Protective coating for factory oil tank?

[71six]

I have an NOS oil tank to install on my car. Any recommendations of products to protect the exterior from corrosion? Thanks for any helpful ideas
Mark

[porschenut]

All the oil tanks I've seen are either nickel-plated copper or stainless steel. The only protection needed should be paint, AFAIK.

[Gunter]

Maybe a rust paint like Tremclad or Rustoleum but I'd also use a chip-paint that is used on some front valances.

The rear wheels kick up a lot of gravel and I even use roof-tar on the side that faces the Wheel.

[RWebb]

powder coating is highly chip resistant

some tanks have a little rock guard grill on them - my 73.5 does

[James Brown]

If it's not steel, how can it rust?

[304065]

The steel tanks were copper plated, not solid copper. They can and do rust, particularly at the top of the tank where dirt accumulates over time. The dirt attracts moisture which rusts holes in the tank.

A stainless oil tank would either be an aftermarket piece, or something from the racing department. Highly unlikely that the NOS tank is stainless- most likely copper-plated steel.

A few coats of gloss black epoxy should do it-- unlike powdercoating you can easily remove it when it gets chipped every decade or so and re-do it.

[Brian 162]

I used high temp. dupli-colour paint 2 years ago. The paint hasn't come off yet.

[tctnd]

To build on what John said, the best thing you can do to prevent rust is to keep dirt and crud from lodging in tight places. In some climates trapped dirt will never dry out. You have probably seen cars with areas of no paint that seem to have surface rust but never perforate. Car generally rust out from the inside where water is trapped either by part of the car (lower windshield corners etc), dirt buildup (wheel wells) or carpets/sound mats. First try to keep water out by maintaining seals and so forth. second, regularly blow out any areas that tend to accumulate dirt. I realize this is a bit beyond the scope of the question but it's basic to preservation. Just to be safe I would coat the tank with POR-15 or find a powder coater who can apply nylon.
regards,
Phil

[BoxsterGT]

How about the Rhino liner stuff or similar used for truck beds?

Pretty stone-proof I would think.

Len

[71six]

Len

Thats what I've been thinking. Hopfully it can be applied right over the factory black exterior paint.

Thanks to all for ideas

Mark

[zithlord]

POR-15 with the same companys chassis black as a top coat. It will never rust and is very duable against stone chips.

John

[Bob Kontak]

Powder coat is pretty nice if you think it is worth the trouble. It is overkill and other ideas above will work fine. However, it is relatively cheap and you wont have to get your tank dipped to clean out the oil before the coating is baked on.

[Evans, Marv]

I second POR-15. It bonds to the metal along with any rust present, would be fast, probably cost the least, and cures like powder coating. A half pint would be more than enough, so if you had any other small parts you wanted to treat, you could use up the remaining amount on them.

[ossiblue]

Just a note. A source I have, Porsche 911 by Lindsay Porter and Peter Morgan states: "September 1971...Dry sump oil tank now made of stainless steel." (p.243)

"October 1972...External oil filler flap deleted for 1973 model-year oil tank (now of stainless steel)..."(p.244)

Don't know how accurate that is. I have a 73.5 and the tank looks to be copper clad. Does anyone have a definitive answer?

[RWebb]

my '73/5 tank is copper clad - w/o question

[al lkosmal]

My 71 is copper clad. I coated it with POR-15.

regards,
al

[Paige Brittain]

Hi- I am restoring a '79 SC and on the oil tank I splurged & had a radiator shop boil it out ($80). Then painted with good anti rust black paint, then a good undercoat like 3M rubberized undercoating in spray can. Prior to re-paint many small corrosion spots needed removing/digging out. I was surprised I didn't find a pinhole leak.
PB