VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Gas tank restoration

Good morning all,

I have been trouble shooting a fule gauge problem which turns out to be the floats sinking. While I have the fuel tan k out of the car I noticed some rust in the tank. What is the recommended way to repair/restore the tank? I think I would prefer galvanizing. Does anyone know of a company that would do that.

Thanks,

Jim

Hi Pumpkinj,

This subject has been batted around at several locations on this forum. You could perform a "search" and locate them, however here is just ONE .

You might look in your phone book for "Gas Tank Renu". Sorry I don't have the data on them. They do tank restorations.

Thanks,

I had done a search, but only in 29-30.

I thought about the gas tank renu process, but I was concerned about the finish. It looks like they use a coating which doesn't look like the origianl black finish. Has anyone done this?

Hi Pumpkinj,

You have identified one of the major shortcomings of this site. Any resemblance to the start of a thread by reading the latest post will give you no clue as to what was discussed. Only way to find a subject is by a complete search and that is very time consuming. Don't know what to tell you on that subject.

You may find a commercial "stripper" in your area for the cleaning process and then apply you own final finish.

PumpkinJ - I've done the Renu process on my '32 tank. You're right about the finish - it comes out as a dull black coating, so no, it's not original looking. The one benefit is that it is less cost than an correct era replacement.

Thanks, I was worried about the finish of the renu process. The tank is in very good shape, no holes etc. It just has some surface rust inside that I want to stop before it gets really bad. I found a shop locally that said they can clean it out, and use an air dry sealer. I have heard mixed reviews about using sealers, but it is worth a try. The tank is easy to get out if I need to do it again. I may have the outside powder coated first. That should hold up better. I'll post the results when it's done.

Quote: "I have heard mixed reviews about using sealers, but it is worth a try. The tank is easy to get out if I need to do it again."

True, the tank is easy to remove if you need to do it again. However, how about fuel system contamination if the sealer fails? Do you want to spend days cleaning out your fuel lines, or maybe even replacing them? How about the time spent cleaning out your fuel pump or rebuilding your carburetor as well to remove all of the contamination? There is a fellow that I know with a 1931 coupe that had the sealer fail in his tank. He had a nightmare of a time trying to get the sealer contamination out of his fuel system, and it took several years to do so. He removed the tank several times and had it cleaned, and the same with the fuel lines. The residue of the sealer kept coming back. I know, because I had to rebuild his carburetor three times during this process, and each time the carburetor was disassembled the remains of the sealer was still found. On the last go around, he finally had one end of the tank removed, the inside of the tank totally bead blasted and then cleaned in chemicals, and the end of the tank was resoldered back on. His tank was installed back on the car with no sealer and he never had problems again. :eek: :eek:

As you see, the Skipper has pretty strong doubts about gas tank sealants. I readily agree about avoiding over the counter or service shop remedies. I had the Renu process done at Albany Radiator. It's a franchised service that comes with a lifetime warranty. It's not the top of the line solution, but it suffices. Take heed of what the Junkyard Dog tells ya..!

That sounds painful, and since you just rebuilt my carb last spring I think I'll skip the sealer. If I am reading this correctly, I should just get the tank cleaned throughly, stripped, and then a nice finish coat of gloss black. Powder coat should be OK.

Hi Pumpkinj,

I would feel bad if I let you go away with a bad feeling on gas tank liners based on just one story. And that story is undoubtedly based on the old non-alcohol resistant lining material referred to as "Yellow Snot".

There is at least two new sealers available and to date I have not heard one bad remark about either one of them. In my opinion, the worse thing you could do is to replace the tank without putting a lining material in it.

Suggest you go to the reference I gave you in an earlier posting and check it out.

Hi Pumpkinj,
Don't want to scare you, but something to think about. I have an old oil bath aircleaner that I had soldered a few pinholes to repair. I then had it powder coated and when I got it back the heat (aprox 400 deg) had melted some of the repair solder out! :eek:
It wouldn't be a pretty site if your tank came out of the oven in 3 pieces!
Just my 2c worth

I also tried the gas tank renu process on my '34. So far I am happy with it-the top was cut open and new baffles were installed, and the pickup tube replaced. The outside does have a dull coating-the dealer offered not to do the outside,(leaving me to paint it color of my choosing). The downside to that is he could not offer the full warranty the company provides, which I can agree with so I went with the dealer applied coating. Time will tell if I made a good decision and if it was worth the money!

I wonder if the some of these gas tank sealers are getting bad press here? Six years ago I tried the POR15 gas tank sealer product in my '32. I would even recommend the product for the above situation. I was reluctant at first, since I had heard about problems as the JYD mentioned, but it seems to be holding up.

