Got Rust??? Check this out!! Gas Tank!!

So I have been having a problem going for short cruize's lately. I run a few miles and she dies, I pull over, wait a few minutes and she starts and runns again for a while. SOO I decide to drop the tank and get a look at what I think is the problem an LOOK AT THIS SHIT!!! The small thing in the picture is a beer bottle cap! I poured more than a cup of that crap out with the first dump, then flushed I dont know how much shit out with the garden hose. The ten foot piece of 5/8" chain I put in came out caked full of the same shit only in sludge form two times. I finally got it to flush clean.
I have searched all the cures, but I am concerned with this amount of crap. I am taking it to the radiator man in the morning for a tanking or should i concider an aftermarket tank and scrap the old one? It seems solid from the outside.

 

radiator shop and por 15 tank sealer.

 

Shit, if that is a ShinerBock cap it aint mine!

 

i had a gas tank like that. i put a handful of screws in it with some dish soap. shook it for an hour, rinsed it out, let it dry and got 4 more years out of it.

 

Seen worse, Bill Hersche sealer and ride.

 

TMAN I was wondering how that fucking thing got in there, or who did it! This problem DID start at the HAMB drags. The danm thing died on the way to the track from the hotel-motel. Had to load her up on the side of the road and when I got there,BAM, the danm thing started!!!
The old car had sat up a whole lot before I got it. I guess that shit coming out finaly is par for the course!!!

 

Been through this one a few times. My '41 Ford had lots of crap in the tank, dropped it, rinsed it, shook the shit out of it, repeat as necessary. Much improved but was always finding shrapnel in my filter.

Still getting crap out of the tank in my '31. Started with one of those fuel filters with a removable element so I could dump it. I'd get a few miles out of it at best for the first 100 miles or so. Finally replaced it with a clear plastic one so I could see how much stuff was in it, I'm now of my 4th one and after about 150 miles its still clean.

I suspect that the tank will continually deteriorate over the years, but since its welded and molded into the body I don't have much choice.

Just another thought, I know a lot of radiator shops won't touch a gas tank. Hopefully yours will. Have 'em boil it and seal it and you should be in good shape for a long time.

 

I'm dealing with the same thing on my olds. Going to put in a new tank instead of having to mess with it again in the future.

 

its possible that down the road it will develop pin hole leaks..keep your eye on it..
I would say if you have the cash , go buy a new one and maybe save your ride or your garage

 

When I bought my 55 Ford 3 years ago the guy I got it from had a boat gas tank hooked up in the trunk ! When I pulled the gas tank you could hear all the crap rolling around inside . I dumped out twice what you had . I cut the tank open and the sludge and rust was at least 1/2" thick . I could not believe what I saw . Didn't care , a new one was already here ! Replaced my lines too !

 

must have dropped that cap in there when i was done pissing in the tank ! but seriously no mater how much you clean it it will come back without being sealed , i have taken one of mine to a local radiator shop to have it cleaned and sealed on tanks that arent available , but if you can find one or adapt one from sompthing else it may be cheaper and easier !

 

Ive had some success with the bill hircsh gas tank sealer but in my opinion if there is a new tank available for your application BUY IT its money well spent!! There is nothing worse than getting stuck on the side of the road because of crap in your tank!

 

A rad shop will want close to 300 bucks to clean the tank. Then you still have a rusty tank.
How much $$ is a new one?

 

I bought an old Ford about 25 years ago. The owner said the fuel guage only worked when it was full, and it stoped going down at 2/3 tank. He siad he thought he ran over something and bent the tank because it only held about 12 gallons [20 gallon tank]

After a couple months of never knowing how much gas I had, I decided to pull the tank and replace it with a junkyard piece. I drove it till it was out of gas, then topped it off with about a gallon to get me home. When I got under the car, the tank looked perfect... WTF???

Well, I had pulled a tank or two in my time... Thought I would use the trusty method of unbolting the straps and letting it drop down on my chest........ Then it came down! That fucker weighed 200 lbs!!!!!

Long story short, it was friggin full of gravel, and small toys... Matchbox cars mostly.

Turns out, his young children had been droping stuff into the tank for the past 10 years... Playing in the [gravel] driveway apparently

I went back and told the previous owner. He 'bout laughed his ass off.

 

Thats what the inside of tank on my Cj5 looked like....dunno why the previous owner kept trying to clean the damn thing out.

 

there is a guy in texas named don hart www.donhart.com he is a gastank renu dealer. i had him do 3 or 4 tanks. it comes with a lifetime nationwide warranty. i discovered these type of shops in michigan and it works great. it's around $200. give em a call.

