VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 Fuel Tank Cleaning Advice

Hello everyone,

After changing the fuel filter and cleaning out the carb a few times and still coming up with pieces of rusty copper metal flakes…I decided enough was enough and dropped the gas tank on Oscar, our ’47 Fleetline. It all went very well and I doubt its ever been dropped before. There’s surprisingly very little rust outside & inside from what I can see with the sending unit removed & a strong LED flashlight. I swished around some gas with a piece of chain about 3 or 4 times and cleaned it good. I was careful not to dislodge / break the pickup tube. Its looking better but there’s still some small dirt & rust that I can still see / feel.

I called around and the shops here want $120 just to boil it out with acid, which thins the metal and makes it rust faster from my experience. Not interested in that. Plus I can get a new tank for $50 more.

Anyone out there in Chevyland have a good suggestion on less toxic & aggressive ways to clean her out? Hot water & degreaser? Pressure hose from the local car wash followed by an alcohol rinse & blow dry? Any advice would help. I don’t want to buy a new tank since this is still clean…I just don’t want to drop it again if I can help it.

Bonus Question :)
Two of my 5 screws holding the sending unit had a rubber washer on them. The others didn’t appear to. Are they all supposed to have a rubber washer of sorts? Do these have to be a special fuel-resistant type or can I substitute nylon or fiber washers in their place?

Thanks everyone for your help. I figured I’d ask the brain trust. I hope to throw a new sending unit & filler hose & clamps and start driving this old guy around town more.

Here's pics of what I'm talking about...

http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/406/53525880641680241531407.jpg

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg71...47080642202195531407.jpg&res=landing

Can't help with the bonus question, but POR 15 is my #1 favorite gas tank solution....

well worth the 60 or so bucks

http://www.eastwood.com/por-15-fuel-tank-repair-kit.html

I can see it, if your on a budget. But fuel tanks aren't all that expensive when you figure in all the time spent cleaning and prepping and sealing and praying and...Yank that old one stick in a new one, done.

I cleaned & sealed my last one...I don't want to try that again...That car was stuck in the driveway for over a week...!lol

LOL nice job Kevin....... I'm a mild hoarder...so I refuse to throw stuff out.... I do end up wasting more time fixing things, but somehow I justify it in my head for not having it go to scrap.....

Dayrl,
I'm with Kevin on this issue. Given the cost factor, I'd recommend scrapping that sucker and going with a new one.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Charlie

I agree with the scrapping of the old one and buying a new one. The new ones look identical to an original and are just beautiful inside. No need to try and encapsulate all the crud in the old one. I think I paid about $200 for mine.

I Third that motion.I didn't have the funds so I pulled it and cleaned the best I could and placed a strong magnet on the bottom outside so if anymore Rust comes loose hopefully it will stay near the magnet,so far this has worked.Haven't had any problems for yrs now.

I vote for putting a new tank in as well. When I bought my Aero, the gas tank had be sent off to be cleaned and sealed (gas tank renu or some such name) by the previous owner. It held up pretty well for a while........then along came ethanol in our gasoline....and shortly after that the tank looked like it was made of cheesecloth!!!! 'Nuff said.....put in a new tank!!

I think we are all for a new tank..Ive rolled around the snot inside 1 time and that was the 1st and last time...Too many carb replacements

NEW TANK ...YOU CANOT AFFORD NOT TO ...New tank and worry no more....There are other things to spend you time on Amen...ED

So you're all in the same camp of replacing the tank. I didn't think it was that bad compared to ones I've 'given up on' before but maybe its worth the $200. My wife is probably going to kill me when I tell her. Seems a shame to get rid of such a solid tank though if I can get it clean. I'm more of a rebuild that replace guy...but after going through carb rebuilds I've had it and this may be worth the expense for sure! Thanks guys.

Another question, what's a good way to flush the fuel lines and fuel pump? Take it off & take it all apart? They're new (less than 1 year old and 1K miles on it). But I don't want any more CRUD in my system after this. Carb is coming off one last time for a good cleaning & air gun blow dry.

Had a like problem with my 47 - decided on a new tank after the carb filled up with "who knows what" out of the old tank. Blew the lines out after installation of the tank. Have had no problems since. I understand the "wife" situation. Sounds like a repeat of what occurred at our house. New tank and then or before buy your wife some flowers. Good Luck!

Ranger, I like your style. Something for her, something for me. I can live with that.

Plus I've got a really cozy couch to sleep on just in case.

Here's what happened to me...I bought my car and everything was Grand...!
A few months later it would "cut-out" on the freeways...

The next time it left me stranded just before the crest of a long steep hill...

I could ramble on for days about the time I spent, pulling my hair, drinking to excess, etc., all because I couldn't figure this out...!

Turns out the previous owner had removed the tank...Cleaned it...Put sealer in...And sold it to me...!


As it turned out the sealer came unglued and clogged up the pick-up tube in the tank...But not all the time...! It would pick oper-tune times at which to strand me, in a dangerous neighborhood, on a "hot date", on a dark night in the middle of nowhere...!

