Cleaning gas tank

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Corsa bill
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Location: Placerville Ca.

Cleaning gas tank

Post by Corsa bill »

Hello everyone I’ve just rebuilt my carburetors. I’ve flushed my gas tank out a few times with fresh gas. I was wondering if there is anything else I can do to clean the tank out without dropping the tank? I had the ft. end out of the car I should have dropped the tank then but its to late now, is there anything else I can put into the tank to clean it while it’s in the car? I’ve seen people have used vinger, water or Maratteck acid. My cousin asked if there’s a drain plug on the tank and if so use water. Is there a drain plug on the tank?
TY bill
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terribleted
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Re: Cleaning gas tank

Post by terribleted »

There is no drain plug. The suspension does not need to come out to remove the tank, only the sway bar if equipped needs to be removed. If the tank is fouled at all the best route is to simply replace it with a new one. Available for around $175 from Clark's and other sources. Any corrosion at all or debris can wreak havoc on your carbs. The other option is to remove the tank and clean it with solvents. I used to use MEK (do not think it is around any more) and a chain sealing the openings and rolling the tank over and over and over to let the chain dislodge any rust chunk or goo. After that a through rinsing rolling rinsing and rolling and rinsing and rolling until I was getting totally clean solvent out. At this point I would let the tank dry (might take a long time, like a number of days...adding airflow with some sort of small fan helps. Once the tank was dry I would coat with the best gas tank coating I could find. I have not done this since new tanks became available simply because the cost of sealers and solvents and labor involved to recondition an old tank and the fact that I have seen sealers fail and flake off in tanks, it is just not cost effective to me to recondition. For a little over$100 in extra cost over buying supplies to clean and seal (forget labor it is free right?) I can have a brand new tank that has zero rust and debris.


What ever you do I recommend adding a steel 5/16" in/ out inline fuel filter to your fuel system. These can be pretty easily mounted in place of the rubber fuel hose joining the main body fuel line to the engine inlet fuel line inboard of the top of the left rear wheel. A filter here will help keep any stray bits from getting to the carbs.
Corvair guy since 1982. I have personally restored at least 20 Vairs, many of them restored ground up.
Currently working full time repairing Corvairs and restoring old cars.
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Located in Snellville, Georgia
Corsa bill
Posts: 124
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2016 5:41 pm
Location: Placerville Ca.

Re: Cleaning gas tank

Post by Corsa bill »

I have a friend that had told me that you put nuts and bolts in the tank, tie it to a cement mixer and let the mixer do the cleaning. Now how can I check if the tanks even that bad in the first place?
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terribleted
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Re: Cleaning gas tank

Post by terribleted »

You remove it from the car and peer into it with good strong light and an inspection mirror. You can look a little with the tank in the car thru the sender hole but you can see more when you have better access with the tank out of the car. A little flashlight with a bendable end (like a small snake light flashlight) is handy. You can tell a lot about the tank just by looking at the interior bottom of the tank really. If the bottom is rusty at all or there are significant heavy deposits in if I will not even fool with it. I would rather spend a few extra dollars and less time now than hours cleaning out carbs and having drivability issues later.
Corvair guy since 1982. I have personally restored at least 20 Vairs, many of them restored ground up.
Currently working full time repairing Corvairs and restoring old cars.
https://www.facebook.com/tedsautorestoration/

Located in Snellville, Georgia
joelsplace
Posts: 1950
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2010 12:51 pm
Location: Northlake, TX

Re: Cleaning gas tank

Post by joelsplace »

Unless you can't afford it buy a new tank and sender and save a lot of trouble. I keep new ones ready.
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Jerry Whitt
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Re: Cleaning gas tank

Post by Jerry Whitt »

One other option is to pull the tank then have it cleaned at a radiator shop
I have had this done several times and usually is less than $50.


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Corsa bill
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Re: Cleaning gas tank

Post by Corsa bill »

Dave Moto head has a YouTube video on removing a gas tank but he has the ft. End out. I’ve got the car off the ground on jacks so just one more thing to do with my car. My god will I ever get it on the road.
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bbodie52
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Re: Cleaning gas tank

Post by bbodie52 »

Here is an informative thread on this subject...

Fuel Tank Removal & Installation
:link: viewtopic.php?f=225&t=5779


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joelsplace
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Re: Cleaning gas tank

Post by joelsplace »

I've been told acetone really does a good job on varnish but I haven't tried it.
157 Corvairs, 5 Ultravans and counting
Northlake, TX
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