can you clean a fuel tank?

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mopar56

mopar56

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My son has started a new project, to make a long story short his beloved 73 Duster was destroyed in a crash when it was almost 95% done all the resto he wanted to do, so last week we picked up another Duster, this one is a 70 4spd car, not bad shape but we are virtually starting from scratch, it was a genuine "barn find" we loaded it up on a trailer after pulling it from the barn where it sat for the last 15 years, my son removed the fuel tank, the outside of the tank looks great, no rust at all, but the inside is a HUGE ball of rust the fuel we removed was vile! and I suspect had lots of water in it. I took the tank to a local rad shop where they said they could clean it in a costic tank but it would have to be lined, the cost...$250.00 the cost of a replacement tank up here in Canada where we pay twice as much for car parts as in the US is $275. and that's my shop rate discounted price, my son is trying to repair this with in the budget that the insurance company gave him for his car, ( this will include paint ) so short of a used tank, ( hard to find up here ) has anyone tried cleaning one with some sort of de-rusting agent in which case is there a inexpensive product to re-line it or dose he just bite the bullit and the budget and buy a new one?
 
Yes, you can clean a rusted and gunked up tank. My tank was really gross. I first rinsed it out with water, after getting rid of the old fuel first. I put a chain and big bolts inside the tank and bounced it around on trampoline just to break up any loose stuff. I used muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) to get rid of the rust. Be careful because this stuff is pretty nasty. After rinsing that out, use acetone to clean out all the gas varnish junk. After rinsing, ready to go.
Rod
 
I've cleaned tanks before but it's hard to get the rust out of the crevice where the tank is seamed together. Coating the inside with a liquid liner is really a good idea if you don't want to have problems with plugged fuel filters later. I stopped trying to use old nasty tanks on vehicles that I could find affordable replacements.

Did you ever check eBay for a new tank? I see a new one listed for 1970 Dusters that is only $67.94 and it says free shipping.
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Fuel Gas Tank w/Four Vents for Dart Demon Duster Valiant
 
SPEEDWAY MOTORS sells a liner for tanks that's supposed to be pretty good.
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Wow thats really steep for a new tank,even in Canada. Spectra is the maker of new tanks,they are made here in Canada. I suggest you shop around,because $270 is a really perverse price. Even with shipping ,one from ebay will be less than that. Good luck,and I think it's time your son switched jobber parts stores,he is getting ripped off.
 
ValiantOne said:
Put a few cups of gravel in mine with muriatic acid and spun it on a cement mixer. Woked great.
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I once saw a photo of a redneck strapping a tank to the rear axle of a truck to spin it around. Now that is engineering.
 
Wow, thanks for all the responses, I like the price of the E-bay one you tagged "67 cuda" but it says dose not ship to Canada", too bad, believe it or not I checked with the three jobbers I normally do business with at my shop that I get good wholesale prices with but the 275 was the lowest?, my son replaced the tank in is 73 last year and only paid about 150 and that was a Spectra maybe Spectra dosn't make a tank for a 73 and this was a different supplier?, I will check, I have used muratic acid before and it is pretty costic, I guess I could try the chain/acid trick, the key would be the liner, anyone here try the Speedway liner that was posted here before?
 
Honestly,I cant believe that is a wholesale price.No offence intended,but I had a 1983 Plymouth V8 fury cop car about 10 years ago. I put a brand new gas tank in it for $140 CDN. And yes it was Spectra.Price can't have increased that much in so short of a time. I did find this in a quick search.

Fuel System - Gas Tanks

I have ordered from these guys before,but I ordered 1/4 panels through Summit racing.com,because their price was lower than AMD's ,and there was a free shipping deal on. I live 15 minutes from the border,so was able to ship to a drop point just across the line.
Speaking of summit racing...

Yes they also have gas tanks.
https://www.summitracing.com

There is also this place for online parts,and it is in Canada. I have also bought from these guys. Their patch panels look like a monkey made them,but other stuff has been fine.

Cross Canada Collision Parts Specialists - Home
 
ValiantOne said:
Put a few cups of gravel in mine with muriatic acid and spun it on a cement mixer. Woked great.
Click to expand...

This is just pure genius..... I have used a jogger for paper (Printing Industry) and put BB's and Bleach in a tank and let it just vibrate away.... Spotless when finished. I have a cement mixer and am going to take a whack at it this way....

Thanks,
JW
 
SLOPAR72 said:
This is just pure genius..... I have used a jogger for paper (Printing Industry) and put BB's and Bleach in a tank and let it just vibrate away.... Spotless when finished. I have a cement mixer and am going to take a whack at it this way....

Thanks,
JW
Click to expand...
I have a nice fuel tank from a 68 barracuda that I will sell you for 40.00 plus shipping
 
thanks again I looked the web sites posted and most list them starting at 175 remember this is US by the time us Canucks pay for shipping across the boarder, and duty and exchange for the dollar it adds about $100.00 to the cost hence the $275. price, for the last post, (68 barracuda ) thank you if you send me a pm with you postal code I could check into shipping but I would bet with shipping to Western Canada and exchange it would still end up at 125 but thats better than what I got so far, thanks
 
I do have contacts who might have something.I'll check.
 
Hmmm,I am southern interior so might not be close enough. But I will try anyways. Also,see if you can source one from a local car club.
 
So I might have something for you. Do you need a 1 or 4 vent tank? I think this source has lots of used parts. Shipping it ,well greyhound I have found to be reasonable.
 
If your filler neck in the trunk is a 2" pipe,you have a 4 vent tank.
 
Eastwood company sells a kit for restoring fuel tanks comes with a pre wash and a liner and you use the muriatic acid trick, I have used this on small mc and kart tanks and it works great. The two tanks I have used it on were done several years ago and still look great.
 
Thanks ,I actually purchased a fuel tank sealer made by POR anyone used this before, I here a lot of good things on this site about there paint products, I was thinking of getting the tank dipped at my local rad shop then sealing it my self?
 
mopar56 said:
Well the filler neck is in the trunk I thought they all were? if I understand you right?
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Yes their all in the trunk. My point is if your filer neck is a 2" diameter,then you need a 4 vent tank. So I have a phone # for you if you want it. Are you resealing your old tank,or still looking for another?
 
yes it is 2" diameter, I understand now, and yes I will take the phone number you can pm me if you wish, at this point I am open to options, I can still take the tank sealer back to the store if you have a contact that has a clean fairly priced tank, thank you for your help
 
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