Gas tank sealer products - any recomendations, opinions?

[boss-tiger]

My gas tanks are now a bare metal with light rust flashing after getting back from a chemical metal stripper - they turned out well. Hoping to get some feedback on tank sealer products, and any recomendations or thoughts. My plan is to clean the rust flashing with EvapoRust and then put some kind os tank sealer inside to help protect.

 

[unbeam]

I have used Red Kote, which worked well and seems to be ethanol resistant. Bill Hirsch's product has gotten good reviews, the Eastwood product not so much. Would phosphoric acid have any advantages to Evaporust, prior to the coating? David

 

[boss-tiger]

I am researching best way to clean out the EvapoRust (FYI, the Evapo-Rust is doing a great job ) - I do not want to use water which I assume would cause more rust flash. I bet the phosphoric acid would have been a better choice. Thinking about using Acetone instead of water to final flush/clean. I have heard about Red Kote off motorcycle forums. How much of the Red Kote did you use for each tank, how did you get it to best spread/cover inside of tank, how long does it tak to dry, etc.

 

[unbeam]

It has been a few years, so memory is finite. I also like EvapoRust, just wasn't sure what the final rinse would be. Of course you could use both, and the phosphoric acid needs something like a paint prep prior to coating. Not sure if a quart of Red Kote would do it, I would err on having too much rather than too little. Cap all but one opening with tape. I used plugs, but that left a gap without coating. Pour it in the other opening, and swish it around well. Allow to drain and dry. Don't forget to do the cross over tubes. If powder coating the tanks, do that first. David

 

[boss-tiger]

Sounds like you poured in a quart (? or more) into the tank then sloshed around and then hang tank so excess would drain out the large balance tube connector - ? how long did it take to drain and then dry? Any challenges during this drain/dry part. If I collect what drains out will it be re-usable or does it flash-dry too quickly? Sorry to bug you and thanks much for your time and help just hoping to have as much info as possible before getting started - probably a big time commitment start to finish my guess - ha.

 

[unbeam]

I would guess that a quart would be enough, but I would not want to run short. Might buy two quarts at O'Reillys Auto Parts, and return one if unused. Cost is $32.99 a quart. Thick stuff, like syrup. Dries in 8 hours or so. You would do one tank, drain it into the other tank, and the residual use for your crossover tubes. Hang up for drainage after coating. Try not to get it on your skin, hard to get off. Make sure the tanks are prepped well before use, as there can be loose paint as well as rust inside. I used some gravel, others have used chain or bolts/nuts to remove any loose stuff. The coating can fill pinholes in the metal. I believe it comes with helpful instructions.

 

[boss-tiger]

Sorry to have so many questions : does the red-kote dry to a hard surface? Does the red color bleed into gas - online elsewhere someone metioned having red gas color (maybe just did not let dry long enough). If it is thick like syrup, does all the excess drain out before it starts to dry - sounds like a mess in my future for sure.

 

[mr55s]

I had a radiator shop boil mine out and an aircraft coating was used to coat the inside of the tanks. It‘s a bright yellow in colour, still doing it’s job after 35 years.

 

[Austin Healer]

I would avoid the stuff Hirsch sells... the gas here in Washington is 10% ethanol and it caused the coating to fail plugging the fuel lines and pump. I had this happen in my own car.. plugged at the fuel line connection off of the center pipe, and as I am sure you know.... getting the gas out of the tanks when the lines are plugged is not fun.

 

[unbeam]

I have never heard of the Red Kote coloring the gas. It dries to a hard coating, an d you don't want it to settle where you don't want it (like your hands...) It does drain out well, obviously depends on gravity and the position of the tank to enhance the flow.

 

[Warren]

Lots of ways to clean a tank. Search motorcycle gas tank cleaning. Every bike I found had a rusty tank. Kreme is a product to avoid. There's even some that advocate zinc coating tanks. I've used the battery charger or other products.
If you look at why they were coated in the first place he would say to yourself.
Let's see car gets parked outside with a near empty fuel tank condensation builds in the tank.
All the condensation drops to the bottom of the tank, or to the crossover tubes in our cars. So in theory If you keep the tanks near full don't park outside overnight you're tanks should not rust.

I haven't tried the electrostatic plating methods but have kept untreated tanks full as possible and not had recurring problems.

 

[theo_s]

I had my tanks and crossover pipes done by a local radiator shop. They did both the cleaning and coating, so that there should not have been any issue with incompatibility between the cleaner and the coating. I did have to hand-twist a drill bi through the fuel feed fitting, to ensure there was no residual clogging the feed line. I’ve had no problems in the 15 years since the process was done.