Ideas for a rusty tank
 

I've got a couple of gas tanks, all of which have varying degrees of surface rust inside.

Any (good) ideas to deal with it? I've heard of putting some small metal objects (nuts, etc) inside and agitating to clean the rust off, but then what?


Hard to get a tank to last 60 years these days without showing signs of wear
:bigthink:

There are baffles inside the tank that will not allow abrasives items to get to that area.

Best to research chemical de-rusting solutions such as muratic acid.
Just be sure to follow label directions as well as precautions.

Worked for me on my tanks.
Did several at a time so I could reuse the solution.

I'm going to ASSUME you are working on small engines not a motor vehicle tank.
If so, they have no Baffles, so throw in a handful of rocks, nuts or what have you and shake the shit out of it.
It helps if you put some vinegar in them a day or two earlier.
as it loosens/dissolves some of the light rust.
Depending what you have for contamination, other products might prove better if you have say varnish or similar.
Do take out any screen that might be in the outlet and put in a plug so the liquid will stay inside during the agitation process.
When finished, wash out with soap/ water and dry in the sun.
Rust in a tank that doesn't flake off, poses no problem, as it hurts nothing. :beerchug:

Thank you gentlemen.



Yes, sorry this is in a couple of Kohler tanks that I'm going to do, so baffle-less. I ordered some tank coat elixir and will use that after some mech/chem rust removal.

Darned alcohol/water in gas these days ...grrhhhh.



I appreciate the advice!

I have had pretty good luck using straight vinegar or maybe some Acetone.
Let it sit for a couple days shaking it up whenever I think about it.
Lots of soap and water after that.

Ken

Look up Evapo-rust. I never used it on a gas tank, but I have used it on other things and it works good. It is non toxic, and reusable. I was planning on using it on the tank for my 149, but then I found a nice rust free one.

Do as you like, I have no respect for a "cream" of sorts in a tank.
Maybe because I'm the one that is handed a mess that someone did a while back and it went all bad and am asked to "fixit up" because it rusted between the "coating" and tank or the coating is rattling around inside loose, like a pocket full of marbles.
No offence, just my experience.
Or like JB weld to stop a leak around a fitting.
Just fix it right by sweat soldering the hole or bung in the first place.
Luck!

What size tanks are we talking about here?
I can assure you that the larger ones DO have baffles in them
Take a pen light and look, towards BOTH ends.
Hell, you can even feel them if your fiddle finger is long enough.
I just checked several on my shelf that I cleaned last year and they ALL have them.
That's one of the first things I look for, rust in the tank.
Every Cub tank I have ever looked into has them.

Where is the adventure and wonder in that!?? :biggrin2:

Hi George,


I'm not trying to "fixit up", but to do it right. I plan to remove as much of the rust as I can mechanically/chemically/electrically , but given that I live in North Carolina, if I am successful at removing the rust that's there without some sort of coating immediately following it's going to rust again right away.

I *could * get by "fixit up" by just letting it continue to rust and depend on sediment filters and screens to get rid of the continual rust, but I hoped to do better than that, not to take the slack route. You're saying I shouldn't worry about rust in the tank after I knock the big chunks off mechanically?


This is a tank for a 123/K301



John