Technical Replace or POR15 it?

My fuel filter off the gas tank has revealed its started to **** up trash. I originally hosed out the tank and let it dry a couple days. Really didnt look bad inside as best as I could tell.

Is it worth the $80+ to do the POR 15 gas tank clean and seal kit or am I better off to wait and just replace the thing for $350.

 

replace it! then your done messing with fuel issues. the other route will bring on more head aches.

 

Or just put some gravel in it, shake it around, clean it out, and put it back in?

 

I just went through this dilemma. I cut an access door to an old tank, soaked it in a mol***es bath, cleaned it out and messed with it off and on for a month. Ended up not good enough. Ordered a new one for 215 bucks and I spent more than that in time wasted on the old pos.
In retrospect, I wish I had just bought the new one right off. Get a new one, make money to pay for it some other way than wasting time on an old rusty tank.
My 2¢.

 

Yeah thats about what I figured. It really wasnt too bad when I looked at it originally, but it does seem like quite an effort for a potential failure.

 

I did some work on a 40 Ford pick up that had the tank treated at one time or another. it had all this silvery stuff that I can only ***ume was painted on the inside and it was all coming off. so even treated tanks can fail.

I bought a new one for that, bought a new one for my 49 Chevy, and a new one for my 61 Dodge. just one less reason to break down on the side of the road.

 

forget the POR-15. There is better stuff now. Redkote......buy it at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Its about $40. Buy a gallon of Muratic acid from Walmart. Its in the pool section and less than $10. Then get a quart of acetone and a box of baking soda. Then your all set.

 

Take it to a radiator shop and have it hot vatted,,if it checks out ok use it,if not replace it.

If you drive long distance you don't want any of the tank sealers,,,I used the sealer after I vatted my tank and left for the Nationals and it's no fun to be 600 miles from home and have the sealer breaking down and clogging your filters.

We traveled over 1500 miles and went through 11 filters. HRP

 

Yikes. Thats the kind of mess I dont want to deal with.

 

Just curious, what product did you use, and did it have a good long time to cure?

 

At those prices I might be willing to give it a shot.

So what process and steps do you use for your method? Curious about the baking soda. I guess its to neutralize the acid but I dont know how to spread it that well and clean it out

 

A length of chain is a lot easier to remove than a bunch of rocks...

 

If you are going to bother to drop the tank, bolt in a new one if you can afford it. On the flip side, I decided to recoat a tank that I used in my 40 pickup. When I cleaned it up, it had holes through it. I taped the holes closed with duct tape and did the whole POR15 clean, pickle and coat tank liner routine. Then I took off the duct tape and coated the whole outside with POR15. That was about 12 years ago. As life became more hectic, the project got delayed but it's going on 3 years since I put the tank into service and "knock on steel" there are no leaks.

 

wash the tank out with purple power or simple green. If it has loose stuff in it then duct tape a piece of heater hose to a shop vac and vacuum it out. Get some rubber plugs from the hardware store to plug all the openings. pour in the acid and roll it around to get it to all surfaces. Once its cleaned all the rust , drain it back into its container. Mix the baking soda with water and pour it in to neutralize the acid, drain out and rinse and drain again. Get as much water out as possible. Then pour in the quart of acetone and roll it around to absorb all the water left inside. Drain into a container. Now you can thin the redkote with a little of the acetone you drained out. Pour the redkote into the tank and roll it around to cover all surfaces. Drain out the excess. Let it dry. It needs to air dry at least 24 hours. If you find pin holes after the acid step you can put tape over the holes and the redkote will skin over them. That's all there is to it.

 

Having been down this road several times myself. Brown bag it fir a month and get a new tank. You'll sleep much better at night. While you are at it if you can get a new sending unit for the fuel gauge spring for that also. Thats a job you really don't want to do two or three times. trust me. yruhot.Doug

 

Yeah I put a new sending unit in a couple months ago when I washed out the tank, including new filler neck connecting hoses. Simple enough but a bit of a pain. Thats why I really dont want to go through the trouble of cleaning and sealing if the sealant isnt going to protect me from rust returning or the sealant becoming melted and ****ed up. I had the fuel pump rebuilt and the carb rebuilt and I dont want to throw money at that twice.

 

Fender, where are you thinking about getting your gas tank from? When i looked for one for my 56, there wasnt anything new that I could find for under $400

 

Water and a chain, shake it until your teeth are loose. Muratic acid, slosh it until your teeth are looser and the metal looks clean. Do not huff. Rinse and rinse some more. Enjoy all the flash rust. Pour in some phosphoric acid and slosh/turn/sit until everything is black inside and rinse thoroughly. I did two Impala tanks that were lousy with gum and rust 5 years ago and they are still peachy. It was cheap, nothing will ever peel off in there, and I got to feed empty beer cans to the left over muratic acid as a bonus.

 

Could you not just fill it up with mol***es, let it sit a week or two and then empty it out.. and put a gurny (i think you guys call them pressure washers?) inside and blast all the black **** out? Every time i've mol***esed stuff its come up really mint clean.. i figured a gas tank probably would come up pretty good too?

 

Ebay has them for about 350 if you search. So does kanter. The 400 ones come with a sending unit and straps both of which are fine on mine. Sending unit is new and straps still look good.

 

Me neither----Response #16

 

It won't rust again if you do it correctly. You don't need to do the chain either if you use the acid. If you already have cleaned it with strong soapy water it will take even less time.

 

How long have your treated tanks been good with red kote? How often/far do you drive the cars?

 

Bump

 

I used the RedKote on my Lincoln tank, and so far, so good. It had a few pinholes in the bottom, I used epoxy putty to seal them from the outside, the the RedKote on the inside. Follow the directions and you should be fine. Mine has been in place a few months now, with no peeling and no rust coming out into the filters.

 

I suppose its worth a try given the alternative. I am on a budget. My main concern with tank sealers is them breaking down and clogging up the fuel pump and/or carb.

 

After you solve the tank issue, don't forget to SUPER flush your fuel lines and replace the filter.
LW

 

What would be the best way to go about doing that? I might consider buying a long length of rubber fuel line and just zip tying it to the old metal one from the tank up to the pump

 

No NO No to the rubber fuel line, replace with steel! Gary

 

But i like rubber.
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