Stainless Steel Oil Tank

[lespaul]

With some help from other Pelicans on a stubborn nut, I just removed the 34 year old oil tank from my 73.5 T. It is stainless steel with just a tiny bit of surface rust in some weld spots. It really looks as shiny and new as my kitchen sink. The remaining black paint on it is very thin and only covers about 10% of the tank.

A) Why am I so lucky to get a Stainless Steel oil tank? Is that usual?

B) Should I paint it? I saw a thread where Grady recommeded against POR on the oil tank because it may fail someday and you would not know it. It looks like it has gone the distance so far without much paint on it. Do I need to protect the Stainless Steel?

[island911]

clean it and paint it.

"stainless" (for steels) is a relative term. It needs protective paint.

[randywebb]

pic?

[lespaul]

Pic tomorrow.

[mb911]

yup mine to.. I just cleared it so I could still look at it

[island911]

Originally posted by lespaul
. .. The remaining black paint on it is very thin and only covers about 10% of the tank.

.. . . It looks like it has gone the distance so far without much paint on it. Do I need to protect the Stainless Steel?

It came from the factory painted. --I'm guessing there was a good reason for the paint.

[mb911]

Originally posted by island911
It came from the factory painted. --I'm guessing there was a good reason for the paint.

oh boy here we go again

[lespaul]

Ok. Here are some pics of the oil tank. I tested it with a magnet and . . . . the magnet stuck. So, maybe it is not stainless???

Should I paint the exterior --- if so, with POR 15? Or just a good coat of metal primer and some black enamel?

Also posted a pic of my clean valve cover.

[Jim Sims]

That is not the original oil tank for a 1973.5 T which are copper plated carbon steel, painted black. The 1973.5 T tank also had a steel mesh rock guard welded to the front edge. The 930 stamped on the tank leads me to suspect that it is either a later model tank or an aftermarket unit. Does a magnet stick to the tank or it's welds?

[mb911]

porsche used 4 series stainless so they were magnetic. notice if the welds around the exterior are goldish in color it is stainless

[Elombard]

I was going to say ...how do you get the oil filter on there, isnt there supposed to be a big assemply that sticks into the engine compartment that the filter attaches onto. Vs just screwing right to the tank?

[cak]

The 1973.5 T tank also had a steel mesh rock guard welded to the front edge.

Really? That's very interesting - my 73.5 doesn't have any steel mesh there, either. I have no idea about the provenance of the car, so it's possible it was swapped out at some point. I have the wheels off for brake work, so it's easy to look at (and filthy).

I notice what seems to be a broken bracket/clamp, between the front inner lower corner and the fender support... the mounting tab for which doesn't seem to be in any of the photos in this thread:


It's always something...

[lespaul]

I will take a close look for the mounting tab when I get home.

As to the oil filter - yet the filler tube and oil filter are right on the oil tank (you can see them in the second picture) and stick into the engine compartment through a hole in the engine compartment wall. They are surrounded by a large rubber gasket that does not appear in these pics.

[Early_S_Man]

'73 oil tanks had an aluminum oil filter mount and pressure relief valve ... held to the tank by three M6 Allen bolts.

[randywebb]

Pic of mesh guard that Jim noted:
Yet Another Boring Hot Rod Rgruppe Car - Part V, Exterior & Paint


The real question is what to do now - oil tanks are not cheap. If that one works fine, then I'd clean the interior well and get the outside powder-coated. That will last longer than just paint. There are also "thermal dispersant coatings" that won't really do much in this application -- OTOH, they cost no more than powdercoating. There is a place near Portland that does this - search old threads for their contact info.

[DW SD]

Be very careful not to get anything in the tank while you are cleaning, prepping, etc. Anything that comes into the tank will be swept downstream right into your pressure fed engine lubrication system. Oil is filtered before it enters the tank as it cycles through the cooling system, returning to the tank, but is NOT filtered prior to feeding the engine lubrication pump after it exits the oil tank.

You could also send it to the folks who clean the aviation oil coolers for cleaning. I had my oil cooler cleaned for about $50. An ounce of prevention = a pound of cure. Maybe powder coat then clean?

Doug

[cak]

Pic of mesh guard that Jim noted:

Very interesting. A good idea. How is that fastened to the tank? If it's just tack welded on, perhaps mine got lost over time.

Those pictures also show the bracket that I've got, which is broken. Guess I'll see about getting one - keeping the tank stable seems worthwhile!

[Jim Sims]

The broken bracket/loop shown above is stock; there is also a square perimeter, plastic washer for vibration attenuation in the grip of the bolt that attaches the bracket to the tank.

Below is an another image of the tank steel mesh, rock screen:

[cak]

Thanks for the image. How is the screen fastened? Random expanded metal is easy to come by...

[Early_S_Man]

Chris,

The factory screen is crimped onto the tank seam and spot-welded in several places.