restoring a fuel tank

the tank on my new petter is very very crusty inside, from being sat empty for 20+ years. i know you can get a resin to coat the inside of the tank, but what's best to do to kill off the rust. don't fancy trying to shotblast it

Just keep cleaning it out with derv or parifin then use that resin stuff, it works great follow instructions .
Good stuff
Jonesey

I put some small pebbles in with a little bit of paraffin and just keep shaking not to hard as to damage the tank but enough to help break down the rust inside, then I use a tank sealer, takes a few days to coat all the tank. I block the hole the tap fits in pour in the sealer and leave 24 hours then turn the tank to get the next section that's not coated and do that till it's done, you have problems where the tank cap fits on but just do it the best you can as near to the neck before it pours back out. The sealer I use can be reused so once it's all done I pour it back into the bottle till I need to do another. I find a work mate bench handy as it opens wide to get the tank at different angles. Can I just add one thing the tank sealer is not cheap unless you have a few tanks to coat, it might be cheaper and easier to pick up a good clean tank from ebay.

Stu.

i used a tank sealer which i bought from a motor cycle shop...it worked well for me,but read the instructions though and follow them..
a friend used a product called Petra patch,and he was happy with the results...
give it a try and let us know how you get on..
regards,mike..

i've ordered a tin of POR-15 tank sealer from Frosts, but i wanna remove as much of the rust as possible first. just had a few beers, and i've had an idea: seeing as i've got a spare 4 gallon plastic water tank kicking about, and soda cristals are cheap as, i'm going to have a crack at removing the rust by electrolysis. for more info, read this: http://www.rowand.net/Shop/Tools/Electrolysis.htm

if the weather is half decent tomorrow, i'll get started on it

If you check out the "Tricks of the Trade" section on the forum it's also on there and it might give you other ideas. The Frosts tank restorer is very good, can you try and get some before and after pics. I've also heard of someone filling with small stones and running it slowly on a lathe but not to sure on that one myself

Good luck and keep us updated,

Stu.

stationary stu wrote:If you check out the "Tricks of the Trade" section on the forum it's also on there and it might give you other ideas. The Frosts tank restorer is very good, can you try and get some before and after pics. I've also heard of someone filling with small stones and running it slowly on a lathe but not to sure on that one myself

Good luck and keep us updated,

Stu.

i was actually thinking about doing something similar with some sharp sand, blasting grit or similar to clean it out afterwards

stationary stu wrote:can you try and get some before and after pics.

i tried to get some 'before' pics, but taking photos of the inside of a tank in surprisingly difficult! it's bubbling away now in what looks like a tank full of weird primeval ooze. i'll fish it out in the morning and get some 'after' pics. it has nicely stripped the paint from the outside which is gonna make prep for paint much quicker

Nate,it sounds like you have a alien in there mate...
regards,mike...

well the finish isn't perfect, but it does still need the clearcoat putting on. decided to go with rover cranberry red met., as i bought a bulk load of it from ebay cheap only downside is the cans aren't that big, so i might not have enough. i may yet decide to paint some parts in cream or white.

inside the tank did clean up ok. in the end i suspended a large bolt very carefully thru the hole in the top of the tank to get it to work - it needs more or less line of sight. all rust removed, and the paint mostly came off. the tank was left with a blackish finish, which was just washed and degreased before putting an etch primer on, then painting as normal.

Cracking job you've done, I'd be pleased of the finish you've got. It does look well and the idea of adding cream will look good. Keep us posted with your restoration.

Stu.

that looks the tits mate..keep up the good work..
regards,mike..

sorry a bit off topic but nate i assume you work for titcomes ? you ever do any recovery for SCS ( the council ) ?

used to work for titcombes, but they went tits up last summer. working with greenmeadow at the moment, and yes, we do

Nate wrote:used to work for titcombes, but they went tits up last summer. working with greenmeadow at the moment, and yes, we do

Ah so u may of met me if have dropped any horticultural or plant equipment off at the workshop at water side , in the hort part is only 4 of us so cant really miss us as we use green meadow allot to recover the machinery

regards , matt

not as yet, but then i only go out to play at night. why isn't there a vampire smilie?

ahhhh i see , well if you ever do at day and visit scs workshop look out for me .... im the youngest one there im 24 others all 40m plus lol .... regarding smiley wat about ... ?