Old gas tar in tank how to remove?

[31Abone]

Picked up model A gas tank gummed up with black tar looking stuff in tank ,how to clean ?..sc

[jg61hawk]

Clear ammonia will dissolve old gas very efficiently. Better than any carb cleaner I ever saw.

[bettlesr]

Some of our club members had good luck with Dawn dish detergent and hot water!

[H. L. Chauvin]

Hi 31,

Have no idea what type of sealer you have; however, if you have the black gas tank sealer recommended in 1973 by "The Restorer", (i.e., the MARC 1973 magazine's gas tank sealer recommendation), like I had, made with alcohol and dissolved "Permatex" No. 2, the unforeseen problem in 1973 came later when the new 10% Ethanol gas was introduced and said type of Ethanol fuel can dissolve it this type of sealer.

If the new 10% Ethanol gas dissolves any type of Model A gas tank sealer, best to remove this sealer prior to installing the tank in a vehicle.

Found that warm "POR Marine Clean" mixed with hot tap water removed this type of "Alcohol/Permatex"sealer better than "anything" else.

Best to try and experiment what works best with your tank "if" you want to remove this sealer.

[C26Pinelake]

[B][/Take it to a Radiator shop and have it steamed. In my opinion this is the only satisfactory solution. Wayne. B]

[Mike V. Florida]

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Yea the "black tar looking stuff" is most likely old sealer. Sorry

[Mitch//pa]

I wonder what's under that sealer, prob a rusted out tank.

[31Abone]

Its not sealer ,it was full of gas in 1950 when parked ,now bottom of tank and llines are like tar,wanting something to cut the tar i guess without setting it on fire.ha ha ..

[C26Pinelake]

Replace the lines,

[katy]

Laquer thinner.

[redmodelt]

I have used laquer thinner. Not cheap but works. Put in 2-3 gal's. in tank let it work, rock the car to slosh around, let it work some more, rock the car to slosh around. Drain, filter and repeat. When I did mine I could see that there were at least two levels of uck in the tank. I think I got a lot out by doing above.
Everyone talks about the tar left by modern gas, there was some pretty nasty stuff left in tanks with old gas left in them too that gummed things up just as well.

[ronn]

Some of our club members had good luck with Dawn dish detergent and hot water!

local guy invented that for Proctor and Gamble as a colloidal engine cleaner-

lucky for him that it didnt work that well on engines-he became wealthy overnight!
__________________

[Tom Wesenberg]

I'll bet E-85 will dissolve the junk, but what will it do to the tern plating the factory put inside the tank?

[Dodge]

De-natured alcohol, it's the solvent for varnish, which your gas tank has turned into. It
Takes a few day to work. Seal up the tank well so it doesn't evaporate while its trying to do its job.

[Pinesdune]

I've used varsol and kerosene (had better luck with kerosene) I haven't tried it but wondered what todays "modern" diesel would do???

[Wick]

Dollar General brand Toilet bowl cleaner $1 dump one in the tank with some warm water. Takes about a hour.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Hi Wick,

The Brand name is "The Works"; best toilet cleaner made.

Often felt tempted lately to drive to Washing D.C. and add some of "The Works" to the fresh brewed warm coffee in our Congressional coffee pots ...... I'm sure the coffee pots could stand a cleaning.

[serf2]

I once picked up a 28 LaSale convertible coupe. The car had been body off restored but then it set in a garage with a full tank of gas for almost 30 years. The gas turned into a thick tar and filled almost 1/3rd of a tank. I took it to Ready Strip and they couldn't touch it. I ended up placing it in front of a torpedo heater (not to close)for hours and baking the tar hard. At that point I was able to break it up into chunks that were easy to remove. I then placed a bunch of old bolts in the tank and shock it and that removed the remainder. Once cleaned out the tank look like new inside.

[BobK]

MEK will cut all the old gas varnish. Then to de-rust get a gallon of Metal Prep from the Big Box store. The metal prep will disolve all the rust then change the surface to a phosphate coat that will not flash rust. Tkae the tank to a car wash and use a high pressure hose to clean the interior after you use the MEK. Use a lawn blower to dry the inside. Just finished a tank doing these very steps.

[31Abone]

Thanks all ,lots of ideas, mIGHT TRY SOME mek OR LACQUER THINNER CHASE IT WITH dAWN..SC