how to clean a petrol tank

[bunnysZ]

have my paint set back from hutchy , and its looking good, cheers hutch.
any one have any tips on what and how to clean the inside ,
not flakey rust just very dry and dusty inside, thought it would be best to give it a clean first

[Steve S]

That looks the dogs, Bunnyz i,m kind of tempted to get mine done in those colours..............nice job

[Rich]

I'd pour some petrol in, seal it up and leave it for a couple of weeks and flush it out.

[MaineKZ]

Hi BZ

Paint looks real nice!

For tanks I always go to Steve Cooper - VJMC big cheese - knows his stuff.

He uses potions which de-rust then neutralise the steel. Did my 73 and the green Suzi before that - never had any trouble.
Ain't cheap mind - but I haven't heard of a better PERMANENT treatment.

Happy to pm his number if you like.

[Davy Doherty]

I recently used Brick cleaner/ Patio cleaner acid and flushed out mine,
I poured about a pint of the cleaner into it swirled it around for ten minutes and then immediately put the hose into it and flushed it out for about an hour with the tank sealed at the bottom so the water came out the filler neck,i then used a coat hanger with a chamois attached to it to dry it out and then poured some stihl two stroke oil into it and swished that around and it's like new shiny bright steel and cost me nowt to do. i'll post a pic of the inside of the tank if you want..

[MaineKZ]

I recently used Brick cleaner/ Patio cleaner acid and flushed out mine,
I poured about a pint of the cleaner into it swirled it around for ten minutes and then immediately put the hose into it and flushed it out for about an hour with the tank sealed at the bottom so the water came out the filler neck,i then used a coat hanger with a chamois attached to it to dry it out and then poured some stihl two stroke oil into it and swished that around and it's like new shiny bright steel and cost me nowt to do. i'll post a pic of the inside of the tank if you want..

Hi Davy
I've used gallons of that stuff during my resto - love it. But I'd probably fight shy of using it around fresh new paint!
I've just bought a 73 tank with gash paint job so will be doing the same as you did on that one. Clean inside first THEN get it sprayed up is safest I reckon.

[Rich]

I would have got rid of all the rust etc before having it sprayed, so I hope what BunnysZ is talking about is only overspray and dust from the spraying.

[tlc]

I would have got rid of all the rust etc before having it sprayed, so I hope what BunnysZ is talking about is only overspray and dust from the spraying.

It does say overspray / dust. I would think that the solvent effect of petrol will shift it anyhow.

Mucho shaking of the tank after a week or so ought to do it ?

[Rich]

I think you may be right there Chris, pour some in, seal it up and flush it out after a week

[Davy Doherty]

I would have got rid of all the rust etc before having it sprayed, so I hope what BunnysZ is talking about is only overspray and dust from the spraying.

It does say overspray / dust. I would think that the solvent effect of petrol will shift it anyhow.

Mucho shaking of the tank after a week or so ought to do it ?

I can't for the life of me find where it says overspray?

My tank still has the original paint very faded though but it didn't do it any harm although i was pretty carefull and if not flushed out fast it will flash rust in minutes!! Thats why i used the two stroke oil after..

[Rich]

No I can't either Davy nor can I see where the tank is rusty neither, just very dry and dusty. Ah well these little problems beset all of us sometime, I suppose the best way to stop a tank getting rusty is to have it made of aluminium

[Davy Doherty]

Got your thinking cap on tonight Rich eh!!

[Rich]

Got your thinking cap on tonight Rich eh!!

Oh Yes, I'm allowed to wear my thinking cap until it's bed time - then I have to have my night cap

[tlc]

It does say overspray / dust.

I don`t wish my remarks to sound like any kind of slight as to the quality of paintjob carried out by Mr Hutch. I saw his work at Stafford and my sticky finger prints were all over the wares on display by the time we left.

Having been a paint sprayer in a previous life I know what goes on inside a container that has undergone a painting process. Even if said container is sealed there is a complete drying inside which is an effect of the paint requiring a dehumidifed environment.

As we all know preperation dust and such like stick like sh*t to a blanket and will find its way in somehow.

Even if it doesn`t then the completely dry tank will draw in contaminated air and therefore dust. This then looks like what Bunny has described.

So I didn`t mean there was overspray in the careless sense, but in the unavoidable sense.

(Probably digging myself into more of a hole here )

I would concur with Davy and use the 2 stroke oil method once flushed with fuel)

[ted1r]

WHY NOT INSTEAD OF CLEANING THE TANK OUT JUST FILL WITH PETROL AND PUT TEMPORARY FUEL PIPE ON WITH ONE OF THSE £2 FILTRES YOU CAN GET, AND LET IT COLLECT ALL THE CRAP IN IT ,.MAYBE CHANGE IT A COUPLE OF TIMES TILL IT LOOKS CLEAN, BY DOING THAT YOUR NOT PUTTING ANY PAINT WORK AT RISK.

TED