To this day I still look for his Face in the Crowd...! Not sure what I'll do if I ever met him again...! lol


As Far as the fuel line, it's so old anyway...If your planning on keeping the heap you might replace it...Now all I did was pour some acetone down the line and blow it out...The fuel pump I didn't even bother...And I haven't had any problems...But I pray a lot...Even though I'm sure he doesn't listen. grin

I cleaned the varnish out with Acetone and the "snot" appears to have left with it...So I put it back in with a new "sender".
And I haven't had any problems, I use "Stabl" and a couple o'zes of 2 stroke mix per tank to slow the rust...Good Luck and don't forget to pray...It's part of owning an old car...Kevin

Right on Kevin, I hear that. Glad you got yours under control. This thing doesn't look that bad inside and I've always been skeptical of the 'sealers' since last I checked nothing really likes solvents like gasoline over a long period of time. Someone fixed the leaky plugs in my Quadrajet on my '76 pickup with JB Weld. It worked for a while, but I eventually pulled it off and replaced it with a fresh one.

As for the line, its all new so maybe I'll just throw some acetone or denatured alcohol down there and blow it out. Fuel pump I may just leave since it sucks to pull it off...but I also don't want any suprises down the road.

Oscar (my '47) almost left my wife & her sis & husband stranded on a stretch of route 116 on Easter Sunday. After pulling it off to the side of the road, tapping the fuel filter & restarting it, he took us home. But I hope not to repeat that again anytime soon. But that's the chance we take, eh?

Well hell, if it's not all that rusty, I mean if it not actual "scale" rust...Clean her out and maybe change the sender ( get rid of the cork ) and run a good filter or two and just throw-er back in . lol

As long as there's nothing in there that might come loose, like sealer, what the heck...

Sending Units are still 50 bucks or so...I think mine was $46.50 off Ebay...

Yep, I got a new sender and gasket so I'll definately change that out. I'm contemplating some home-brew methods first and if that fails maybe I'll break down and shell out some coin for a new one. I've already got a few other car projects on our daily drivers that should come before this old beast...so we'll see. I'll post up whatever happens. Thanks again.

I tried some sections of chain to side around inside w/soapy water...all I got was the chain hopelessly wrapped around the pick-up tube...and a sore back...lol

So, I reckon you didn't do it right, maybe you should have used several short sections of chain, or a hand full of 1/2 inch bolts and nuts! Soapy water? maybe you should have used some diesel fuel. When I did my tank I used rocks (Chat)and a mixture of a Qt. of acetone and a couple of gallons of kerosene. Shook it for a while, left it for a couple of days, shook it around again left it for a couple more days. Thought about tieing it to the shreader behind the tractor for a couple of days, but the Acetone and kerosene did the trick.
That idea of useing a liquid tank liner was a bad idea in my case. I followed directions exactly and in about a month it started clogging the filters and carb.

Yeah, the sections I used were about a foot long or more, big mistake...I use nuts & bolts on motorcycle tanks, and penny's , too....I'm also a big cheapo and didn't want to use kerosene or Diesel .

I'm done with tank liners, too. I just don't see it with the risk involved...If'n it's so bad as to need a liner, I'd get a new tank...You know I think it depends on the car, too. If it's your completely restored baby or close, it's a new tank . If it's a driver/jolopy...Rinse the tank/grab a beer...That's just me, Kevin

You are absolutely correct! I won't use any type of tank sealer either...run into way to many dudes that have and they had major problems with it. If the tank is bad enough to need sealer then it is time for another tank!

Now you guys got me scared. Used sealer in mine 4 yrs ago and no problems yet. Will have to keep an eye on it but if no problems I'll leave as is. Also use gas with ethanol in it. Have a filter between gas tank and fuel pump I put on at the same time and didn't have to change it yet. Maybe the 10 miles to the golf course is the furthest I'll take it from home just to play it safe.

Filters are Great...! But the sealer lifts off in pieces big enough they can't get completely in the pick-up tube, but restrict the flow 'bout in half..! So you get some gas, just not enough...lol

Hi Jerrygolf,

I used a sealer / liner in my 28 tank back in 2007, still going fine. Also used it in the vac tank, again no problems. We here in OZ are still running ethanol free gas, unless we select it at the pump. I run a good in line fuel filter and would hope if any thing goes a miss, the problem would show its self there. But I suspect, and hope, that the amount of effort I put into the preperation of cleaning, derusting and etching prior to sealing will pay off.

We seem to get these "scares" from time to time. The last one I had was when someone told me the plastic fuel gauage float I installed in my tank will be eaten away by gas with ethanol.I had this vision of all these classic and 60's and 70's cars with plastic type fuel floats grinding to a halt on the side of the road.

If down the track OZ gas has ethanol as a standard additive, obviously I would relook at my fuel system.

Until then folks happy motoring in your Chevs.

Cheers

Ray

Thanks everyone. I threw in the towel today and decided to order a new tank. I also pulled the fuel pump & carb and started to clean out everything . I used alcohol & a blow gun at 80 psi to clean out the hard lines (replaced 1 year ago). But the fuel pump needed a little more help as you can see...



What a mess. I never want to go through this again.

Thanks all for the advice. In the future, I will start with a fresh, clean tank before trying to get an old car running again.