old fuel in gas tank

[mexgrhd68]

sorry guys, I know this is a truck website, but I have a question about some old fuel in my sons '74 nova. Fuel is probably about 5 yrs. old, we emptied it and now letting tank air out and hopefully dry up a bit. We just jacked up the rear end and let it drain on its own through the fuel line, prior to that we just cranked the car a little to pump out most of the gas about 15 minute intervals, as not to burn out the starter. Now that the tank is empty and dry, should we go ahead and throw some fuel additive mixed with fuel, and try running like that and see what happens? prior to doing all this car wouldn't stay on, points were burning out, and backfiring alot. Since then, we used a 5 gallon fuel tank and fed to carb, set timing a little, and changed over to HEI. What do you guys think??

[old Chevy guy]

Hei is always good but Im not sure bad gas would burn out points.It may make it run bad or maybe stall,how does it run now? I think 10 gallon of good gas with some additive for good measure should take care of the stale gas in the tank problem.My 69 Camaro with 350 took a fit like that once where it kept burning the points every couple of days and dying and or running like crap,I never did figure out why but I put in HEI and it hasent burned the points since.LOL

[mexgrhd68]

Originally Posted by old Chevy guy

Hei is always good but Im not sure bad gas would burn out points.It may make it run bad or maybe stall,how does it run now? I think 10 gallon of good gas with some additive for good measure should take care of the stale gas in the tank problem.My 69 Camaro with 350 took a fit like that once where it kept burning the points every couple of days and dying and or running like crap,I never did figure out why but I put in HEI and it hasent burned the points since.LOL

yeah, I know gas wouldn't burn out points, but we were just having problems getting a weak spark and got tired of messing with them, so my son just installed hei in it, couldn't beat the deal of a polished new distributor for the price that he got it for with a year warranty on it. He installed it and it fired up really good, just tweaked timing a little, still needs to mess with a little more so it can be right on.

[mexgrhd68]

Originally Posted by old Chevy guy

Hei is always good but Im not sure bad gas would burn out points.It may make it run bad or maybe stall,how does it run now? I think 10 gallon of good gas with some additive for good measure should take care of the stale gas in the tank problem.My 69 Camaro with 350 took a fit like that once where it kept burning the points every couple of days and dying and or running like crap,I never did figure out why but I put in HEI and it hasent burned the points since.LOL

what kind of additive you think we should use? one of those injector cleaners, or fuel system cleaner? what do you think about mixing some kind of octane booster along with the cleaner?

[PanelDeland]

33 year old tank.I think I would put a piece of chain and some water in it a rattle all the loose rust around and rinse it out.Then do the new fuel and an additive like heet.I just think it would be better than changing fuel filters til it clears up.

[C20_Paul]

I would put 10+ gallons of fresh fuel in it and double up on cheap fuel filters until it starts running clean. Just put the filters in a safe spot where you can inspect/change them easily.

I used to have an '71 VW Bus that would pump tiny flakes of debris into my carb and cause it to stall. It always happened when I was in the middle of nowhere (ie Albany) and late at night. I finally had the tank running clean the month before I sold it. The new owner didn't know how easy he had it.

[mexgrhd68]

Originally Posted by PanelDeland

33 year old tank.I think I would put a piece of chain and some water in it a rattle all the loose rust around and rinse it out.Then do the new fuel and an additive like heet.I just think it would be better than changing fuel filters til it clears up.

He doesn't want to drop the tank because what if the straps break? he has to sink more money into it. see this nova was suppose to be a quick flip, it didn't run when he purchased it, he got it running. So i guess the other alternative is to keep buying fuel filters til it clears up. He wants to sell this nova to make a little money to sink that money into his '54 caddy that is at his grandpas house. This 16 year old is a grease monkey at heart!!!!! always hustling to make a buck for his caddy, working on cars, mowing lawns, whatever.

[old Chevy guy]

I think any kind of dry gas in case there condinsation buildup,there may not even be any rust or sedament to speak of,put a inline filter right before the carb where you can see it and change it easy if nessasary. I accedently put diesel in my Camaro once.{long time ago ,old school pump, double pump hose and dial on left and right one diesel one leaded regular ,who would of thought?] any way the guy at the gagage helped me out and put a electric fuel pump where the line came from the frame to the manual pump on my motor,pumped out the fuel till it was dry,no problems.If you get as much old gas out as you can I dont think you will have one either.

[mexgrhd68]

Originally Posted by old Chevy guy

I think any kind of dry gas in case there condinsation buildup,there may not even be any rust or sedament to speak of,put a inline filter right before the carb where you can see it and change it easy if nessasary. I accedently put diesel in my Camaro once.{long time ago ,old school pump, double pump hose and dial on left and right one diesel one leaded regular ,who would of thought?] any way the guy at the gagage helped me out and put a electric fuel pump where the line came from the frame to the manual pump on my motor,pumped out the fuel till it was dry,no problems.If you get as much old gas out as you can I dont think you will have one either.

He's gonna put 1 inline before the fuel pump and 1 after the fuel pump for insurance, he also put a new fuel pump after using the old one. Ya'll think that'll be good??

[MylilBowTie]

Thats what I would do. The fun part is getting rid of all the old gas.

[LONGHAIR]

Moved to a more appropriate forum

[Longhorn Man]

I wouldn't run the filter before the pump... not a good idea. Can cause or agrivate vapor lock.
If he is just trying to flip it, rill it up and see what happens. Worst than that happens is he ends up dropping it anyways, and then maybe has to crack open the carb.
If there is rust and crap in there, there is nothing you'll be able to do to fix it without dropping the tank. Not to mention, if done right, I doubt breaking the straps would be much of an issue. PB blaster and maybe some heat.

[BarryB]

I'll tell you what I did a few weeks ago, on a 49 chevy truck tank. The gas had been sitting in it about 5 years. I removed the tank. drained what was in there. rinse out with a pressure washer them,drained it of the water,took some muradic acid about a gallon. poured into the tank. swished it around a little let it set for a few minutes. then I took my pressure washer again and washed the crap out of it. Was real good and clean afterwards, got all the varnish/grime that old gas leaves in there out. Got good clean gas now.

[Longhorn Man]

barry, you need to put something in there to coat the freshly etched metal. It'll rust out faster and worse now.