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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - old petrol tank clean up

hi all.
rebuilding a Mini and the petrol tank is on the bench for a clean up and paint job. I emptied the tank yesterday (been standing 24 years) and whatever came out stinks to high heaven. It has left me wondering what to clean the inside of the tank with that is safe and does the job.....I assume petrol on a rinse and repeat cycle will do the job, but is there anyone out there with experience of anything better.
P Bentley

To get all the rust out:

Degrease (I do this with Fertan)
Place the tank fixed with broken granite in a cement mill for 30 minutes.
DE rust (Fertan 1-2 days, depending on temperature)
Degrease rinse.
Dry
Coat with phosphor acid (Fertan)
Degrease. Dry
Coat with epoxy (Fertan)
Replace the filters in the tank.

I tried 2 other brands than Fertan, they were not compatible with alcohol in Euro 95.

Flip


Flip Brühl

Thanks Flip. . . sounds a thorough solution.
P Bentley

My experience in this area is immence....do yourself a favor. buy a new tank. You wil save thousands in road tows alone. First tank I tried to clean was a 1931 buick circa1985. I dropped the tank that had been filled 20 years earlier. I removed the old fuel and filled with boiled water for days till it looked good.

After putting it back and running the car for about 2 weeks the new gas pulled off so muh old sediment the car had trouble running. I talked to my old engine builder at the time and he recommended not using the tank because the old varnish in the tank will collect in the engine cousing all sorts of unwanted issues such as sticky valves and piston rings etc etc

Unfortunatly there werent any secound hand buick tanks around at the time so I was forced to have one made.

I would never use a questionable one again!

Goodluck and I hope things work out what ever coarse you decide! I just wanted to share the many tow rides I cost myself when I didnt know better!

Cheers! :-)


Steven Devine

Thanks Steven. . . hands on experience there for sure !
P Bentley

Of course I would buy a new tank if possible. I think you can with a mini. Recently I could not wit a Lancia Fulvia. So I used the expensive time consuming Fertan method.
Flip
Flip Brühl

Flip,

I wasnt trying to down grade your advice...
I know cleaning a gas tank is not easy.....smelly sticky rusty holey old fatigued metal can be tough to get liquids to stay in.

Mr. Bentley if you can get it to work....my hat is off to you.

Lancias Ive had experience with those. What a neat little motor. Im glad I didnt have to repair the tank on the one I worked on...I would have had to use your method Flip. lol!

I just wanted to share one of my old follies and a warning. If you have time to clean the tank I hope your efforts are fruitful. Its not an easy task.

Take care all! :-)
Steven Devine

This thread was discussed between 22/06/2015 and 24/06/2015

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