Dirt and Rust in gas tank

[Brendan]

I went to see a friend on Sunday and took my Roadster. when I got around the corner it fell on its face. I opened the sediment bowl and it was full of crud. the bottom line is the valve at the tank was plugged up. so is there a way to clean the tank with out removing it ?

[Pinstripe]

You'll need to pull it out to properly deal with this problem.

[Midwest Tin]

Hi,
I would be interested in any methods of cleaning the gas tank without removing as I have an original car with original paint. Thanks, Jim

[Mark from Indy]

Read #7 great comment from H.L.

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showth...clean+gas+sock

[Tom Wesenberg]

I cleaned a tank by dumping laquer thinner in the tank and removing the vavle for faster flow. Rock the car side to side as it drains into a cloth covered bucket. Pour the tinner back in and repeat until no more junk shows up on the cloth. I then installed the small filter in the shutoff valve and once in a while drained the glass sediment bulb on the firewall. Each tank of gas required fewer sediment bulb cleanings of fine rust. I'd use gas to do the flushing, as laquer thinner has gone up so much in price, plus too much risk of getting some on the paint.

[FL&WVMIKE]

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You might try sloshing acetone around in your gas tank, It might be cheaper that laquer thinner and do a better job. Vinegar might work well too.
MIKE

[H. L. Chauvin]

Humble Opinion:

And "only" an opinion for everyone's safety on the highway.

1. Every Model A tank crud/rust situation is no doubt different -- some have dirt & sand; some have continuous rusting in humid areas; some have, or have had new ethanol fuel dissolving former gas tank sealers & causing it to peel; and some have what-not unknown junk & toys in the gas tank; etc.; etc.

2. No matter what is the problem, I always look at 80 year old Model A gas tanks like that of simply experiencing flushing a toilet in a residential bathroom.

3. Some Model A religions suggest placing a vertical screen in the tank above the shut off valve -- this no doubt has worked well & still works well for small amounts of crud/rust; however, for more serious crud & "continuous" rusting or "continuous" tank sealer peeling, just imagine placing a vertical screen in one's toilet so it filters the solids & toilet paper prior to exiting into the sewer.

4. Then, in the not too distant future, more solids, & then again more solids -- "Hey" -- Guess what happens to the screen near the tank's bottom when one hasn't maintained a topped-off tank & one forgets and gets down to about a gallon of gas in the 80 year old Model A tank? Gee!

5. Imagine you using your orange triangles, road flares, plus your wife or girlfriend waving her handkerchief 1/8 mile from your disable Model A with cars zooming by at 70 mph in a 55 mph speed zone.

6. Of most importance, for personal safety with one's engine possibly stopping in the middle of a highway with no shoulders, a clean Model A gas tank "flushed" multiple times as necessary, just makes sense to me, also per reply no. 4 above.

7. After flushing, for continuous rusting, "religiously" add 4 ounces of Marvel Mystery Oil or outboard motor (2) cycle oil to every fill up of 10 gallons -- 2 ounces for every 5 gallons, etc.

8. Also, one can hunt all day in the rain with an "oiled" gun & never see rust -- why not "religiously" oil one's tank -- also helps fight excessive wear at tops of cylinders & wear on oil starved Model A valve guides.

9. Oil in gas, come on? What about the 212 degree hopper, water cooled WWI hit & miss engines, (Fairbanks-Morse & Lockwood Ash), installed in boats that lasted 40 years by commercial fishermen without a ring job -- they were 2 cycle with oil in gas.

9. Experience & Experiment: Today, everybody has a toilet with which to experiment with a screen sticking up in the toilet drain.

P. S. For anybody who even hates the taste of gasoline, if one's tank screen or shut-off valve gets clogged, in an emergency, one can close the shut-off valve, remove the gas line at the carburetor end, swing the gas line upwards with the carburetor end above the fuel bowl, open shut-off valve, blow in gas line until one hears bubble, reconnect gas line, & be on your way -- some may object to this method, but it beats the hell out of wearing somebody else's modern radiator grill while being brought to the hospital while your Model A is being towed to the junk yard because you were stopped in the middle of the highway with an engine starving for fuel.

