the way to the carb..and a filter by the tank , and a filter by the carb problem solved trust me when i say old fuel tanks are just not worth messing with..ask me how i know, i only use new fuel tanks..period
Well Im going to have to try to use this one, because its going to be months until i can afford a new tank, even though they are only $200.
I used vinegar to clean the tank in my Model A. It's already painted and hot tanking would have ruined the finish. I completely filled the tank with white vinegar, let is sit for a week drained the vinegar, pressure washed the inside of the tank, refilled it with vinegar, let it sit for 2 more weeks, drained and repressure washed. The tank is clean as a whistle for about $20 If you happen to have one of those coil shaped coffee cup heaters and can hang that inside the tank to heat the vinegar, it'd work even better!
Ok, it appears the original owner ordered the "feces option" with the gas tank. Right now I have purple power, and paint thinner soaking in the tank, Its making good progress.
I just used Eastwood's kit ($44.95). It walks you through a process that cleans and then coats. We have used it before on other vehicles. Also replaced all the fuel line. So far so good ...Good luck!
I did a 'low buck' cleanout of a tank that had old petrol turned to shellac in it with a few handfuls of 'blue metal' gravel. I don't know what you guys would call it, but it's the small sharp edged stuff they use to build roads out of, each bit's about the size of a 1c coin. Anyway, we heaped the stuff into the tank, along with a couple of pints of new petrol, and a mate got one side, I got the other and we sloshed it backward and forward until our arms were worn out! Worked a treat, the petrol came out loaded with crap, and when we checked inside the tank, it was nice and clean. Bit of a chore getting the last few bits of gravel out, but it cost us almost nothing. Cheers, Glen.
i used a length of chain to 'swish' around the inside of the tank, along with a trip to the car wash to use the high pressure and soap (it was empty, no dumping gas down the drain). no matter what i did, it took a trip to the radiator shop for a boil-n-seal to finally solve the problem...
The jelly substance is old leaded gas. If the tank was boiled out by a radiator shop that usually means caustic soda was used (sodium hydroxide). There is no telling what that interaction will produce but the purple color may be a result of the two. I suspect the boilout just wasnt long enough. When I worked for a chemical company we painted all ferrous steel on our stainless reactors with something called coal tar epoxy. Smelled like hell going on but eliminated all rust. I always wondered why it wasn't marketed for automotive applications where rust was a problem.
Your Tank May also have been the victim of pranksters. I think kids have probably found a way to put near anything that will fit through the filler neck into gas tanks since the automobile was invented. Sugary substances are the worst since they don't break down well with solvents but even old twenty year old gas can leave a lot of residue.
Well there is goodnews and badnews Goodnews: tank is clean! My caustic mixture of death involving Castrol Super Clean, Paint Thinner, Orange Clean, and Yak's blood cleaned out the tank! Badnews? The gunk in the gank was sealing it. Its now swiss cheesed. I shined a light inside to check out my handy work, and saw little pinholes coming out of the tank. Guess it is time for a new tank.
sorry to hear that after all the work and time you put into it. now you know why i made the comment in my earlier post that i only use new fuel tanks i'm sure Tanks can fix you up
Didn't have much time into it. I drained it, dropped it, poored random crap in it, and let it sit for 3 days *shrug*. All I lost was like $10 in random chemicals.
So yeah... where can I get a good tank for this thing? I usually get my stuff from Chevy's of the 40's... but they don't have anything. Ebay also is nill.
Tanks makes one http://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=results/Category_ID=77/home_id=59/mode=cat/cat77.htm
I wished I had known about Tanks before I bought my little one from Bob Drake. Tanks' look like a much better design. Though honestly, I doubt that I'll ever have a full tank of gas in my Venus. But I've done weirder stuff before...may buy one from Tanks and just get what I can for the Bob Drake version on epay. I'm glad you're replacing that tank...very dangerous! It only took me 3 seconds to determine that tank was history (I think it took 36-3window about 7 seconds ;-) There's a reason why Ford made extras, and why repops are being made now.
i think the purple looking stuff you described is called Kreme,its a gas tank liner mainly sold in motorcycle shops,i used it in a old Maico aluminum coffin tank years ago.onley problem with Kreme,things like race gas,even at a 50/50 mix,or a octane booster will soften it again and plug things up,
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