The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Gas Tank Restoration

I just pulled the gas tank out of my 33 Truck. It's in good shape, no holes or dents, but there is a thin film of rust inside. From what I've gathered so far, I can either take it to a radiator shop and they put it in the hot tank for $95 or I can try the POR-15 Repair Kit ($73 for Marine Clean, Metal Ready, Sealer & Stabilizer).
Wondering which is a better way to go and if I go to the radiator shop do I still need a Sealer and/or Stabilizer treatment after that?

i have used the POR15 system and it worked very well. it is not a big job. just make sure, that you follow the instructions 100% because there is not only a thin layer of rust, there is also a thin layer of oil (from the gas) in your tank and POR15 hates oil.

http://img24.imageshack.us/i/tanktg.jpg/

I too have used the por15 kit. Itrs been in my 37 pickup for 9 years. and is still holding up very well. As Apachepride says, be sure to follow the instructions and you should be fine.

A search will provide you with a lot of ideas on how to clean a tank. I've put gravel and chains inside the tank and "shaked" it to get all the crud and scale cleaned up and then use the POR-15.

I used the red-kote... haven't had it in there long enough know how well it's worked. I will definatly recommend using phosphoric acid to get rid of the rust inside. works awesome. get's it down to the bare shiney metal in no time. you can buy it at home depot in the paint section, called "phosphoric prep & etch"

no matter what kit you use FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS

I soaked my tank for my 48 in a 20:1 solution of water and muriatic acid. Then pressure washed the rust off of it. Once clean, I POR15'd the inside with their tank kit and coated the outside with 2 coats of POR15 and 2 coats of chassis coat.

Thanks for the advice. Looks like from the other replies too that the POR-15 is a good bet. I'll probably go that route.

SEA FOAM ADITIVE WILL CURE YOUR PROBLEM,THIS STUFF IS YOUR CURE SHORT PROBLEM CUT AND SEA FOAM TO THE GAS TANK WILL SOLVE YOUR TROBLES.GOING TO SEMA????HAPPY DAYS BROTHER

I have tried the seafoam on other steel tanks and it works well but those are seasonal toys that are stored completely empty but as for a truck or car tank, I think I would use the POR15 as the cure all simply for the fact not every tank is cheap and easy to replace.

I was heading to the Orphans Home Christmas car show to buy my first trophy for the "new" Suburban. It quit on me about 2 miles from the house.

I determined it had trash in the fuel tank that had blocked the fuel filter. The fuel pump has a settlement bowl before the fuel filter and it, too was full of trash.

I drained and pulled the tank. I added some pea gravel and mineral spirits to it, sealed it off and strapped it to the tractor wheel. I brought the tractor in the shop, jacked it up and tumbled it about 30 minutes, then unstrapped it and turned it a quarter turn and gave it another 30 minutes.

I then washed it out with a heavy duty cleaner, like Simple Green but a cheaper brand I can't remember the name of. It took a couple of rinses to get all the gravel out.

I let it air dry a day and a half then poured about a quart of phosphoric acid in. I left that in about 30 minutes, sloshing and turning every 5 minutes or so. Then I dumped it in the gravel. I thought later, "Dummy, you could have saved that and used it to de-rust small parts later."

I rinsed with water a couple of times again. Then I ran a hair dryer in it for 30 minutes. Next I added a pint of acetone and sloshed it around. It is supposed to absorb any remaining water. I dumped that and gave it another pint. After dumping the second pint I let it air dry. I thought about the hair dryer again but was afraid the heat coil might ignite the fumes. Then I thought about compressed air but that would be blowing moisture back into it. By the time I got all those thoughts out of my head, the acetone had evaporated. Even if there was any left in the corners, it is soluble in the Red-Kote. That or MEK are the recommended thinners for it. Mine didn't need thinned.

Next I poured in 2 quarts of Red-Kote. I sealed it off and rolled the tank around a while to be sure it covered all surfaces. There is a big baffle in the burb tank and I wanted to make sure it got covered too.

I drained about a quart and a half back out. It left a thin coat of sealer in there. I thought about a second coat but I really don't think this tank needs it. It was really in pretty good shape after I got all the trash and surface rust out of it.

Now my yard dog is a different story. I cleaned it a few years ago and opened up a bunch of pin holes. Since then I have been using a gallon anti-freeze jug for a fuel tank. Guess where the extra quart and a half of Red-Kote is going.

I have done it both ways (do it myself and use a radiator shop). I would let the radiator shop boil it out and then use one of the commercial seal kits to seal the tank. The shop will be able to remove the rust more effectively than you can at home. You will never notice that $95 in the whole expense stream of restoring your truck. Do it right and you won't regret it. Joe