StrikerChris
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| posted on 28/11/18 at 01:54 PM |
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Rusty fuel tank inside- out....
Hi,
I have an old mg maestro I ran as my daily up until about 3 years ago. Before you all shoot me down it was a drunken eBay buy and I had a good
2+years hilarious motoring out of it,and a guestimated 40k miles for less than £500 including buying it in the first place!
I always had an issue with it sucking up crap from the tank,jamming the pump,an issue I solved temporarily (over 2 years) by zip tying another pump
to the rear beam and swapping pumps over as and when it happened,hoping it wouldn't happen again before I had chance to peel the pump apart and
hammer it back together.
Anyway now it's being spoilt with a new old t16 I ought to sort the root cause,and will attempt to get the tank off in one piece.Do any of you
have good experiences of any products/methods of cleaning and sealing old tanks? 2nd hand I'd probably end up with the same issue,I could make
one to fit in the boot if it comes to it but that's not ideal being a hatchback and I want it all to look standard and as terrible as it did in
1985.
Chris
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loggyboy
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| posted on 28/11/18 at 02:12 PM |
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Id look at its shape and size to see if its fairly generic (assuming its under the rear seat?). I suspect the shape would be fairly similar to lots of
other hatchbacks. Try and find a plastic one thats close and fab up some brackets for it.
Mistral Motorsport
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 28/11/18 at 02:22 PM |
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Fuel tank sealant from Frosts? I've never used it but they have been selling it for years
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StrikerChris
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| posted on 28/11/18 at 02:24 PM |
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That's a possibility yeah,but haven't found anyone in the maestro/montego/rover groups who've found anything.
That said they do seem a very strange lot and possibly aren't as helpful as they might be if I wasn't committing sacrilege to such a
classic piece of British heritage....
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StrikerChris
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| posted on 28/11/18 at 02:28 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
Fuel tank sealant from Frosts? I've never used it but they have been selling it for years
Its that sort of thing I'm after decent reviews of to be honest.tank sounds solid,I didn't want to risk taking it off at the time as
everything it's attached to looks crusty
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indykid
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| posted on 28/11/18 at 02:40 PM |
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Can't you run a big (or couple of smaller) pre filters? I would have though the pump would be fine drawing through carb type paper filters. Not
high pressure injection type filters, just something coarse enough to catch the lumps and the odd sparrow?
Classic bike forums might be a better source of reviews for the tank sealants. It always seemed an expensive deal for a car size tank, but the bike
size kit was a far more acceptable cost
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StrikerChris
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| posted on 28/11/18 at 02:49 PM |
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I always meant to get around to doing that but never did as I was using it every day.probably still will but I know the issue is 35 years of rusty
tank I'd rather sort,and then use filters...
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CosKev3
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| posted on 28/11/18 at 03:08 PM |
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You can get a alloy one made up to fit underneath,doesn't need to go in boot.
My m8 runs a alloy fab place on bank top one estare st.martins,he would take it on 
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StrikerChris
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| posted on 28/11/18 at 03:34 PM |
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Cheers mate.ill bear that in mind.i could make my own ,if it comes to it but someone who'll copy one is worth knowing.
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 28/11/18 at 04:11 PM |
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For cleaning, start by getting the tank out and empty. Water and a couple ofhandfulls or nuts and bolts thrown in, then shake about. I have seen a
video of a tank wedged into a cement mixer to tumble it round....
That will get just about all the scale etc off the tank surfaces. A really good rinse out, maybe some phosphic acid to kill off any remaining rust.
Then some tank sealant if you wish.
There are soem big filters for pre-tank use, cossie I think are very free flowing. Or even the old diesel types should flow enough (that is the
problem as fuel is being sucked and that isn't great for flow)
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Charlie_Zetec
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| posted on 28/11/18 at 05:34 PM |
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I've had experience with rusty old motorbike tanks where replacements aren't available.