Bit long, but sincerely hope this toilet parable helps to save lives.

[Jynx]

i WONDER IF ONE PUT A MAGNET OFF TO ONE SIDE..IT WOULD HOLD LOOSE RUST IN ONE PLACE..i SEEN THEM IN OIL PANS AND INFACT i SEEN THEM IN COWS TOO '''LOL

[H. L. Chauvin]

Could try one in your toilet experiment also -- good luck -- LOL

[skryla]

[QUOTE=Brendan;651290]I went to see a friend on Sunday and took my Roadster. when I got around the corner it fell on its face. I opened the sediment bowl and it was full of crud. the bottom line is the valve at the tank was plugged up. so is there a way to clean the tank with out removing it ?[/QUOTE


I used the vinegar remedy with success. http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103802

[Marvin/TN]

You might try sloshing acetone around in your gas tank, It might be cheaper that laquer thinner

Acetone sure isn't cheaper around here. Goes for about $17.00 a gallon and is just as hard on paint maybe even harder. I have been using Acetone to remove the finish on my kitchen cabinets. It works very well on lacquer finishes especially when used with a red Scotch Brite pad. It should work on old Lacquer finishes on cars as well and no left over surprises to haunt you later like paint remover

[1931 flamingo]

That sucks. I'm not sure which thread it was in, but someone posted pictures of a "dead-man" type valve at the bottom of the tank. Try doing a search, if it isn't in one of the threads posted above.
Good Luck and keep us posted.
Paul in CT

Brendan: ck out post #14, that's the one I was referring to.

[John S]

Why not just flush all the rust and crud out with water? I did this once on a '27 T tank and it worked fine. Just leave it the sun for a few days to dry or put a heat lamp on it instead. Water is a lot cheaper and much more safe than anything else.

[Aok]

I used the set up in the link below it works well for me. I have some fine rust not big chunks

http://www.fordgarage.com/pages/kellyshutoff.htm

[H. L. Chauvin]

Another Recent Gas Tank Type Crud Experience:

Don't really know if this involves the type of manufacturer's new metal, or the new ethanol gasoline reacting with the new metal gas tank filler screens advertised & sold today as 28-31 screens without tabs.

Anyway, noticed small white particles that looked like about the size of uncooked grits in the sediment bowl -- (maybe not an informative comparison because when I lived in Detroit in 1966, most had never even seen grits).

Removed these particles from the glass bowl, removed the gas tank's dull gray/off-white colored screen, & found what appeared to be some type of metallic reaction occurring on both sides of the screen.

Placed a piece of white paper on the garage floor, took a small steel brush, (about the size of a tooth brush), & thoroughly brushed both the inside & outside of the screen until it shined like a new nickel.

There was also what looked like rust in about a dozen spots about the size of a pencil eraser. The screen's holes appeared about 60% clogged.

Amazed to see about 1/2 ounce, (half of a whiskey jigger) full of these tiny dull gray/off-white particles that were brushed from the screen.

Looked like a potential future shut-off valve clogging problem.

If one installed a new, silver colored shiny gas tank screen which resembles stainless steel or aluminum when new, may be a good idea to check it every now & then for corrosion & crud residue.

[Phil]

If you have original paint on a tank I would not hesitate to try
to flush and filter the tank!

The analogy of the crud in your gas tank and the crap in your toilet is not accurate ( unless you are taking a crap in your gas tank.)

That is confusing soft crud with sand and rust flakes. This is what I have always found in the tanks I have delt with.

The sediment bowel does a great job of catching this crud. The problem almost always is the stuff getting packed in the small opening and 90* turn in the shut off valve.

The pencil filter raises the level so crud stays in tank (until you pull the valve and flush the tank as often as necessary probably every year or two. And gives 100 times more area for gas to flow through out of the tank.

They work well. The pencil filter pulled and cleaned and the the gas filtered through a paint filter takes a couple hours ever year or so sure seems better than couple days and a repaint job to do it "the right way".

Your car you do what you want. I know what works for me.