VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 35 Standard- gas tank cleanout

situation #2- I have the gas tank out and am cleaning it with acetone, each rinse brings out less crud. no rust, just granular and powdered crud. the tank is very clean and shiny inside where I can see throught the sending unit hole. when I blow through the pickup tube it seems to be partially obstructed. is there any preferred procedure to clean it out so I will get adequate gas flow?

run a piece of gas welding rod down the gas line hole and feel if you have any obstructions.

When you say you blew down the hole , am assuming you physically blew into the hole. Suggest you put air compressor hose to the hole and use 110--120 pounds air pressure. That will definitely dislodge an obstruction.

If you have a gas tank repair place in your area I would inquire to them about boiling the tank out and applying a GAS TANK SEALER , to the inside. Believe BILL HIRSCH listed in hemmings motor news magazine has it or google them.

mike

I will definitely try the wire and compressed air fix. Is there any sort of screen at the end of the tube? I was worried about harming it, hence the soaking with acetone. Definitely NOT interested in coating the tank- it looks like new inside......

To my knowledge, there is no screen or filtering device at the
bottom of the pick-up pipe in the tank. Poking through there
with a piece of welding rod or even a coat hanger, is not a
bad idea, just to make sure there is no obstruction. Compressed air is OK so long as the gas cap is off; 120 psi
of air pressure could damage the tank! After blowing the line
out with compressed air, you should be able to blow through that line easily with your mouth, if there is no obstruction!
I removed my tank and sent it to Gas Tank Re-Nu 20 years ago
and have had no problem since! They open the tank, clean and inspect it, and put in a liner tp prevent future corrosion. It
is guaranteed for life! Good luck!

wire and compressed air cleared the pickup tube,
and each acetone rinse brings out less crud.....

OK, here's another idea-
is there any down side to rinsing the grit out of this tank with high pressure water (soapy? not soapy?)from both ends (filler tube and gauge opening) then draining and letting it air dry? acetome is messy and taking forever....

LIKE I SUGGESTED BEFORE............TAKE IT TO A GAS TANK REPAIR PLACE AND HAVE IT BOILED OUT. ACETONE IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH. THERE MIGHT BE A CLEANER MADE FOR THE PURPOSE, CHECK WITH HIRSCH.

THEN GET A QUART OF BILL HIRSCH GAS TANK SLOSHING SEALER, ADVERTISED IN HEMMINGS MOTOR NEWS FOREVER.

OR GOOGLE ***TANKS INC**** AND BUY A BRAND NEW ONE, $300 ? , STOCK GALLONAGE OR INCREASED GALLONAGE.

THEY ALSO MAKE AN ETCHING SOLUTION.

https://www.google.ca/#q=bill+hirsch+gas+tank+sealer


IF YOU HAVE ACCESS TO A LOT OF BROKEN GLASS DUMP THAT INSIDE AND ROLL THE TANK AROUND, THE SHARP EDGES WILL BREAK LOSE THE RUST. THIS IS WHAT USED TO BE DONE.

MIKE...........

Getting it professionally cleaned is a good idea, but if there are no holes and the inside looks good I would not put any sealer inside.

I DID MY 35 COUPES TANK IN 1980 AND ITS STILL IN THERE.

BUT SUGGEST WITH ALL THE ETHANOL 10% IN USE, A 10 MICRONS TOP QUALITY GAS FILTER BE EMPLOYED IN THE LINE.

MIKE

I had my crudded up tank cleaned 16 years ago and it is still in the same original condition after 84 years. Only the outside has been painted. If it does ever get holes I will THEN use the Hirsch product as I did use it on my granddaughters vehicle which had a tank that looked like swiss cheese and it sealed fine.

Good for you! If the tank is bad enough to require gas tank sealer then you are better off getting another gas tank.

I had my 1932 gas tank professionally cleaned back in 1973 and no sealer was used. To this day my tank still looks new inside!

amen to all the cautionary advice regarding sealer.
this tank is shiny and pretty inside so I will NOT be using any.

there is NO rust inside, so no abraisives will be needed either.

just a small amount of residual varnish crud that has been loosened up by the acetone.

since nobody has warned against a high pressure water rinse I will try that soon.....

thanks for all the feedback.

I have flushed with water and detergent and it cleaned well. Rinse it after initial rinse and dry with some thinned oil (slosh it). Radiator shops could steam it out, I have used them with success also.

water cleanout was not needed.
there was only about a teaspoon of crumbs remaining in the tank, so I swabbed them out with wet paper towels held by one of those little spring-loaded grabber tools that we use to retrieve bolts that fall where our hand will not fit.
took about 10 swabs but it is all clean and pretty now.
as soon as I clean off the exterior rust and paint those areas, I can install the tank and get the car running again......