Crud in tank and lines

[txmike]

Ok, left the ethanol gas in my tank and lines. Thought i had run the carb dry but now i have clog lines etc. I have drained the tank, will clean the lines and carb but what do you guys recommend to clean the tank,

I hear it 'crystalizes' but do not really know? Just want to make sure i flush it good before adding fresh gas if this is necessary


Thanks to all and Happy Thanksgiving

[burner31]

If you live in a free State that has the choice of real gas or corn gas, I would fill her up with real gas.
And run a filter...after you clean everything out of course.

And a very Happy Thanksgiving to you also

[redmodelt]

Clean the lines and filter add new gas and drive. Oh you might add one of the pencil filters to the shut off valve.

[Clem Clement]

I am finishing up an in place purge of the tank with 10 gallons of Evaporust. I first used Oileater to cut the goo out of the tank. I left the Evaporust in the tank for 30 hours. LOts of scale and crud came out. I flushed the tank with water and then re loaded the came Evaoprust, minus the sludge back in and out again and let the tank dry. I blew the tank out with a leaf blower. Used cloth diaper to mop up the water(I have a 18 inch long pair of needle nose plyers to grad the diaper.) Lots of crud sticks to the diaper. I could not get the petcock out, so I rebuilt it in place. The crud left in the tank is white particles that sort of float. they are not magnetic. We installed a inline glass micro filter. Start up is soon. I expect to use several filters. I'm not convinced the tank is clean yet. Many say the only fix is remove the tank and commercially clean it.

[txmike]

thanks for the advice!

[Dollar Bill]

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+1 for the petcock filter.

[Clem Clement]

My team advises against the Petcock filter. Apparently is plugs up and the what?

[Gary WA]

You could use one of these for a while to get it cleaned while enjoying your A, Thanks to supplier of photo.

[Dollar Bill]

Petcock filter is open on top. Keeps the dregs in the bottom of tank out of the line.

[Clem Clement]

The Petcock filter I have has a screen on top as well as the sides. The debris I see is opaque and soft. Almost like mucus. I'm sure it w ill clog the micro filter we put inline.

[Dollar Bill]

Originally Posted by Clem Clement

The Petcock filter I have has a screen on top as well as the sides. The debris I see is opaque and soft. Almost like mucus. I'm sure it w ill clog the micro filter we put inline.

Try adding ATF help break up soft opaque debris. Your description sounds like it may be water. ATF will mix with water and fuel and help clean out your tank. It's also good for keeping valves & rings free.

You could use tin snips to cut off the top your screen or buy one ready made.

Snyder’s P/N A9193T

[Clem Clement]

thanks

[Clem Clement]

I continue to try and clean the rusty tank. I now have a couple of inches of gas from my garden gas container. It is old. I added it to an empty and dry tank. I used the small amount to check the petcock valve. A day later I had 1/2inch of water in the tank. A day later I can see a skim of floating stuff over the gas. I'm out of ideas.

[Fred K-OR]

Did the tank have a liner stuff put in it at some prior time? Sounds like maybe this could have happened and the stuff is coming off the tank.

[Clem Clement]

We don't see any evidence of a liner. I can scratch the inside of the tank with a screw driver.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Clem Clement

We don't see any evidence of a liner. I can scratch the inside of the tank with a screw driver.

Clem, I suspect that you are going to see is areas where the Evapor-rust just could not remove the scale to get to the rust below the scale. Unfortunately there have been many before you that have wasted efforts only to find they had to open the tank to get to the rust problem.

If this is the tank that you could not get the fuel shut-off valve out of, how are you going to install that pencil standpipe filter?

[Clem Clement]

Brent,
thanks for the post. Same car. We thought we'd give this procedure a try. We strapped in a temp tank to run the engine to see if our head replacement work works.

We bought Evaporust in 5 gal tubs and shipped by Amazon with cut the costs sig. We gave up with the idea of the petcock filter based on comments locally that it will clog up.

Up tp the owner as to what o do next

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Clem Clement

Brent,
thanks for the post. Same car. We thought we'd give this procedure a try. We strapped in a temp tank to run the engine to see if our head replacement work works.

We bought Evaporust in 5 gal tubs and shipped by Amazon with cut the costs sig. We gave up with the idea of the petcock filter based on comments locally that it will clog up.

Up tp the owner as to what o do next

I understand totally. It is a large expense to restore a tank by the time you remove, restore, repaint, & replace. Unfortunately, it is also the reason why many people do not enjoy their Model-As any longer, ...simply because of the stress those little rust particles create.

