There are special coatings made just for what you want to do. Mostly for light aircraft fuel tanks, I would do a search for something like fuel tank sloching or fuel tank sealing include aircraft in the search. You just pour it in and then coat the entire insides, it seals in all the rust and bad stuff, seals pin holes and then life it good. Larry
Has anyone successfully painted the fuel tank inside?
Just so you know (in case you don't), the gas tank isn't just a large hollow container. There's a big plastic baffle contraption in there. I don't know if that makes a difference with what you wish to do.
Originally posted by trotterlg: You just pour it in and then coat the entire insides, it seals in all the rust and bad stuff, seals pin holes and then life it good.
It isn't quite as easy as that for our gas tanks. First, most (if not all) of these sealers require that the loose rust be removed and rinsed out. They recommend throwing a chain in the tank and jostling the tank around to get the loose rust off. The problem is that you can't do this with the Fiero tank because of the plastic baffles... the chain simply can't get into the largest portion of the tank. Then, even if you can do this somehow, these sealants only cure properly if they're laid in a thin coating and not allowed to puddle anywhere. Again, the baffles make it very difficult to get an even coating everywhere in the tank and remove the excess without it puddling. There are lots of horror stories on the internet from people who've improperly prepped the tanks and applied the sealants and wondered why their fuel pumps and filters were clogged with sealant within weeks of applying it.
Unfortunately, I don't have the answer except to look into buying an aftermarket tank such as the ones that joesfiero offers in the Mall, or finding a used one without rust. I've been airing out an '88 tank for a year now thinking that I may be able to separate the two halves to clean it out and somehow rejoining them, but I haven't looked into it far enough to know whether this is feasible.
As far as painting the outside of a gas tank, is the sending unit grounded through the tank, the tank mounting straps, and the spaceframe? Does this need to be addressed when painting the outside?
There are special coatings made just for what you want to do. Mostly for light aircraft fuel tanks ... You just pour it in and then coat the entire insides ... and then life it good.
It appears that you've never actually done this yourself. I have (aircraft). It is a tedious and extremely messy procedure, and the results often leave a lot to be desired. I would not recommend this for a Fiero fuel tank.
[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 10-01-2012).]
I bought the POR-15 kit for fuel tanks. (I use their paint a lot)
When I opened up the tank I found the plastic baffles hence my question here.
On a side note I found rust away works very well to dissolve rust and was considering it over the phosphoric acid that POR recommends for rust removal. I know the phosphoric acid is required for prep to get good adhesion.
Has anyone ever opened one of these tanks up to see what the baffle looks like?
I bought the POR-15 kit for fuel tanks. (I use their paint a lot)
When I opened up the tank I found the plastic baffles hence my question here.
On a side note I found rust away works very well to dissolve rust and was considering it over the phosphoric acid that POR recommends for rust removal. I know the phosphoric acid is required for prep to get good adhesion.
Has anyone ever opened one of these tanks up to see what the baffle looks like?
Most (if not all) of the rust-removers & dissolvers that are specifically marketed as such contain phosphoric acid; albeit in a diluted mixture w/ other fillers... If you can find the jug of straight phosphoric acid, thats what I would go with...
I also agree with the others, prepping the inside of a Fiero tank for coating would be a PITA and the likelihood of success is not great. I would try and find a good used tank or but the nice aluminum one from the mall...
To clean the inside ot a tank you put in some crushed rock, then some water and then sloush it around a lot. Air dry it totally with an air blead int the tank (after you dump out all the rocks and rust chunks and rinse it). Then you coat it with the compound. It is not messy at all, you just pour it in, then coat all the internal parts and pour out all that is left. It is then air dried for a day or so with another air blead into the tank. The compound is like rubber, it seals in every bit of rust or scale, it is approved for aircraft use which means you can bet you life on it. The tank will never rust again. I am an old guy and have done these things. Larry
[This message has been edited by trotterlg (edited 10-02-2012).]
To clean the inside ot a tank you put in some crushed rock, then some water and then sloush it around a lot. Air dry it totally with an air blead int the tank (after you dump out all the rocks and rust chunks and rinse it). Then you coat it with the compound. It is not messy at all, you just pour it in, then coat all the internal parts and pour out all that is left. It is then air dried for a day or so with another air blead into the tank. The compound is like rubber, it seals in every bit of rust or scale, it is approved for aircraft use which means you can bet you life on it. The tank will never rust again. I am an old guy and have done these things. Larry
Yes, but have you done it to a Fiero gas tank? I wouldn't.
I used muriatic acid to clean mine out, followed by a bakeing soda/water mixture to neutralize it a few times, then a straight water rinse. Only had one small pin hole where one of the straps were. Soldered a small quarter sized piece over it and now good to go.
