What is the most economical way to clean a rusty fuel tank?
My 32 Ford tank has surface rust inside and one small pin hole which I was going to braze up.
I have looked at the KBS tank sealer kits and they seem very pricey.
I am not sure if I really need to seal the inside.
Would a rinse in caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) with a handful of bolts and then rinse with Lectric Soda (sodium carbonate) to neutralize the metal work?
Or what about apple cider vinegar?
Also any suggestions on how to stop the outside from rusting prior to painting.
Cheers, Gary
CLEANING A FUEL TANK
-
garya54
- Posts: 146
- Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2008 12:52 pm
- Location: melbourne/victoria
-
Chrisso
- Old Hand
- Posts: 4178
- Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:44 am
- Location: Albury NSW
Re: CLEANING A FUEL TANK
Why not try a citric acid solution and see how that goes as citric acid will only attack the rust. Might be worth a try but don't leave it more than a couple of days if that and check regularly. It will find any rust holes you may have missed I reckon. Best of luck with it. 
-
47chevyvan
- Posts: 362
- Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2016 3:54 pm
- Location: portland vic
Re: CLEANING A FUEL TANK
try red-kote dry i have used it before and works well 0418 873 233 they are in QLD
-
Newbee
- Member
- Posts: 578
- Joined: Mon May 26, 2014 10:59 pm
- Location: YP of SA
Re: CLEANING A FUEL TANK
Hi Garya54, I just did a EFI XH Ute tank that I'm putting in my Mainline with the KBS kit. It wasn't very rusty
like yours but the suggestion of Citric Acid is a good one, I use 10 L of water to 1 kg of Citric (but if you fill the whole
tank perhaps 15 to 20 L would work) leave it a day then empty out Citric and give it a scrub as much as you can, then
rinse with water, you may need to put the Citric back in for another day for stubborn rust so reuse the same batch of Citric.
I was very pleased with the job the KBS paint did (it finishes like a plastic coating) and for a old tank it would protect the inside for a long time done correctly. If you decide to go that way prepare the outside as well before you start. When the inside is done and drained you should have enough paint left to do the outside the next day. The paint will dry in the tin so you need to do top and bottom within a couple of days.
A zinc phosphate type rust converter will protect the outside while you finish the inside.
Regards Newbee
like yours but the suggestion of Citric Acid is a good one, I use 10 L of water to 1 kg of Citric (but if you fill the whole
tank perhaps 15 to 20 L would work) leave it a day then empty out Citric and give it a scrub as much as you can, then
rinse with water, you may need to put the Citric back in for another day for stubborn rust so reuse the same batch of Citric.
I was very pleased with the job the KBS paint did (it finishes like a plastic coating) and for a old tank it would protect the inside for a long time done correctly. If you decide to go that way prepare the outside as well before you start. When the inside is done and drained you should have enough paint left to do the outside the next day. The paint will dry in the tin so you need to do top and bottom within a couple of days.
A zinc phosphate type rust converter will protect the outside while you finish the inside.
Regards Newbee