Clean out gas tank

[rjkoop]

Getting to the final stages of my restore. What's the best way to remove the old fuel from the gas tank? I think there's about a 1/4 of a tank in there still. I'm thinking...
- remove panel on top of gas tank (hopefully easy - I haven't looked yet)
- use syphon pump to pump out old gas
- inspect inside tank as best I can - ensure no/little rust
- remove line before fuel pump / filter (whatever is 1st) and let it drain
- connect everything back up
- fill with higher octane (91?) fuel

Sound like a reasonable plan or is this overkill? Gas has been sitting for about a year.

[MrJD]

i loosened the top of the filler tube and took it loose, then loosened the bottom allowing me to rotate the filler tube into a bucket

[juvius]

i normally do it like MrJD... you can tilt it while it's still in the trunk to get enough gas out to pull the tank without it sloshing out. once it's about empty pull the tank out and empty it the rest of the way through the same spot. if you have a bunch of rust in there it's not too bad to clean out... mine was pretty rusty, so i put hydrochloric acid in it. Then i dropped a chain in it and shook it around to loosin stuff up and let it soak over night. when i dumped it out, it was shiny and new, but it flash rusted pretty quick, so then i set phosphoric acid in it overnight again and once again, it looked new inside. The phosphoric acid prevents it from flash rusting. For a final rinse i used acetone. it dries pretty quick. i don't know how it would do on the rust if you only used phosphoric acid since i tried hydrochloric acid first... but between the two, the cleaning was excellent.

[spider2081]

I have access to a Fiberoptic Borescope. They cost under $200 and are a real value. The smaller ones fit into the spark plug hole in a head. If you can borrow one it would be a great aid. Always discovering new uses for it.
So I remove the gauge sender and inspect inside the tank while it's in the car. This determines what to do with tank.
I also have an old electric fuel pump I pump the gas out of the tank from the gauge sender opening.

POR recommends washing the inside of tanks with a degreaser to remove any varnish formed from old gas. Then the acid slosh.

[majicwrench]

Nothing really wrong with fuel that sat a year, esp if topped with fresh. Now if you are truly "restoring" car, tank should have been yanked and cleaned/sealed.
But if you are trying to get er running, keep it simple, add a few gallons of fresh fuel and give er heck.

[rjkoop]

Nothing really wrong with fuel that sat a year, esp if topped with fresh. Now if you are truly "restoring" car, tank should have been yanked and cleaned/sealed.
But if you are trying to get er running, keep it simple, add a few gallons of fresh fuel and give er heck.

I think the PO replaced fuel filter and cleaned the tank. I may take a 'sample' of the fuel in the tank and see what I see.

[rjkoop]

Opened the tank and looks good inside. No rust and gas looks ok.

Cleaned up trunk, lubed antenna and cleaned connectors and ground wire in trunk.

On another note is there a trick to getting a window weatherstripping piece back in? Do you slide it from one end or force it from the top into the pinched areas?

[rjkoop]

Here's a few shots of the gas tank.





Looks like it was replaced not too long ago.