As far as painting the outside of a gas tank, is the sending unit grounded through the tank, the tank mounting straps, and the spaceframe? Does this need to be addressed when painting the outside?
I'm not really sure how much rust is in my tank. However I'm having aheck of a time getting all the fuel out of it. Anyone have any thoughts on that? (I have not tried taking the pump off and dumping it through the pump access port. I suppose that would work very well. I figure I only have half a gallon to a gallon in it).
As for de-rusting. I've used phosphorica acids for quite a while. They work well. A few words of caution. Straight phosphorica can eat through the tank if you aren't careful. POR-15 and KBS paints make a weaker phosphoric acid that contains zinc (to help make zinc phosphate). They work well but are not fast acting. Home Depot sells some phosphoric acid (I forget the brand) it is in a green gallon container and is much faster acting than POR or KBS metal prep/etch.
Purple Power makes a de-ruster which is a bit stronger acid then POR/KBS use. So far it works quite well.
However, I bought some Evaporust at Harbor freight and gave it a try. It is a non acid, non base rust removing formulat that uses special polymers to remove the rust without attacking the base metal. It's preyy increadible stuff. Almost anything thats rusty can be put into it and left in it.
I actually had some bolts that I forgot about in phosphoric aci and they were dissolved. I left a few bolts in Evaporust for more than a week and all it did was put a light black coating on them that rinses off with water any a nylong scrub brush. Not sure what it is but it works well.
I figure I'll give that a go in the gas tank (let it set a week or two) and then rinse with phosphoric acid and then paint. My real question is whether anyone has used fuel tank paint on the Fiero fuel tanks. I saw the baffles in them and was baffled....
As to the Aluminum tank. It looks awesome but in some states the tank needs to be DOT approved (which I think requires some testing). I think my state is one of those.
The only way to get the last of the fuel out is thru the opening for the sending unit.
J
This is true. If tipped up on the end where the filler and vent tube hook to, there is still lots of gas in the tank since the tubes extend into the tank quite a ways. Upside down is the only way to fully empty, or is that empty fully? .
Here's how I did mine, ( do at your own risk). Harbor freight and other places sell "polishers" for gun shell brass. They have adjustable vibration controls. You use a medium, like crushed walnut shells, sand, glass etc. to polish plastics, and metal.
First I filled 3 polishers with medium about 3/4 full and put on the lid, it works better that way. Set them in a straight line on a concrete floor.
Inside of tank must be dry, clean and free of gas fumes. Then I filled the fuel tank with medium about 3/4 of the way full and then duct tape the hole on top closed. Use Tie Downs to strap the fuel tank on top of the 3 polishers. Make some wood shims for bracing the tank to the polishers so it doesn't vibrate off.
I set the polishers on high, and let them run for about 5-6 hours, then came back, flipped the tank on it's side and ran another 5-6 hours, next day did the same for the other side.
It came out nice inside! If you've never used one of these before, experiment with the running time & type of medium, shorter time and less aggressive medium is better!
Inside of tank must be dry, clean and free of gas fumes. Then I filled the fuel tank with medium about 3/4 of the way full and then duct tape the hole on top closed. Tie strapped the fuel tank on top of the 3 polishers. Make some wood shims for bracing the tank to the polishers so it doesn't vibrate off.
Don't the plastic baffles inside the tank get in the way?
This is true. If tipped up on the end where the filler and vent tube hook to, there is still lots of gas in the tank since the tubes extend into the tank quite a ways. Upside down is the only way to fully empty, or is that empty fully? .
Kevin
The baffle makes it very difficult to remove the fuel or POUR15 or whatever. You'll have to air dry it in the sun! It just takes a lot of time. If you really want to wrestle with POR15, follow their recommendations 100% or you might be wasting your time & money!! I would only use POR15 if I had a leaky tank.
I painted the outside of my Fuel Tank with brush on Rustoleum back in the 1980's and it still looks great. I removed the tank about 10 years ago because the Ethenol gas had eaten away at the short piece of fuel line that attaches to the pump inside the tank, gas was just being pumped back into the fuel tank and the fuel line would not pressurize. The pump was fine but I replaced it anyway since I had the tank apart. While I had the tank off I did a little touch up on the exterior. The interior of the tank looked like new.
I painted the outside of my Fuel Tank with brush on Rustoleum back in the 1980's and it still looks great. I removed the tank about 10 years ago because the Ethenol gas had eaten away at the short piece of fuel line that attaches to the pump inside the tank, gas was just being pumped back into the fuel tank and the fuel line would not pressurize. The pump was fine but I replaced it anyway since I had the tank apart. While I had the tank off I did a little touch up on the exterior. The interior of the tank looked like new.
Looks good. PS I think the little rubber hose deteriorates mostly because it is 25 years old. Not sure if the ethanol is to blame...
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