The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Old gas tank install

I purchased a tank from a friend for my 1946 Chevy truck 1/2 ton. (It's in much better shape than mine is.) I plan on running a vacuum around to get any loose debris out (it's been empty and un-installed for over five years, sitting inside of our pole barn), but is there anything else I should do to prep or clean the inside before we filter/seal/wire it? TIA!

What is the overall condition? Are there any loose rust particles inside? If so, I'd purchase a fuel tank sloshing compound from Eastwood or similar and coat/seal the inside.

I've used those products successfully on two tanks and they held up for over 20 years.

Do you have a radiator shop near you? The one near me also boils out fuel tanks and then seals them on the inside.

I agree, if it has rust inside, treat and seal. If it is smooth steel inside, rinse it with fresh gas or lacquer thinner.

Thanks for asking this question. I like the idea of the radiator shop. I was planning to take my radiator and I'll check to see if they do gas tanks and maybe the heater core too.

Utah, what type of heater core do you have? Is it a little rectangle or is it the round one?

I purchased a new, round heater core assembly with the tanks, tubes, and mounting plate for $225 from Classic Parts of America. Other companies wanted $200 just for the round core with no tanks or tubes or mounting hardware. You would have to reuse your old tanks and mounting plate, etc.

@ Otto - The overall condition is really good! We moved it last weekend and heard a few particles, but we haven't opened it yet to investigate (we're on wiring right now). We don't have a shop nearby but I'll Google for the closest one. Thank you all for the recommendations!!

You can clean out the tank with citric acid. I buy it in 20 kg bags, it's great for removing rust and dirt. You mix the acid powder with hot water. I use the 200 litre plastic drums that dairy farmers use. A pressure washer is used to rinse out the tank.

The POR 15 tank seal kit comes with a acid wash , first you clean the tank with the acid wash , then you use the special sealing paint .

you can buy a new tank for about $350 (at least I did a couple of years ago)?
Might be worth the cost?

I was contemplating using the old tank on my truck and looked at the sealing products available and decided that the cost of those versus a new tank wasn't worth the possibility that the old tank would have been too thin from inside rust when trying to derust and seal it. I had it in my garage till just last fall and took it out during a cleanup and discovered that it had indeed rusted through. I'm glad that I bought a replacement tank when I did on a road trip down south which saved the cost of shipping one up here if I had discovered the rust thru after buying the sealing products.

The tank in my 53 is in pretty nice shape. Just a little rust at the bottom. I took it out and put a couple of gallons of gas in it with a couple of handfuls of nuts and bolts. I put it in the bed of my work truck and drove around for a week or so. It worked well. The interesting part was when I dumped it out a quarter and silver dollar sized chunks of lead came out with it. I have owned the truck for 45 years. It's a factory tank. It must have been in the since it was made. I put them back in there just for sentimental reasons. I guess I'm running leaded fuel.

My guess is the nuts and bolts knocked those pieces loose. I'd be afraid that they might move around and block the fuel supply line.

"46 Chevy truck" - Did you get your gas tank installed? Did you do any cleaning in the inside? If so, what route did you take?