 

.....been there, done both. Put me down in favor of getting a new tank. The alternative makes me tired thinking about it...................

 

Just buy a new tank and be done with it.

 

The tank is the stock 1951 Henry J tank so a new replacement is out of the question but an after market tank to get close to fitting is going to be around $200 and have to build new tank supports, and cut a hole in the floor in the rear of the car for filler. The hole on the side of the car where the filler neck will have to be dealt with. A big can of worms I didnt want to get into. I hope the radiator man will deal with me and do it reasonably??? Anybody out there know a tank builder with reasonable prices??????

 

In your case the only cure is cut the tank open,clean it and paint the inside with a POR15 or what ever and weld it back up. I've done it dozens of times for all sorts of cars. A day spent doing that is better than a few hours hassling with dirty fuel on the side of a busy freeway.
I normally cut the top out ,but a lot of times i've removed the bottom because of holes and simply made a new bottom. . If you are usure of welding a tank,remember that you are cleaning it ,and if you haven't cleaned it properly it will still have fumes in there.
If you are unsure of your welds,run over the weld beads with bronze,brazing the weld so it's sealed permanently.I have seen guys use radiator solder too,it's just as good. Run some more POR 15 bin there and slosh it about and you are fixed for another 40 years.

 

I think you are dealing with the wrong shops Had mine done here in Phoenix last year for $60 for cleaning and pressure testing,looked like new when it was done.

 

Oh, I agree. I suggested my opt would be a new tank, but if you don't mind the work you can save a lot of money by tackling it yourself. Twenty years ago when work was more fun than now, I wouldn't have hesitated. Have done a couple like that, open up, sandblast, weld or solder shut, treat with slosh compound.

Yes, as 'nails says, if you keep the tank, cutting it open to get all the crud is best.

 

Get that thing boiled and use tank sealer. I've run bikes for years and years that had worse tanks than yours. Bike tanks are small, so you can get away with being able to shake em around by hand for mechanical cleaning then acid soak til spotless. But that sealer/liner stuff (used properly) is a permanent repair.

Can't find anyone to boil the tank? Do you know anyone with a cement mixer or tractor pto or something sturdy that rotates? Rig a way to strap that tank on, add water, a cup of dawn detergent, and your cleaning chain and turn it slowly for an hour. Good rinse, strong acid soak, and you're ready for the liner. Liner can be applied/manipulated manually, but you'll want help.

good luck

 

I don't know where the hell "under your car" is but here I can get a tank boiled, tested, and coated for right at $200 and that has a lifetime warranty...

I think you'll do well with the radiator man...

 

Last tank I did was in my 66' Parisienne convertable- one a a few thousand made and no tank available. After it was boiled, a new top made to replace the rusted original one, and fully sealed inside and out I had a bill for $600!

I think that someone out there must have a clean henry J tank. They made tons of them.

 

i would cut it open, just be sure you know enough not to blow yourself up, i'm not a fan of gas tank sealers, once its fixed just dont let it sit around empty or it will rust again.

 

Some tank sealers will dissolve in gasoline with ANY ethanol in it, some of the clean air blended gasoline has ethanol in it as well as other aggressive chemicals so watch what you seal it with.

M. McF.

 

I had this problem with my every day car, it was just as bad. I cleaned it out with muritac acid and bolts shaking around inside. No more problem, but I drive the car over 100 miles a day round trip to work. This was over 150K miles ago, but with a car that sits more and does not get a fill up every 3 days it may not work as well.
tom

 

All the local radiator shops have gotten rid of the Muratic Acid tanks for health reasons and EPA. They only cut a hole in the bottom, steam clean, and re-weld the bung back in the hole they created($80). No sealer.
I have seen the kits on the web to treat the tank for a few days with a solution then seal it with a POR type sealer. Has anyone used this method before or maybe gotten the muratic acid from Lowes for brick cleaning and thinned it down and if so to what extent.
Not tooo hot on the welding on the tank idea. Herd bad stories about them still ignighting after several cleanings!!!!

 

you can fill your tank with water and then cut a square hole with a zip disk, clean it out and then fill with water again to weld the hole shut, i have done this no problem, i have used tank sealer on motorcycle tanks and it came off and was just a mess, had to toss the tank, maybe there is something better today, i once used a torch to cut the end out of an old 5,000 gallon gas storage tank so we could turn it into a cement silo, we ran diesel truck exhaust into the tank for a whole day then used a sniffer before i started cutting, still your brain tells you not to do it...lol