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| | | | Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 108 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 108 | Trying to get 55 years of build up out of my gas tank....Anybody have any good solutions to mix together to take the scum out....besides buying a new tank... | | | | | Joined: Mar 2006 Posts: 319 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Mar 2006 Posts: 319 | Never hurts to do a search of past threads on your topic.
A search using 'gas tank cleaning" found this thread which should get you started on some ideas.
http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=22;t=005616#000000
Others may chime in with more info.
Hope this helps.
"Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
| | | | | Joined: May 2004 Posts: 124 Member | | Member Joined: May 2004 Posts: 124 | I have said this before but no one seems to believe me. Gas tanks can explode like a BIG bomb. Some jobs are not suitable for do it yourselfers. Take it to a shop that specialises in tanks and let a pro do it. Better spend a little money than get your head blown off.
I like old trucks
| | | | | Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 2,544 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 2,544 | I agree with Bullet about a gas tank being a bomb. If its not to bad and your trying to get varnish out I have had luck mixing tolulene with gas and flushing it thru. But again, make sure things are vented and use caution. | | | | | Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 443 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 443 | I think if you call a radiator shop they can clean & flush the gas tank, and you don't have all that mess to clean up & dispose of.
1957 Chevrolet 1/2-ton Stepside LB in the Gallery My Photobucket shots The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." - John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873) | | | | | Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 6,377 Ex Hall Monitor | | Ex Hall Monitor Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 6,377 | Radiator shops around here won't mess with gas tanks. Your best bet is an acid cleaning & coating the inside of the tank. You can buy kits that use phosphoric acid as the cleaner. I've used Kreem's kit and I've also made my own "kit" using Muratic acid then RedKote to line the tank. I prefer RedKote. As Randy noted above, doing a search will get you more info on this subject than you can shake a stick it.
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| | | | | Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 108 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 108 | Thank you for all your answers....I ended up buying a new tank..."Brothers Truck Supply" is 20 minutes way...It took me 40 minutes round trip for a new tank..and no mess... | | | | | Joined: Dec 2005 Posts: 324 Member | | Member Joined: Dec 2005 Posts: 324 | yea. and no half corroded metal worn thin.
"It ain't a truck if you can't hose out the cab."
| | | | | Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 21 Junior Member | | Junior Member Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 21 | Holcomb,
Glad the new tank worked out for you. For the record, I have had success by putting a section of chain (3 or 4 feet) in the tank and shaking it around. Flush. Repeat.
I wouldn't recommend drugs, alcohol, and violence to anyone...but they've worked well for me.
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,971 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,971 | Tip: A lighter is not an acceptable form of light to look inside the tank. HEHEH | | | | | Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 108 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 108 | Kcwelshans,
thank you for your reply
I tried using the chain, lug nuts mixed with cleaner...but my patients sometimes whats it now....so I gave up...and went with new...My wife sometimes may drive this truck...so I need to make it girl friendly...even though she is a farm girl...can't have her stuck | | | | | Joined: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,557 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,557 | If a guy had an old paint shaker.You could rig it to fit the tank.I bet that would get the scum loose.
1951 3100 Chevrolet1951 Chevrolet Suburban CarryallImage"A house is built with boards and beams. A home is built with love and dreams." "Look deep before you leap !!!" / "Everything is Everything" "If I say a mouse can pull a house, hitch him up"
| | | | | Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 96 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 96 | Just a thought, as I see you've bought a new tank.
I've had good luck hanging the tank up about 3' off the ground, between two trees or an a-frame, filling it about half full of hot water, dropping in some lug nuts, putting 3 or 4 ounces of dish washing liquid in, and swinging it side-to-side and back-and-forth.
Tie a lenght of rope to each end so you have something to grab hold of. It makes it easy to twist and to bring it to an abrubt stop, causing the lug nuts to really move around.
Alot of the time , by the time you finish you'll also know if there are any really rusty spots in the tank, because you'll see a leak. | | |
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