best way to clean out petrol tank?

[1956 fregate]

Hi all

Could anyone advise me the best way to clean out and possibly line the inside of a petrol tank?
what products to use etc, also what is the best stuff to use to coat the exterior too?

I removed the tank today which is in excellent condition outside but the inside has rust sediment

thanks

stephen

[TerryG]

The only time I have cleaned rust out of the inside of a tank, I put some gravel inside and shook it around. It is free (assuming you have some gravel in your garden / on your drive / etc) the amount of crud that came out of mine was unreal.
Coating the inside you can use something like this: http://www.frost.co.uk/por15-tank-sealer-473ml.html
Currently out of stock but frost are always helpful if you give them a ring and they will be able to advise you when they will get it back in.

[1956 fregate]

Thanks terryG

[Luxobarge]

Just to echo Terry's comments - spot on in every respect in my opinion - I've used the gravel trick a number of times - hard work shaking the tank about for long enough, but it works. You will also have to spend some considerable time getting the crud out of the tank afterwards too of course, so long as there aren't too many fumes then a vacuum cleaner can be your friend. Do it outside though, just in case it does go pop.

Heard good things about the Frost tank sealer too, although not used it myself. I think I'd not bother unless the tank is actually holed?

Cheers!

[kevin]

Last year i resurected a bsa that i had borrowed to a museum for many years. When it came back to me there was a black tar like residue in the tank (20 y/o petrol?)
Tried all sorts to remove it but it remained thick and stubborn.
Bought some marine clean from frosts, left overnight and the tank was as clean as a new one, finished off with some por15 to line it.
Well worth the money

Kev

[1956 fregate]

Thanks for your advice guys i will get some pea gravel and give it a good shake and then treat it to marine clean and then see how it looks inside afterwards
Then decide whether to coat it with por15

[kevin]

Another trick i used when racing JAP engines in scramblers (they ran on dope fuel) was to use hammerite to line the fibreglass tanks as they were not dope resistant. Im sure it would work to line a rusty tank?

[Luxobarge]

Another trick i used when racing JAP engines in scramblers (they ran on dope fuel) was to use hammerite to line the fibreglass tanks as they were not dope resistant. Im sure it would work to line a rusty tank?

Personally I wouldn't recommend that, in my experience Hammerite goes very brittle over time, and I can imagine all sorts of problems with the hammerite flaking off and blocking the fuel system in years to come. If you're going to line the tank, I'd suggest doing it with something that is specifically designed for the purpose, after all it's not prohibitively expensive.

Cheers!

[Young Farmer]

Not a method of cleaning a tank but a way of avoiding crud blocking the pick up pipe. One of our combine drivers forgot to replace the filler cap on the fuel tank. After a day the tank had a layer of barley awns floating in the deisel . It was almost impossible to get the tank off so I made a gauze tube to fit in the outlet tap which was blocking. I wrapped a fine gauze around a bar of suitable diameter and soldered it to form a tube. One end was soldered closed and the other end was a push fit into the tap. We never had a problem with blockages again. In the case of cars this gauze tube could be fitted over the pick up pipe and crimped in place. All the crud in the tank would remain there and not get into the valves of the fuel pump.

[rich.]

i cleaned out a fuel tank once with bike chain..