The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Fuel tank cleaning

What's the general consensus about the best methods to clean/treat an old fuel tanks?

The tank from my WWII truck is actually pretty good. It appears to have been replaced at some point as the tank has part numbers stenciled on the bottom. Something that wouldn't have been done from the factory.
It only has some surface rust on the outside and very little on the inside since it appears to have a lead/tin coating.

Should I just rinse it with fresh gas and call it good, along with a clean and repaint of the outside?
I will need to source a new sending unit for the tank as it gives me about 45 ohms reading in any position.

You never know what you'll find in a gas tank....pulled out two rocks and a windshield wiper blade.

If you say it's clean on the inside with no rust, then use it as-is after cleaning.

If it has any rust at all inside, dump a bucket of gravel in it and tie it to the back of your truck and drag it through a bumpy field for 30 minutes to break loose all the rust and scour the inside..

Then clean it out and use one of the fuel tank sloshing compounds like the stuff Eastwood sells. It works very well but starts to deteriorate after about 20 years.

If you have a local radiator shop that actually knows how to do stuff, take it to them to have it boiled out, patched if required , and then coated inside.

The best alternative is to buy a new tank if they make one.

If your tank is as nice as you make it sound I would not put anything inside the tank that's going to damage the factory "tin" coating...I'd use soap and hot water to flush out any loose stuff and use it as is with a filter to catch any small stuff you missed.

Mike B