The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Fuel tank restoration question

I will be taking my fuel tank out and sealing it with some product or another. My concern is what to do with all the chemicals involved after the tank has been cleaned? There is old fuel, cleaner, etch and who knows what else. I don't want to just dump the stuff somewhere.

Thanks

Most cities have chemical drop off days; here's the process in Boston.

Check around where you live on the municipal websites.

Brad

Seal it up in a 5 gallon bucket and leave in on the front porch of your local EPA enforcer.

I know you are trying to be funny but what you have suggested is a Felony in many states. TK421 ignore Ken and dispose of it properly.

I chuckled at Ken's comment at first, but then I started thinking about how horrible the waterways were in the late 60s early 70s. There has been a great improvement in reducing water pollution since then, but there is much more needed. Ironically some of the biggest offenders in my area involving water pollution are municipality's waste water (raw sewage) discharge.
Not so funny.
Carl

Here I pour my old oil and any old gas or brake fluid ect, in a 10 gallon heavy plastic container and take it to one of our recycling stations. There they have a tank for such material and I can pour my stuff in it. Its then sold to reprocessors who in turn recycle what they can and the rest gets used as fuel for big furnaces and such....Pehaps you need to check around for such a place in your home area.

All the auto parts stores have those recycling tanks.

Check out the cost of new tank. By the time you clean the old one, coat, discover you still have some rust spots, clean it again, coat it again you are not saving any money. Just my 2 cents.....

I've got a guy here that owns an over the road truck repair shop
that burns waste oil. I take all my flammables to him. Be
careful mixing brake fluid with flammables if its for an oil
burner. Most brake fluids today are glycol-ether based or
silicon, neither of which is flammable. Yes ether is flammable
but it evaporates when not in a sealed system, which is one of
the reasons we need to change it more often than we do, especially
in these older systems which are vented.
TK, before I went thru all the trouble of cleaning and sealing
an old tank I'd seriously look into a new tank, they are not
all that expensive, and you can be sure you are going to get
many decades of trouble free service from it.

dg

POR-15 it wil cover and encapsulate every thing inside. Pour it it slosh it around to completely coat the inside. Dump the excess back in the can. Done. Did mine 20 years ago. No issues.

I am as big of a cheapskate as the next guy, but I will side with D.G. on this one. No doubt Por15 could work. Just not ready to recommend it to someone who may or may not look the tank over thoroughly for pin holes and huge flakes hanging off the insides. The piece of mind of a new tank is priceless, especially if you just spent thousands of dollars on an engine rebuild.
Carl

What would a replacement 1941 fuel tank cost?

The POR kit is less than $100.

People have posted using chains or pea-stone agitated inside the tank to release flakes and scale.

The process will tell you if pin-holes are sealed.

52Carl

Once POR 15 sets up pin holes will not be there
And amy thong lppse will be solid and nothing wiill come out
Of that tanl except the gas that is put in. It will never leak!

If you have the money then new is probably the way to go. Back when I did my 37 money was tight while the kids were in school/college. I purchased the POR-15 kit and after 15 years it still looks great inside. I have the original 37 tank in my truck and can look down into it good. Noooo problems yet.

That's a good point about a tank which is unavailable, Tim.
I don't know what year tank the OP was talking about.
I once fixed an AD tank 30 years ago before good, if any, new tanks were available.
Today however, a new tank for an AD is around $130 plus shipping. So if a POR-15 kit costs $100, you'll save $30 plus shipping if you do all of the work yourself. Then you will end up with a tank which will likely be fine if you do everything right. For me, I would pay the extra $30 plus shipping for a tank that I know will be fine, and not have to worry about all of the extra work and chemical disposal issues.
Carl

I'd buy the $130 plus shipping tank, too - if one was available.

Just a guess, based on earlier posts by the original poster?

OK, got the tank from Jim Carter. Can anyone tell me what the plug fitting thread is? Looks like 1/4 npt but I want to be sure. I also want to get this thing driving

Its been discussed in the past, seems to me that some of the new tanks have a metric thread.

Has anyone seen a source for a TF Suburban replacement tank. I've looked before but can't find anything. The tank in my 58 Burb really should be replaced.

not available anywhere Larry, need to rebuild yours or find another used one

Bill

Bill;

That's what I was afraid of. Do you have access to the measurements on the TF suburban fuel tank? I was looking on Tanks Inc website and they have a couple of universal tanks that look like they'd be close. I'd have to cross check the measurements to be sure. If I could get the exact placement for the filler neck I'd be tempted to call them and see if they could build a tank with it in the right spot. If it was simply a matter of proper placement of the filler neck on a tank that was pretty darn close to stock I'd think it would be worth their effort to build one. I can't be the only one that needs a new fuel tank in their Burb/panel. The universal tank lists for $250. I'd gladly pay that much not to have to mess around with attempting to fix my tank. Just thinking...

I had good results with a company called Gas Tank Renu. They have a website. Sent my 1958 Biscayne tank to them and it came back just like new. Only thing I had to do was remove the tank and wash it out good with laundry detergent to remove the gas smell. Let it dry good and sent it off by UPS. If a recall, it cost me around $125.00. A lot cheaper than a new tank. Gas Tank Renu has various franchise locations. I think 4-5 in the northeast. Just another idea I thought to throw out there.

OK Larry, sunny day so I could drag it out, here's the beast: from outer side, and from back end [measurements are outside the flange, which protrudes about 3/8-1/2"] .... really doubt you can make a universal tank work unless it's smaller and you do some creative mounting - notice the major indentations in the tank and in the bottom flange, these are needed to fit in the original spot and take the mounting straps, and then there's the area indented at an angle where the fill tube mounts, the shape was designed to snugly fill the space available .... much more "messing around" than having your old tank dipped and coated [and straightened if necessary - the pictured one is dented under the front and the drain fitting is ripped away]

Bill

Sorry for the delayed reply. Been a bit busy.

Fixit: I'll keep that in mind. Might be a worthwhile idea.

Bill: thanks for the measurements. I'll have to look over the universal tanks and see if they are close. I hear what you're saying about mounting hassles with a universal tank. The one that is on the truck now is in pretty pristine shape. There isn't a scratch on it and I don't see any exterior rust at all. I actually thought it was a new tank until I looked inside. The inside is just full of flaking white stuff. Maybe it was dipped/coated previously and done poorly. I just don't want to * the fuel tank on my truck.

DON"T TRY IT YOURSELF!!!!! I cleaned and sealed my tank myself last year during the summer and let it set all winter.I rebuilt the carb added a new float, had it running good this summer, left gas in tank. Went to start it again this fall , hit the foot starter and clatter clatter clatter.BENT ALL 6 pushrods(for intake) and stuck all 6 INTAKE VALVES!! I don't know what is in this gas today, but it disolved the gas tank sealer, it got to the valves and stuck them like LOCKTITE. Can't even move them with a BFH!!! Just purchase a new tank if possible it will be cheaper in the long run. I am in the process of building a 235 to replace the now JUNK 216.JUST MY OPINION. Hope this helps. Eric