Gas tank cleaning

[dodgemahal]

I posted this in the General discussion forum. I hope that's okay:

Has anyone figured out a good way to clean a 50 year old gas tank? My '73 Dart project has the original tank. It's not rusted. It has some kind of gritty deposits that precipitated out of the gas over the years. I checked youtube. The videos I watched seemed a bit sketchy.

 

[Murray]

The old rusty motorcycle tank cleaning technique works well. Load tank with lengths of small chain and nuts/bolts. Put in about 2 gallons of gas. Shake the tank like crazy in all positions. Drain tank and inspect. Repeat as necessary. Rinse with clean gas.

 

[A56]

Imo -For the price of a new fuel tank (anywhere from $105-$150.) it'll save you headaches down the road. If you have a sentimental feeling about the original one, hang it on your garage wall.

 

[remytherat]

Something a friend of mine did to clean out the gas tank on his alfa romeo after it had sat for 15 years (gritty deposits and rust):

Tack it to a cement mixer and pour gravel in it. Let it turn for a day or two. Then fill it with phosphoric acid (for the rust, you probably won’t have to)

Buying a new tank might be easier if you’re willing to

 

[Inertia]

I have used a length of chain shaken around, but the idea of strapping a tank with chain in it, across the mouth of a cement mixer is very appealing.
If I had ever owned a cement mixer, I woulda tried that .
Just saying .
Cheers

 

[67Dart273]

If you can afford it and can get a correct tank, I would but a replacement. I once had a 62 Landcruiser, and ran about three filters inline. Rust STILL got through and regularly argued with the carburetor

I cleaned that thing at least twice, I've forgotten if 3 or 4

 

[AJ/FormS]

I recently purchased a second-owner 1982 Honda SilverWing, that appears to not have run since 1988.
The first thing I discovered, of course, was the un-usable but in mint-condition fuel tank. I restored that tank using a home-made electrolysis system. The tank appeared to have been full when the bike was parked. To say it was bad is an understatement.
It took about a week, and multiple anodes were used. But the only cost was the salt I used, and the power to run the battery charger. It eliminated all the rust; but some charcoal-like substance remained which I had to chip off. IDK what that was, but likely it was clumped varnish.
The rusty water had to be changed every time the anode burned off, and new salt poured in, as the old stuff seemed to become less effective.
The biggest challenge was inserting the anode in such a way that it did not contact the metal tank.
It could have been faster, if I had run the charger non-stop. But I didn't want to run it un-attended, as it was my first time using this system.

But she's all ready now, for fresh gas, in spring!

 

[MOPARMAGA]

Don't use a shop vac