Gas Tank Restoration

bad68coupe · Jan 5, 2007

Should i replace my forty year old gas tank or should i restore it? Is it possible to restore it?

Capt Dan · Jan 5, 2007

replacing it is cheaper.

madbrad · Jan 5, 2007

Replace

latamud · Jan 5, 2007

Por 15 sells a gas tank sealer for $15. The stuff is great. If you have a lot of flaky stuff in your tank you'll have to get most of it out first.

rbohm · Jan 6, 2007

if the tank is in overall decent condition, then restore it. otherwise replace it. preferably with a 70 mustang tank as you get another 5 gallons of fuel capacity.

bad68coupe · Jan 6, 2007

what all is involved with restoring it?

rbohm · Jan 6, 2007

bad68coupe said:
what all is involved with restoring it?

that depends on what needs to be done. a simple restoration is just cleaning the tank, replacing the sending unit, or just the float as needed, and painting the tank. a maximum effort resto for some tanks is where you clean it, repair any holes in the tank, replace the sending unit, and painting. the questions you have to answer for your self are

1: how bad is the tank to begin with?

2: how much is a replacement tank, if available?

3: how much time, effort and money is required to restore the stock tank, as compared to replacing it with a new tank?

the tank i found from a 70 mustang years ago had solid metal, so it just needed cleaning an dpainting. i plan on checking out the sending unit before i finally install the tank in my mustang.

Edbert · Jan 6, 2007

My opinion, regardless of the external appearance of the metal, is to replace it and the fuel lines.

40 years is a long time, and the amount of gum and residue from thousands of tanks of gas going through it should not be underestimated. Most of the nastiness will not be visible at all. If you are going through the car in a restoration process the low cost of replacement parts is small compared to any labor spent on refurbishing things. I would question how you would actually refurbish the inside of the gas tank and a fuel line anyhow. If you were able to do it it would not be as fresh and clean as a new one in the first place.

latamud · Jan 6, 2007

remove the tank, tape all openings except the filler hole, pour tank sealer in, rotate tank to coat all inner surfaces, drain over night. It take 72 hours to set. Wear gloves, its been a week and the stuff is still on my hands.

If you're going to replace it, get a fuel cell, same price.

danny clemens · Jan 6, 2007

Unless you want to keep the car original there would be no reason to keep the old tank on it.

SNAKEPILOT · Jan 6, 2007

latamud said:
If you're going to replace it, get a fuel cell, same price.

?A fuel cell is well over $1,000 and a repro tank is about $100.

Edbert · Jan 6, 2007

When I took the old gas tank outta my ~40 year old car it was so full of nasty gunk I was suprised the car even ran. I was suprised to see so much accumulation of brown syrup and rust in a car that was driven almost daily and was filled up every 10 days or so. It seemed to me that would be enough "flushing" action to keep it relatively clean, it looked great on the outside and from the trunk it was still silver.

I would never even consider using a container that had been holding gas for 40 years.

Cobra ssc · Jan 6, 2007

SNAKEPILOT said:
?A fuel cell is well over $1,000 and a repro tank is about $100.

I don't believe that he is talking about a Fuel Safe fuel cell. Instead, he probably meant a JAZ or RCI fuel cell which is much cheaper.

Loup-garou · Jan 7, 2007

bad68coupe said:
Should i replace my forty year old gas tank or should i restore it? Is it possible to restore it?

IMO, restoration is for tanks that are not easily replaced. There are plenty of classic/antique vehicles which attract car enthusiasts, but don't have the abundant replacement part selections that Mustangs enjoy. For those vehicles, salvage yard tanks are sometimes the only option.

Before you can use that Eastwood sealer, you've got to get as much of the varnish and scaly rust out of the tank as possible. I believe one popular method is to seal the fuel line fitting, then add a handful of brass hex nuts (ALWAYS non-ferrous, and count 'em first...) and a couple quarts of parts cleaning solvent (such as Varsol) to the tank. Cork the filler port tightly, and shake, shake, shake. The loose bits of metal will help dislodge the crud and allow the solvent to work faster.

Repeat until the solvent drains more or less clean, then allow the solvent to evaporate before applying the tank sealer. Naturally, make sure that all of the brass nuts that went in are accounted for when you shake the tank dry.

The replacement option is a LOT less work - but remember to keep the original fuel sender lock ring. Some of the lock rings that come with reproduction tanks are flimsy and a bit off-size, and don't quite seal as tight as they should.

Gas Tank Restoration

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