de rusting fuel tank advice

[spaceman]

ive got a typical rusty fuel tank and want to clean it up. ive heard that lining the tank with those liquid coating dont hold up with the ethanol these days. can i just ospho it then keep it full of gas?

[mascher]

There are fuel tank sealers that work well. They have been used on motorcycles for decades. Problems occur when the tank isn't prepared properly. Have a look at the POR15 fuel tank repair kit.

Kelley

[72 Norty]

The motorcycle kits would be enough for any Mini tank. I bought one recently for a bike project and it cost me $48 from a Napa store nearby. The process was not too involved and the finish looks great. Whether or not it lasts....I did a cream kit on my Norton tank almost 20 years ago and it has held up beautifully.

Good luck.

[spaceman]

im familiar with these relining liquid kits, but there is a lot of talk on the web about the higher ethanol gas causing the lining to desolve and foul the F system. thoughts?

[mascher]

Ethanol blend gasoline has been around for several decades. Some localities have not had it regularly though. When it is noticed that gas stations are selling it the web sees a lot of horror stories about alcohol causing problems in fuel systems. I ran old British and Swedish cars in Kansas in the 1980's on ethanol blend fuel with no problems. The people who had problems were using very old, possibly original hoses and gaskets that were at the end of their lives anyway or were not even fuel rated much less ethanol rated. Tank lining problems were either poor preparation or a cheap product that would really work with any fuel. Kreem became the preferred liner product at this time because it worked well and had a well defined prep process.

In my opinion (note: opinion follows, it's an opinion) the ethanol blend fuel system stories, like the British car brake seal stories, are something that occurred 40 or 50 (or more) years ago and people have been repeating them every time they have a problem they don't want to spend time diagnosing properly. You can add DOT 4 (silicone) brake fluid warnings to this list. The U.S. military has used it exclusively and successfully for decades and yet there are still people who believe it is brake fluid from hell.

When these subjects come up, you will notice, that I don't comment. Not because I don't have anything to say but because I don't have time for the argument.

Cheers ,

Kelley

[Dixminion]

From Pat at Puget Sound Radiator, RIP, (the shop, not Pat that I know of). The internal coatings can make future solder repairs of tank rot problematic. Not usually an issue with saloon tanks being in the boot. Yours is a van?

Don