Tank Varnish or Rust

[xanthras]

Hey guys, I am currently working on my 94's gas tank since the season is over here in NY. I have the tank off and was pretty sure it was rusty. I washed it out with some dtergent and noticed it looked like it had a film on the bottom. I poked at it with a rag/screwdriver and it reveals a nice clean metal seface. I am thinking I have some pretty serious varnish residue, and prolly a little rust. I keep hearing people say "put  beebees or screws or whatever" in your tank and slosh it around" ok sounds great. I know how much it sucked to get the liquid out of the tank, how the heck do you people get the screws ect out?? Also, I am planning to use the rusteco tank tratment but if I can get the varnish out first i think it will work better. Any one got some suggestions?

[loki7714]

Def know what you mean about sucks geting the liquid out of the tank I've got two fans blowing on mine outside trying to dry out the last of the water/rust/gas

[xanthras]

I found that once I got most of it out, I stuffed a rag in the fill hole and them moved the tank all around. The rag collected whatever was left. Getting it bone dry is another story...hope I dont kill the wifes hair dryer... Also, for the inside cleaning, I used a dryer vent cleaner (like a long pipe cleaner) and some acetone. It did ok on the bottom of the tank, but the top and sides are tough to get to. I have my silocone plug drying now. when thats done the rusteco is going in.

[loki7714]

Sweet idea with the rag i'll do that    Why didn't i think of that? 

[loki7714]

You could always ship it to budha. That's what i'm gonna do. Just can't ship tank with gas in it

[sblack]

Just a thought regarding getting screws etc out, what about using a magnet? Hold it in the tank and shake it around and it should catch all the screws as they get close enough to it.

[loki7714]

Is using a heat source wise? I thought about doing the same thing, but idk heater and gas seem like a bad (/and or fun ) mix.

[gearman]

There are places in the GS tank that can trap screws or other stuff. I know this because I've scoped the interior with my SeeSnake. I wouldn't resort to that method unless the rust is pretty heavy. Liquid rust removers usually do the trick for rust, but I don't know if they will remove varnish. To remove most of the liquid you can't get out through the filler or petcock hole, prop the tank up so the remaining liquid collects in a corner. Insert a length of small ID tubing through the filler and into the liquid. Blow compressed air across the end of the tubing. Sucks the liquid right out just like an aerosol can. It's best done outside as it makes a heck of a fog. I'm not sure this would be a good idea with gasoline or other highly flammable liquids.

[xanthras]

Tomorrow morning I am gonna drop in the Rusteco. As for the magnet idea on the screws, not so good. The tank is magnetic so the maget goes right to the side. Kinda annoying. I dropped in 1 nut just to see how annoying it was...at this point I am gonna have to live with a random nut in my tank cause there was no freaking way I could get it out. The filler neck on those tanks is not made for anything to come out easily. The hair dryer worked OK for me. The tank had already been rinsed several times.

[xanthras]

I was just reading elsewhere and they used a magnet on a flxible stick. I suppose that would work, i was trying a string setup.

[xanthras]

Alright. I just got done cleaning out the tank after using Rusteco tank cleaner. I gotta say I am pretty impressed. I let it soak for 6 days at about 60 degrees or so. Pretty much 90% of the tank was down to clean bare metal. A whole ton of junk came out. I will say that when I look through the Petc*ck hole I can see some varnish/rust on the very top that loosk sorta flaky. It was hard to get to it, I am pretty sure this would come off if I was using a pressure washer. Unfortunaltly it is 20 degrees out so... Here is my next question. I dried it out with rags and a hir dryer, and of course I am getting some flash rust. I am planning to store this tank inside all winter. Should I even care about the flash rust at this point? I am wondering if I should put some sort of oil in the tank to give it a think coating. Anyone got any words of advice on this??