Gas tank question

[5150 will]

I have a '71 that has been sitting for about 20 years. I just drained the tank. there was some rusty sediment that came out and i'm sure there is more. I know I can go the POR 15 route, but in the off chance I come across a clean replacement tank, what years will work for my application?

[cbudvet]

People may be other opinions but unless it has a lot of holes in it, you probably aren't going to find one in much better condition. Keep in mind they are all 40 years old. I would get it cleaned out and POR 15 route. Mine had a lot of small holes in it so I had the tank treated and sealed. Good luck.

carl

[EScanlon]

Small pinholes can be repaired with POR.

The main and most important part of doing the tank with POR is to make sure you clean it as well as possible first, then follow it up with the Marine Clean, then the Metal Ready and then the Tank Sealer.

The problems I've read about, (and what the pundits use to discredit the POR system) are due to "shortcuts" or "or-equals" that the users do. (i.e. Simple Green instead of Marine Clean, or just "heavy rinsing", and the worst... hurrying the job)

As you clean the tank, if you have a pin-hole, mark it's location, then just before you pour in the sealer, tape the outside with a bit of duct tape. The Sealer will seal the hole and be stopped by the tape.

FWIW

E

[Powderkeg]

I know this doesn't answer your question directly but if they are like to 280z I believe they are year specific.

You might try Arizona Z car or datsunstore.com (Oliver of Z-Man of Washington) for new or NOS (New Old Stock) tanks. They aren't cheap however.

To elaborate on EScalon's advice: I just restored my tank with POR-15 and it turned out really well. The POR-15 coating will patch pinholes. The key to using POR-15 is to follow the directions EXACTLY. Don't substitute cleaners. Use the products in the kit and don't substitute.

The tank MUST be absolutely dry after rinsing out the Metal Ready.

This took me about 2.5 hours with a heat gun. The entire process took about a week. I aired the tank out for about 4 days before starting and once the tank has the sealer it requires 4 days before you can put gasoline into the tank. While it was drying the inside of the tank I coated the straps and outside of the tank with POR-15.

As long as you have the tank out...replace all of your hoses and blow out the hard lines with compressed air. You may want to put a secondary Fram G-3 fuel filter on the outlet fuel hose on the tank.

So if you are the impatient type...have someone else do it.

Some people have a radiator shop boil and patch gas tanks.

There is a company called gastankrenu.com that will clean and seal the tank for you. The estimate I got from them in 2008 to restore my 76 280Z tank was about $400.00.

In addition to POR-15, there are gas tank sealing products from Eastwood Company and a product by Krem. They all work basically the same as POR-15.

There is a write-up using POR-15 by Dogma420 written on 10-08-2005 Titled: "Treating inside/outside with POR-15 products and removing evaporation tank".

Good luck

Dave Ruiz

[Powderkeg]

I know this doesn't answer your question directly but if they are like a 280Z I believe they are year specific.

You might try Arizona Z car or datsunstore.com (Oliver of Z-Man of Washington) for new or NOS (New Old Stock) tanks. They aren't cheap however.

To elaborate on EScalon's advice: I just restored my tank with POR-15 and it turned out really well. The POR-15 coating will patch pinholes. The key to using POR-15 is to follow the directions EXACTLY. Don't substitute cleaners. Use the products in the kit and don't substitute.

The tank MUST be absolutely dry after rinsing out the Metal Ready. This took me about 2.5 hours with a heat gun to dry the tank..it wasn't difficult...just tedious.

The entire process took about a week. I aired the tank out for about 4 days before starting and once the tank has the sealer it requires 4 days before you can put gasoline into the tank. While it was drying the inside of the tank I coated the straps and outside of the tank with POR-15.

As long as you have the tank out...replace all of your hoses and blow out the hard lines with compressed air. You may want to put a secondary Fram G-3 fuel filter on the outlet fuel hose on the tank.

So if you are the impatient type...have someone else do it.

Some people have a radiator shop boil and patch gas tanks.

There is a company called gastankrenu.com that will clean and seal the tank for you. The estimate I got from them in 2008 to restore my 76 280Z tank was about $400.00.

In addition to POR-15, there are gas tank sealing products from the Eastwood Company and a product by Krem. They all work basically the same as POR-15.

There is a write-up using POR-15 by Dogma420 written on 10-08-2005 Titled: "Treating inside/outside with POR-15 products and removing evaporation tank".