I started off by removing the tank, swilling out all the loose crap (where possible), and then using electrolysis to gather the remaining crud. After
that, I used POR15 tank sealer on the inside. Pretty sure I bought a kit that had cleaner/degreaser, prep/prime, then sealer to finish (essentially a
3 stage process). Hunt around online, as there's generally quite a big price difference between sellers. Last one i did was about 8 years ago,
and tank looks great inside (well, through a borescope).
The only downside to this is that you have to remove any fuel pumps or attachments to the tank, and make blanks for the holes. We made small ali
panels for the filler/outlet etc., but i suspect a few bits of masking or gaffe tape would also suffice.
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity!
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Davedew
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| posted on 28/11/18 at 05:52 PM |
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Have a look at the below link, might be helpful.
Boss at work swears by the stuff on his old Velocette tanks.
https://www.rust.co.uk/product/slosh-ethanol-resistant-petrol-tank-seal-7
HTH
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mark chandler
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| posted on 29/11/18 at 12:17 AM |
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I tried sealants on an old rusty landrover tank, it just replaced the lumps of rust with lumps of sealant stuck to lumps of rust, it was worse as
small sheets covered the pickup so I dumped it.
Wedging in a cement mixer, nuts and bolts or sharp gravel is the way to go I recon, then when derusted slosh sealant in.
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 29/11/18 at 10:37 AM |
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Absolutely. Chemicals and even electrolysis does get rid of the rust scale that is stuck to the metal surface. I say stuck, but they come loose
eventually causing chaos.
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redturner
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| posted on 29/11/18 at 10:55 AM |
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After all these years do you really need to treat the inside. Why not remove the tank, tumble some old nuts and bolts, sharp gravel and when you are
satisfied all the rust is loose and the inside nice and shiny, clear all the rubble out, dry the tank, refit and fill with fuel. Should last until the
chassis falls apart.....
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BenB
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| posted on 29/11/18 at 11:09 PM |
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I'd fill it with 1:10 molasses in water, pump that out then full with petrol and drive into the sunset. I know people like electrolysis but
that involves potential sparks and petrol vapour.
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FatChapChipChop
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| posted on 30/11/18 at 09:57 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by cliftyhanger
For cleaning, start by getting the tank out and empty. Water and a couple ofhandfulls or nuts and bolts thrown in, then shake about. I have seen a
video of a tank wedged into a cement mixer to tumble it round....
That will get just about all the scale etc off the tank surfaces. A really good rinse out, maybe some phosphic acid to kill off any remaining rust.
Then some tank sealant if you wish.
There are soem big filters for pre-tank use, cossie I think are very free flowing. Or even the old diesel types should flow enough (that is the
problem as fuel is being sucked and that isn't great for flow)
What has been said here about cleaning out applies .. I've then used this stuff, Slosh ..
https://www.rust.co.uk/product/slosh-ethanol-resistant-petrol-tank-seal-7
Very good indeed. Helped seal a few ali tanks where the welds were found to be porous as well as an old Cortina tank badly rusted but basically still
sound.
Cheers !!
Drive fast, don't look back!
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alfas
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| posted on 1/12/18 at 03:42 PM |
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flush the tank with water (if it would have a bottom drainage plug you might leavethe tank even inside the car):
than electrolysis is the magic-thing.
go to your local tesco, lidl or whatever...buy some cheapish chlor-bathroom cleaner (Domestos, ACE bleachign liquid ect.)
fill the tank with a mixture of water and above, take out your old battery charger (must be an oldschool one, not the modern electronic
ones)...connnect minus to tank and plus to a metal-bar which you dip into the tank. the bar must be isolated electrically against the tank
tke care about good ventilation
after switching on the charger you should see some bubbles comming up and the mixture starts foaming.
leave the charger ON for several hours.....and the tank will be spot on clean inside.
the mxiture between water and bleaching liquid must be rich (2/3 to 1/3 water)
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