Cleaning fuel tank

[tarynus]

Hi everyone,
When I bought my sprint last year, one of the first I did was to bring out as it is dirty and blocked with old gas, rust maybe, though I think it looks ok as far as I could look inside.
As I am getting closer of getting her back on the road, I thought it was about time to give the fuel tank a good clean.
I found many options on the web, acetone, vinegar, hot water and detergent, filling it with bolts and nuts, attaching it to a cement mixer to shake it etc etc.

So I wondered if any of you had gone through this process before and what method would you recommend as best?

Thank you for your help

Tom

[Edin Dundee]

Vacuum?
Then flushes with small amounts of petrol?

I've not cleaned a tank before but need to soon, so the timing of your question is good.

[oily66]

I used a kit from Frosts to do this http://www.frost.co.uk/por15-basic-car- ... r-kit.html my tank had no leaks but did have an amount of surface gum and rust inside. It worked a treat, then a clean up of the outside and a few coats of matt black. The remainder of the metal ready, I used for cleaning up other rusty parts.

[tarynus]

glad it will be usefull,
I don't think a vacuum will be strong enough, old petrol residue are sticky and hard to get off, i had to use a screwdriver to rub the residue off my carburators.

Oily, I thought of using one of these kits but they are quite expensive (even though they apparently give very good results), I'm thinking of a cheaper solution (if possible), I believe a good clean would do the job as I don't have any leaks either,might have some rust though...

[Jon Tilson]

I'd stick in some of that cheap red stuff that you get in france.

Comes in brown plastic jugs and is about the same price as mineral water.

Vin de Table Rouge I think its called....

You can even drink what's left - especially if you have English visitors....

Jonners

[SprintMWU773V]

You need something acidic or caustic so try wheel cleaner. Wouldn't bother with tank sealer, used it once and it flaked off causing a nightmare.

[tarynus]

France's finest

VIN DE TABLE.jpg (25.34 KiB) Viewed 4065 times

Might make some holes in my tank !

But seriously do you really think it would work? because that is really would be cheap!
Not sure it would be acidic enough, could give it a try though

Wheel cleaner is expensive 10e for 500ml isn't it?

[SprintMWU773V]

Wheel cleaner is expensive 10e for 500ml isn't it?

No buy a trade pack of generic 'wheel acid'. Alternatively you could use brick acid from a builders yard but that's really nasty stuff at 10-20% acid.

You could also try caustic soda, it's cheap but be careful it's vile stuff.

[cliftyhanger]

Try electrolysis. Plenty about it on youtube etc, and I have used it to clean all sorts of parts. Causes no damage to good metal, cheap and very effective. Just an old battery charger (or car battery) some soap powder and a bit of steel (NOT stainless). Fill th etank with soapy water, hang the steel in the tank so it doesn't touch the tank at all (pretty important!) and leave connected up a few days. Rinse and maybe something to help get the muck out (I use a stiff bristle brush, so something you can get in the tank and pull out after a shake about)

I have used it on brake callipers, suspension parts, even wheels as paint will lift, though powdercoat seems resistant
Very happy with results but does take a day or two. Longer the better really.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Electro ... aka-Magic/

[tarynus]

Wow that seems like a great method, definitely going to try that! I'll let you know how it goes, thank you cliftyhanger

[tarynus]

Hi,
Here's some some feedback for electrolysis in the fuel tank.
At first I had used a coat hanger to dip into the tank and collect the rust, but ater the second day of treatment the coat hanger had been completely eaten by the electrolysis so I replaced it with a much thicker piece of metal.

As you can see a LOT of muck came off! I left it working for about 5 days cleaning it everyday, this is the result after one day.

reservoir.jpg (261.22 KiB) Viewed 3937 times

The process is really effective as you can see, but rust spots reappeared like 30mins after even though I rinsed it with alcohol and dried it thoroughly, a lot less of course, but so I'm unsure wether I should use tank sealer on top of it or I can just go with those rust spots and fill it up, what do you think?

Also what method do you use to clean the fuel pipes? Given what I had in my tank i bet the pipes could do with some cleaning too!

[Jon Tilson]

Once the tank floor is covered in petrol it cant keep rusting.

Most of the corrosion inhibitors and paints I know will disolve in petrol, especially with more ethanol being added to it.

The insid of most of my tanks is just plain shiney steel. The corrosion is on the outside mostly and thats what needs treating well.

Jonners

[tarynus]

Ok great, these kits aren't cheap so it will that money saved
Do you have any idea how I can clean the fuel pipes that run under the car?

[Jon Tilson]

Its cheaper to just replace the sections that are corroded. You may need to get a pipe bender.

I would certainly replace every rubber joiner.

Jonners

[tarynus]

The pipes themselves are ok its just the inside i'd like too clean from the old petrol residue, there is no particular way of doing that? With some white spirit maybe?