As to how well the sealer works depends upon certain variables. Things to consider are how rusty the tank is in the first place, how well it was cleaned, how the sealer was applied, and what area that you live in as to what type of gasoline is available. Personally, I have talked to dudes that have used the sealer and they would never use it again. While others swear by the stuff.

It's funny that we are talking about this now since a friend of mine ran into this exact same problem only last Saturday. He took his Harley out for a short ride to the lake and back, and never made it home. On the way back from the lake, the bike stopped running. He would wait a few minutes and start the bike up, and it would run fine. Once on the road it would quit again. He knew the symptoms and that his motorcycle was starving for fuel. Once home, he drained the gas out and checked inside of his tank. The FACTORY INSTALLED sealer had disintegrated and particles of it totally plugged the fuel strainer inside of his gas tank. Apparently, all Harley Motorcycles come from the factory with sealed gas tanks because most motorcycles sit around more than they are on the road. At any rate, now he has a real problem as to how to remove the remains of the factory sealant without damaging the $600 special factory applied paint job on the exterior of his Harley gas tank!

To me, galvanizing is the safe way to go on vintage automobile gasoline tanks, especially if they are rusty inside or have pinholes, and depending upon the thickness used, some galvanizing processes will last a century or longer.

I have to agree with JYD, My experiance with DIY, gas tank sealer kits was not good, even after abrasive-blasting the inside of the tank clean, I first did it like I was instructed putting a length of steel chain a gallon of Muratiac and phospheric acid and acetone, and rocks inside the tank, rolling and shakeing over and over again, then washing, washing, blow drying, and prepping the tank and then pouring the full QT. of snot in and rolling forward, backward and side to side. after a few months I was changeig the before fuel pump disposable inline filters after only a few miles. they were plugged with pieces of dried snot. I decided I would rather filter out rust and crud than go thru that abortion again.

Skip,

Where can I get my tank galvanized? Any suggestions what type of shop would do this kind of work?

Thanks,

Jim

Jim,

Look in the yellow pages for a company in your area that does re-tinning. They will require you to have the tank commercially cleaned if they do not have in-house facilities for this service. When the tank is re-tinned use one of the current tank lining products to protect the tank. All of the current lining materials have been formulated to resist the additives in the currently available fuels. It is vital to coat/line the area inside the tank that is NOT covered with fuel when stored.

Beware of stories about failure of the lining products, unless you know which liner was used. I have one vehicle that was done correctly and lined with the very old no-alcohol resistant material that is still serviceable and has posed absolutely no problems.

Experience has proven that tanks that have been re-tinned still need the lining material.

Quote: "ALL of the current lining materials have been formulated to resist the additives in the currently available fuels."

Some products do have a warning that they are not to be used in aviation or automobile tanks if gasoline containing methanol is to be used and that: "Use of fuels containing such additives could result in deterioration of the sealer, resulting in serious engine problems." :( :( :(

There are definitely pros and cons on gas tank sealers, however, for those that do like the product then by all means use it. And, for those that don't like the stuff, then don't use it. We all have preferences in various products used on our cars, so bottom line, it's your decision. Go with what makes you feel comfortable.

There are no such limitations on either the "RED" or "WHITE" illustrated in this discussion. SNOT

The only limitations on either product is the caution "For use by professionals only".

I too think you you have to make your own judgement. After hearing so much good about POR15 I bought some for my frame. I then mentioned it here and had a lot of negative comments. Scared the h*** out of me so I then decided to bite the bullet and go with semi-gloss paint and take the $200 loss on the POR15. Luck would have it, the guy sandblasting and painting my frame said he likes to use it on certain projects and would buy it from me. That's after he gave me a reasonable quote. I also bought the POR15 tank sealer and plan to use that. Will let you know how that works next year if I get that far.

Update to my story posted on March 17th about the factory sealed Harley gas tank: My friend had no choice but to replace his gas tank with another Harley gas tank with the factory installed liner. He spent all day yesterday ripping out the old thank with the factory sealed liner that failed, and installing another tank also with a factory sealed liner. He carefully inspected the inside of the tank before installation and the liner was in perfect condition. After the tank was installed, he adjusted his rear brake and did some other minor adjustments as well. Finally, he filled the tank with a different brand of gasoline than what was used in the other tank when the liner failed.

Today, he and his wife took a two hundred mile tour on the Harley. The bike ran great! When he returned home and pulled the bike into the shop he removed the gas cap to take a look inside. What he saw upset him.............the factory installed liner on this tank was starting to disintegrate as well! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

So much for going to Harley for reliable information.

Well I guess maybe the POR15 is not too bad a way to go, if it sticks to metal half as good as it sticks to skin and tools and the garage floor and the bucket lid then it should stick to almost anything.