ryan22

i bought a 61 that had been sitting for 6 years. it did not have any gas preservative added to the tank while it sat. i drained the varnish from the tank & replaced the rotted rubber lines. drove it and it broke down seemed it wasnt getting any fuel. i replaced the fuel pump now it starts and runs strong then suddenly sputters & stalls, carb is also backfiring. i noticed some sediment in the new fuel filter so i drained the tank again. this time i also ran some gas in thru the filler neck and let it run out the drain, what comes out is dark, looks like apple cider. whats the verdict, replace the tank or have it restored ? is there a way to clean the inside of these tanks and coat them with something ? thanks for the help.

67-427ci

POR-15 makes a fuel tank restoration kit. I have never used it but their other products are great. Check it out here.

Roy

wmf62

replace the tank, they're relatively inexpensive. it's by far the best thing to do and you'll have no more worries for at least the next 45 years... (i think you can even get one made of stainless steel....)
Bill

chris ritchie

I used the Eastwood kit. Came out great. Costs about $100. The tank needs to come out. Now I have a 45 year old tank that's serviceable.

If you're going to take the tank out anyway, you can replace it for around $160 plus shipping.

If I had to do it over again, I'd replace it.

ryan22

i removed the tank, the sending unit was very rusted and the sock on it was competely covered with rust sediment. i see Paragon has tanks for $215...i'm wondering if having this original tank acid dipped is an option ? the exterior of the tank is pretty clean.

crw41

Most people would say that Quanta makes the best and most correct replacement gas tanks.

wmf62

what is your reason for wanting to retain the original tank?
Bill

chris ritchie

You used to be able to take gas tanks to a radiator place that would "boil" them out. Don't know if you can still do that. You can do it yourself with the Eastwood kit. You buy the kit from them and buy the chemicals locally. First you empty the old gas and dispose of that. Then you swish lacquer thinner around in there and dispose of that. Then you put muriatic acid in there and dispose of that. Please don't dump this crap in my environment. You also hose it out a few times in between and let that run into the ground. Then you put the Eastwood stuff in there. You need some upper body strength to slosh the chemicals around. If you do this right, the Eastwood stuff, a white coating, will stick to the insides of the tank and seal everything up.

'Course if the metal is thin from rusting away, the white stuff will seal the pinholes, and hide the fact that the metal is thin. Then the metal will fail catastrophically some day, leaving you stranded at the side of the road, or depositing 16 gallons of gasoline on the floor of your garage.

Or, you can buy a new tank. Nice and shiney clean. Your hands won't get dirty. Call and give them a credit card number and it gets delivered to your door. No need to drive anywhere. No fuss. No muss. It's only money.

You can buy a new sock for the pickup for $9. Test the sender with a multi-meter. Don't forget a new gasket ($3) for the sender. You'll need to do all these things no matter what you do.

One more factor in your decision. A gas tank is a safety issue. You shouldn't take chances with this. You need to be 100% certain that the thing is good.

kenmo

I bought a plastic replacement tank from Blue Ribbon about 10 years ago... It's made out of the same type of plastic service station gas cans are. It's the same dimensions and shape as the original. All I had to do was pull the old and place the new...

Not sure if Blue Ribbon is still in business...

JohnZ

Replace the tank - any 45-year-old tank falls into one of two categories - has pinholes, or will have pinholes. Replace the tank, the vent hose, and the filler neck hose. While you're in there you can replace the drain hose from the nipple in the filler cavity that goes down through the hole in the underbody (which is missing on 95% of C1's anyway); you can't get to it with the tank installed.

jafranke

Replace. I tried the kit route.... spent a weekend working on it. Ended up replacing it anyway. The cleaner worked real well on the interior of the tank and ate the rust away to the point that those pin holes showed up.

Don't mess with it.....replace it. You'll be glad you did.