[Synchro909]

I can confirm that those little rust particles can be a real PITA. I have just fixed that problem in my CCPU (which came out of the US and had rust in the bottom of the tank, no doubt because of ethanol fuel. I cleaned and sealed the tank with the same stuff I used about 15 years ago in another car and still no sign of a problem.
As with most things, preparation is key to a good result. The process outlined in the instructions involved first using a caustic cleaner to remove any residual traces of fuel so that the Phosphoric acid could do its work (2nd stage). I have found that something more potent may be required so I used Hydrochloric acid (brick cleaning acid) diluted about 10:1 with water. That left the rusty area free of rust ready for the sealer. (Dry thoroughly between stages).
I think tank sealers have an undeserved bad reputation due to either a poor product h=years ago or instructions not being followed precisely. A good quality sealer (and there are plenty of them) properly installed is nothing to be afraid of.

[Clem Clement]

Is there a modern product like "Slosh around" that I can put in the tank to seal it without removing the tank

[Clem Clement]

In a friend’s ‘29, the cast iron sediment bowl catches most of the rust – he has to drain it every time before I drive the car. He catch it in a plastic tube and inspect the rust flakes & etc. That is good news. I hope it works as well in Dan’s 28. If so, then with the micro filter we added he may have a chance with frequenlty filter changes.

Here is more down news: In a dried water bottle I collected a drained mixture of gas from the tank with rust particles and the white muscusey stuff. When I added MMO or ATF(I don’t know which) the white stuff turned black. I let the mixture set a day and the MMO re-separated from the mix. Brent sez the tank will continue to rust after MMO is added; which this kinda proves professional job is needed.

(I'm afraid the micro filter will plug up frequently)
(In my '39 peeekup, when we got him running, I had to replace those cheapo plastic filters every trip. It took about 6 months before things cleared up)

[Chuck Sea/Tac]

:Isn’t there a way to just flush the tank, over and over, until it clears out?. A late 31 is easy to do, but there must be a way to do the prototypes.

[Clem Clement]

Tuesday, Jim came by about 5pmish and looked over my efforts. I had removed
the in car gas line and showed Jim the debris in the line. He brought a
syphon to empty the tank. But first I tried blowing into the gas line with
the petcock open. There was plenty of bubbling in the tank after which we
drained 3 quarts of new gas out of the tank. One inch of which was water had
come out of the gas and about an 1/8 '' of milky substance and debris. That
collected in about a day and the short drive in my village the day before.
Very frustrating after so many hours on this project. Tank has had a diaper
mop up the remaining gas in the tank and all gas lines loosely assembled. As Brent sez, the tank keeps on rusting and flaking off. I saw a single flake block the fuel exit hole

[wmws]

I have heard of putting a magnate in the tank with a wire on it hooked to the cap so you can clean it off occasionally. Should attract rust and anything else metallic.

[WHN]

If your car is a 28 or 29 removing the tank is not really that hard.

On our 29 keeper we had a rust problem clogging the carburetor. Removed tank and sloshed twice. Making sure area around steering column bracket was covered good. This was in 1981, have not had any problems with carburetor or fuel lines since. Enjoy.

[Clem Clement]

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Lucky you. Slosh-around usually dissolves in E10

[Dick Steinkamp]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I've had very good luck with professionally cleaned and lined fuel tanks (none in Model As, however). It's a matter of finding a radiator shop that has the experience and expertise, and that is set up with the equipment to properly boil out the tank and line it with a product that is only available commercially.

About $150 at the rad shop I use.

There is more involved with a Model A tank, of course. Removal and replacement and paint to match. Neither is easy.

[WHN]

Originally Posted by Clem Clement

Lucky you. Slosh-around usually dissolves in E10

There are products out there that will work with today’s gas.

You really have to follow the instructions to the letter for them to work.

I believe if you do it completely right the first time. Don’t take short cuts and follow instructions. You have a better chance of successfully solving the gas tank problem. Enjoy.

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by WHN

There are products out there that will work with today’s gas.Absolutely correct!

You really have to follow the instructions to the letter for them to work.Essential

I believe if you do it completely right the first time. Don’t take short cuts and follow instructions. You have a better chance of successfully solving the gas tank problem. Enjoy.As I posted above, I've done it more than once with 100% success.

Removing the tank from a 28/9 car is easier than a 1930/31 but I have just de-rusted the inside of the tank in my '30, sealed it and reinstalled without needing to touch up the paint and I was working on my own. All it takes is a little care. What I have done will see me out and probably the next owner.

[vstol]

I used R 911 available from Hickory, N C. Comes in concentrated form will treat 16 gal about $50.00 shipped. It has worked for me, no more problems.