What to do with gas tank that has been sitting empty

[Conrad W Peden]

I have had the good fortune of receiving a free '73 2.0(YES FREE) with alloys, stainless exchangers,etc. etc. There is minor battery area rust and a little under the rockers but it is solid with lots of new metal(no patches, I mean whole fenders and doors). Pretty good for Vancouver Island(we tend to have more rusty 914's on the island than not).

But anyways enough of that to the point.

The car sat for four years outside with almost no gas in the tank. I have rebuilt the engine and FI and I figure that I should do something about the tank. Dont want go sending dirty gas to a new engine. What do you guys recommend doing with an old tank.

I have heard of putting some kind of shot in it and tumbling or a liner??

[JP Noonan]

O.K. let me get this straight. I spent who knows (I know, but I'm not telling) how much money on three cars, all kinds of parts, and after countless hours I have one car from the three that runs most of the time. And you expect ME to help YOU.

I don't think so lunchbox.





All right, here goes. The rustiest car I've owned had (a 72 from Ohio that sat for 8-9 years) a damn near perfect tank. It also came with a good history of receits and (even a MPG log from the last 10 years of its life) no mention of a new tank, so lets assume it was original. The tank was bone dry when I took it out, I guess that helped.

The other cars, one was runnning 1 year before I got it, the other 6+ years had horrible rust in the tank, and my friends "rust free" CA car had the worst tank of them all. I dunno, maybe once the gas turn to kerosene it rots the tank.

Either stick a steel tube (5/16" brake line does it for me) into the bottom of the tank and see what it picks up. A better way is to remove the tank, take out the sender and filler neck. Shine a light in one and look into the other.

The steel shot idea might work if the shot is small enough to get past the tank baffle and if you put it into a tumbler for a couple of days. Other than that look up some past messages about "POR-15" and other tank treatments.

[Brister]

I had this problem with a Healey I let sit up for 8 years.. the gasoline in the tank and in the fuel lines will turn to a varnish-like substance. There is a product I've seen but can't recall the brand name now which you pour into the empty tank, slosh the tank around and let it clean the gunk out. I did not know of such a product back in '72 and instead used rubbing alcohol. It works wonders and is inexpensive. First I used a garden hose with lots of water pressure to rinse the tank several times.. let it drain dry and then pour in lots of rubbing alcohol. Let the alcohol sit for a couple of hours to let it soak in and soften the gunk. Shake it up thoroughly ever so often while sitting. After draining the gunk, test with a rod, screwdriver etc ..if any gook left, do the procedure again. Then give it another alcohol rinse and dump. The alcohol will air dry and you should have a clean tank.

[This message has been edited by Brister (edited 05-11-99).]

[Brister]

If you have gunk in your tank, you'll also have it in the lines. I didn't think of changing gas line and wound up burning the stuff as it broke loose.. stinks to high heaven but the engine is still running strong. The alcohol cleansing I noted can also work on other items.. it works on greasy hands, cleans surfaces of brake fluid etc..
great stuff and cheap.

[Conrad W Peden]

Already have new gas lines and they seemed clean so maybe I don't have a problem.

I was thinking about the California car JP mentioned. It may have been bad because of the heat. You know heat up, cool down would cause condensation.

There was no water in mine. I'm planning on taking it out this weekend(If my wife hasn't made other plans. We've got a baby on the way in the next couple of weeks.) So I'll see.

I'll update you its done, could be a while.

Thanks for your comments.

A friend in the local PCA is a POR paint distributor I'll ask him about it. I've heard its pretty impressive stuff. Apparently he's been driving for two years with just the primer on one fender and it looks better than the rest of the car.

Keep the comments coming.

Thanks again.