Cleaning gas tank?

[Downlow2xfo]

So I've been workin hard trying to get my 65 stepper back on the road after digging it out from under some alabama pines where it sat for 20 years. Got the motor running and got some tires on the wheels I freshened up but now I got to get the vitals right. I pulled the tank yesterday to dump the 20 year old gas and the sending unit was roached. Got one coming in the mail but I still gotta get the trash and junk off the sides of the tank. I was told put a chain in the tank and shake it around? What methods have you guys used?

[firemanjimtfd]

I have heard of putting gravel and bolts and shaking around also radiator shop dipping it in cleaner but according how rusty it is after dumping old gas. If you are going to keep the truck I would invest in a new tank to save more problems down the road.

[KJSR]

I use gravel and cleaner like Power Clean.....

[Downlow2xfo]

Solid tank just gummed up gas and trash that I can't reach.

[Lugnutz65]

Originally Posted by Downlow2xfo

Solid tank just gummed up gas and trash that I can't reach.

A radiator shop can boil the tank for you to get it clean.
Several vendors sell kits clean and then seal the tank.. They use chemicals to remove varnish and rust (but you must go and buy the Muriatic Acid - which is very caustic). Finally, a sealant coats the inside and then you don't have to worry about rust again. I used the Eastwood Products Kit . POR-15 sells a kit too.
Rolling gravel around method works, or BBs, or chains, or whatever will get into corners and scrape the metal. Either way, you are probably going to want to use a kit to seal the inside.

If you have the time and the tank is solid, then use the kit and about 10 hours of work. Otherwise get a new tank or have a radiator shop boil it clean. My tank was not too bad so I cleaned out the varnish with boiling hot water, rinsed it out and then swirled Muriatic Acid around until the rust was gone and rinsed it again several times. I used a leaf blower to air dry it and it looked pretty good, but what I started with had minimal rust and varnish.

[sixTsix]

downlow , my nephew recently purchased a 71 c10 with same, 20 yr old gas in it. This tank was baaad man. So bad it smelled of varnish and had very large chunks of what I believe was left over lead and the other things that come in gas, lol! We tried several methods that we researched. The end result was we got it clean and flushed out. The first method we tried was running some flush thru it. that was a no go. Now im not sure of which flush he bought, I wasn't present at the time but the results weren't good enough. This tank was pretty bad, large chunks in the bottom as well as gunk on the side walls. Second we tried running some denatured alcohol thru it and let is sit a bit as well as sloshing it around ..flushed ...still not good enough. Third we tried electrolosis. This method work ok, although time consuming, we still weren't satisfied. Finally we poured 4 or 5 gals of cider vinegar and let soak in the tank for 2 days, maybe even 3. Every day we would slosh around and lay the tank on its side to break down side wall gunk.
I have to say the vinegar method worked the best for breaking down the side wall gunk and rust as well as the bottom. Once the 2 or 3 days were up ...we then flushed with soap and water. The large chunks were still present but all the side wall crap was handled very nicely. For the large chunks we took a shop vac with a coat hanger strapped to the hose (wire coat hanger for breaking down big chunks and scraping the bottom) ran it in the sender hole and suck all the rest of the garbage out. Once completed, then flushed with soap and water again and let dry out. Tank is very well usable and looks hellaov a lot better inside. For the price of the new tank versus taking to a radiator shop to have boiled out, these methods were the cheapest and the best part about it , didn't have to rely on anyone else to get the same results
hope this helps.

[65Gregg]

I pressure washed mine then soaked it with CLR. It worked real well on the nasty gunk in my tank.

[Downlow2xfo]

Thanks for all the suggestions I'll let u know what works!

[benwah]

I have used a chain with around a half gallon of kerosine. Rinse out with garden hose. Then clean with chain and half gallon of M.E.K. . Then rinse with M.E.K. M.E.K. helps get all the water out of the tank. I usually use a tank sealer from the local tractor repair guy. Before you seal the tank check for pinholes. I have used JB weld over pin holes then a coat of Rustolium or POR-15. I have used the industerial spray on bedliner on a tank on my 69 International 1 ton. It has held up well and cut down on the noise of the sloshing around. Clean everything well thats the key. Good luck!

[McCoyAZ]

Just yesterday I took my 25 gallon Blazer tank to the radiator shop to be boiled and cleaned and sealed inside.

By the time I bought the tank, shipped it home paid for the cleaning and service I could have bought a brand new one, but wouldn't have had near the fun of the hunt.

$125 to boil it out and seal the inside.

[benwah]

The sealer alone is $60. A gallon of M.E.K. is around $18. I guess you did good McCoy! I enjoy doing the work on my truck. But for that price its worth farming out the job, instead of tieing up your weekend!

[66Submarine]

FWIW; I drained my tank, let it dry, and ran a chain around in it using water to rinse out all the rust and crap. When I got done, I rinsed it out again real well, poured all the water out, then poured in maybe a half gallon of old kerosene and rinsed it with that to get rid of the water. Seems to have worked fine. Still had a little bit of flash rusting, but I didn't plug/haven't plugged any fuel filters up as a result.