Help !! How ?? gas tanks with dried varnish

[bradnree]

Help!! How do you get the dried thick varnish from the bottom of a gas tank??? What are various cleaning methods that do work ?? What solvents, methods, etc. work which you have really used ?? Thanks!! BRAD

[JDP]

I use Drano and hot water, the tank will get damn hot, be careful.

Studebaker On The Net http://stude.com
64 GT Hawk
64 R2 4 speed Challenger
63 R2 4 speed GT Hawk
53 Street rod

[DEEPNHOCK]

Either the Drain-O deal, or take the tank to a radiator shop for a good cleaning and checking out...
Jeff[8D]

quote:Originally posted by bradnree

Help!! How do you get the dried thick varnish from the bottom of a gas tank??? What are various cleaning methods that do work ?? What solvents, methods, etc. work which you have really used ?? Thanks!! BRAD

DEEPNHOCK at Cox.net
'37 Coupe Express
'37 Coupe Express Trailer
'61 Hawk

http://community.webshots.com/user/deepnhock

[royvaldez]

Hello, I couple of months ago, I asked this forum on" How to clean my gas tank." From the information I received, I used Drain - O. First of all, I put Hot water into the tank. Once filled with hot water, I poured 2 - 3 cans of drain - O. Wait about 3 days and pour out of tank. You may pressure wash or rinse with water. Then inspect your gas tank for evaluation. Note: While filling the water in the tank, I did not take off the ascending unit. Anyway have fun and keep the faith.

[Rosstude]

I just went through this on the 57. I first used about 1 lb of TSP mixed with hot water, and filled it up. I let it sit a couple of hours, drained a bit off, added a couple of short lengths of chain, a hand full of big bolts, and shake it throughly. Then drain, and rinse. That got most of it, but not all. I then used Red Devil Lye and hot water, letting it sit about 4 hours. It got hot, it got shinny clean. Rinse repeatedly, blow dry, bake in sun for a day, and mount. I used a water away product on the first fill up to be safe. Now, I am no chemical expert, but I have been a plumber for 28 years, so I know about "drain-o" type products. They can be dangerous! Please use caution, read the label, wear protective gear. "Drain-o" is generally lumped together like body fillers are lumped together as Bondo. "Drain-o" type products are acidic. The Red Devil Lye is alkaline. Use extreme caution with each, they can burn, a chemical burn you will not like.
I would recommend to use the lye, Red Devil is the only readily available lye around these parts. Stay away from the acid products (for drains and shop use). Of course, the radiator shop may be an economical option.
I learned a hard lesson about what the varnish can do, if allowed to get into the engine.

Ross.
57 Provincial
58 Transtar
66 Wagonaire

[N8N]

Yup, Red Devil Lye and hot water, and some scrap small metal bits (bolts, chain, whatever) to knock off the rust. Do this OUTSIDE. Rinse with a little bit of gasoline to get all the nastiness out. works like a champ.

nate

--
55 Commander Starlight
62 Daytona hardtop

http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

[Blue 15G]

If the home remedies for fixing the tank sound scary to you, just take the tank to a radiator shop or good automotive machine shop and let them clean it in their pressure washer tank. That's what I did with my '54 tank. Didn't cost much as I recall, and it came out nice and clean.

[bradnree]

the Draino suggestion worked really well and saved a brand new tank with nothing but thick varnish in it...Thanks for the tip...BRAD

[royvaldez]

Hey Brad, Im glad that the Drain-O worked. I wanted to add, If you have rust inside your tank, you can use Ready Metal made by POR. It kills the rust. Please rinse after you use. Also, they have a product that cleans the inside which I cannot remember what it is called. POR does have a working process for cleaning your gas tank. Roy