Good luck

Dave Ruiz

[Jeff G 78]

I agree with Carl. You likely won't find a tank that doesn't need some work.

Drop the tank, remove the sending unit and insert a few 2-foot lengths of medium-sized chain to help break up the crud. It really helps if you can do the cleaning on a gravel driveway because it takes a lot of water and makes a mess. Hose it out several DOZEN times with water or until the debris stop coming out. A second person REALLY makes the job easier on your back. Put a person at each end of the tank to slosh it up and down, roll it side to side, and shake it

Next, buy two gallons of muriatic acid from Home Depot and mix 1/2 gallon at a time in with a few gallons of water. Be sure to wear a canister style respirator while using the acid. You WILL need it! Also wear heavy rubber gloves. Using several layers of plastic from a margarine container, make a cover that is the same size as the sending unit and attach them with the rubber O Ring and locking ring. Seal the vent, supply, return, and filler neck openings with heavy duty rubber gloves held on with duct tape and rubber bands and vigorously slosh the solution around and let it sit for a few minutes. Keep using the lengths of chain. Drain the acid solution and rinse again with water. Repeat as needed until every surface inside the tank looks spotless. Use a flashlight and small mirror to see inside the tank. Try to see in the corners too. Do not stop rinsing until the tank is clean! Once done with the acid, rinse over and over with water.

Doesn't this sound like fun? You are now ready to START the POR-15 process. This process takes 2-3 days and should be done in the summer when it is nice and warm outside. The tank will never dry otherwise.

Follow the POR-15 directions EXACTLY. Do not take any shortcuts and don't rush it. Get a cheap heat gun to aid the drying after the cleaning process. The tank MUST be 100% dry inside or you will waste a lot of time and money and you'll be further behind than when you started. The hardest part of doing a Z tank is the supply and return lines. They can and will be caked with crud and you cannot see them inside the tank due to the baffle. Use compressed air to blow them out. I didn't do a very good job and wound up with a clogged supply filter even though my tank looks like new inside. Make sure the lines are clear after you seal with the POR-15 as well. The sealer with clog them solid.

If done right, POR-15 works great, but it is a LOT of hard work. It took me a full week to do the job right on my 260 tank, but my tank was NASTY as seen in the pics. My 280 tank wasn't nearly as bad, so I finished in about 4 days total.

Here was my 260Z tank when I bought the car. It had been sitting for 15+ years

This was what came out after a few water-only rinses

Inside after hundreds of water and acid solution cleanings

Inside after POR-15 cleaner and Marine Clean

Finished product after POR-15 sealer. As you can see, getting the sealer to cover the baffle is a real job. No matter how hard you try, you cannot get it to cover the baffle due to the tank design. The important thing is to cover the bottom and the seams and to not allow any puddles to form.

Here are the before and after pics when I did my 280 tank:

This tank sat for about 8 years

After water-only rinse

Final result after POR-15 cleaner, Marine Clean and POR-15 sealer

If this doesn't look like something you want to handle, let a pro do it. If you have any questions, let me know.

[5150 will]

Thanks for the info guys. Jeff, based on what came out of my tank when I drained it, I'm thinking mine is looking similar to the one you had sitting eight years. I'll drop it next week and see where I'm at. I'll get the POR ordered and on the way so I can get this "little" project behind me.

[EScanlon]

Few other notes:

The INSIDE of the vent and return metal tubes can be scoured with a small length of wire cable that you've soldered / brazed on one end about 1" or so from the end then lightly separated the cable. It's essentially a wire brush for the inside of metal tubes.

Rotate the tank over and over again, and then repeat it half a dozen times more once you've added the POR Tank Sealer. You simply CANNOT rotate it too many times. You're looking for coverage EVERYWHERE inside the tank.

Once you've drained the excess sealer (don't be surprised to see half the quart come out of the tank), then using moderate air pressure, blow INTO the vent lines and fuel lines, not just a quick spurt, but a protracted burst. You're not looking to blow out ALL the sealer that may have crept into the tubes, but enough that the tubes do not get clogged.

If you're doing this on a 280 or later tank with the large fuel filter INSIDE the tank, then you want to blow out the fuel lines several times to ensure that the filter screen doesn't get clogged.

FWIW

E

[5150 will]

I'm thinking a larger caliber gun barrel cleaning brush might be the ticket for cleaning the vent tubes???