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Fri May 04, 2012 12:15 pm

My Laser 917 kit car has had a rust in the fuel line problem for some time now. No doubt, this is just a symptom of a rusting fuel tank. I've hear that there are shops that can dip a tank to remove rust. They also do a coating inside and outside to prevent this from ever happening again.

I live in N. Cal. and would like to hear about any local shops that do this within a couple of hrs. driving range? Any personal experiances?

The Saga:
While the engine is out and a new one being prepped I figured that this was the only time I'd have to treat the tank. Man what a bear this was to remove! :( It was glassed into the body!

I had to hack and pry away all the glass attached to the backside of the tank. The back side (engine side) fiberglass was completely removed. The sides and botton also had to be pried away. Not a lot of fun I tell you but glad that I did it now. I was shocked at what I found once it was out!!!!!!

Before

Removed engine side fiberglass

Ugh!!!

Notice how this side was rustfree

Fri May 04, 2012 12:19 pm

do a google search for radiator repair shops.

It took me going through about 5 pages of "superpages" and "yellowpages" type links and calling 3 shops before I found one an hour away from me that will fully clean the tank and treat and seal it for about $77..

the first one kinda scared me, I asked how much to boil my tank and he said he doesn't do it anymore and good luck finding someone because the chemical you need to do it is illegal in california now.. (I think he said something about sodium phosphate.. couldn't hear him all that well) but apparently there are other methods.

Fri May 04, 2012 12:54 pm

Isn't everything illegal in california? I know every tube of caulk or chemical I read says it causes cancer in California, I'm in Wisconsin so I guess I'm safe.

Fri May 04, 2012 1:00 pm

rrcade wrote: Isn't everything illegal in california? I know every tube of caulk or chemical I read says it causes cancer in California, I'm in Wisconsin so I guess I'm safe.

Yes, exept for gigglebush

Fri May 04, 2012 1:04 pm

Before I bought a new tank from Wolfsburg West, I was going to get my OG tank redone at Pankey's Radiator Repair in Hayward.

Give them a call and see if they can help:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pankeys-radiator-repair-hayward

Fri May 04, 2012 1:23 pm

These guys do it but in Sacramento:

http://www.reddtransmission.com/services.asp?cat=1228

Fri May 04, 2012 6:06 pm

there's a place in san carlos / belmont? can't think of the name but there right off the el camino? like one block away. i can find out. any radiator shop can boil it out. you can get the stuff to coat it from eastwood and do it yourself. or motorcycle shops carry it as well.

Fri May 04, 2012 6:48 pm

In regards to doing it myself. I found the internal treatment kit at a local shop, Neds Auto Body Supplies is close to here in Concord. They were $80 for the kit and I still need to have the tank internally cleaned.

Please do post any specific info on particular shops. It'll help anyone else in the area as well as myself.

Sat May 05, 2012 6:56 am

Might be just as cheap in long run to have a new tank fabricated.... Maybe aluminum....

Dale

Sun May 06, 2012 7:51 am

tattooed_pariah wrote: ......I found one an hour away from me that will fully clean the tank and treat and seal it for about $77..

the first one kinda scared me, I asked how much to boil my tank and he said he doesn't do it anymore and good luck finding someone because the chemical you need to do it is illegal in california now.. (I think he said something about sodium phosphate.. couldn't hear him all that well) but apparently there are other methods.

Sodium Phosphate, isn't that what the cleaning agent in TSP is? Will that dissolve rust?

I've heard of a process that uses a 12V battery charger. It acts like a plating process in reverse where the rust is pulled from the object in the tank. Anyone know any more about this?

Sun May 06, 2012 8:09 am

Have a radiator shop boil it and then try this.
http://www.por15.com/FUEL-TANK-REPAIR-KIT/productinfo/FTRK/

Sun May 06, 2012 6:29 pm

JustBuggy wrote: tattooed_pariah wrote: ......I found one an hour away from me that will fully clean the tank and treat and seal it for about $77..

the first one kinda scared me, I asked how much to boil my tank and he said he doesn't do it anymore and good luck finding someone because the chemical you need to do it is illegal in california now.. (I think he said something about sodium phosphate.. couldn't hear him all that well) but apparently there are other methods.

Sodium Phosphate, isn't that what the cleaning agent in TSP is? Will that dissolve rust?

I've heard of a process that uses a 12V battery charger. It acts like a plating process in reverse where the rust is pulled from the object in the tank. Anyone know any more about this?

Look up on Google "rust removal by electrolysis"...

Dale

Sun May 06, 2012 7:09 pm

If I recall correctly, there is a shop in San Rafael or Novato that does the gas tanks but I think the 912 tank my neighbor's friend had boiled was $150 or $160 and they wanted something like $300 (total) to do the tank coating as well. I could be completely wrong about the prices, but (we) were thinking at the time how outrageous the price sounded. The shop listed below may or may not be the shop I was thinking of...give them a call and find out to be certain!

A & C Auto Air & Radiator Inc
40 Woodland Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901-5344
Phone: (415) 454-3071

rrcade wrote: Isn't everything illegal in california?
Don't be silly! Smoking pot in public and gay marriage are perfectly legal in most areas of CA. Illegal immigrants are almost legal, but I'm sure the government is working hard(ly) to correct that situation. :shock: :? :roll: So yeah, anything that is related to vintage cars, motorcycles, guns, or common folk causing the upper class to be inconvenienced in any way, is definitely not legal!

-Andy

Sun May 06, 2012 7:31 pm

youngnstudly wrote: Don't be silly! Smoking pot in public and gay marriage are perfectly legal in most areas of CA. Illegal immigrants are almost legal, but I'm sure the government is working hard(ly) to correct that situation. :shock: :? :roll: So yeah, anything that is related to vintage cars, motorcycles, guns, or common folk causing the upper class to be inconvenienced in any way, is definitely not legal!

-Andy
Sad but True! :?

Sun May 06, 2012 10:04 pm

Thanks Dale!

It looks like the chemical used is sodium carbonate, plain ol' "Washing Soda" (NOT Baking Soda!).

Using a car battery charger, a few pieces of rebar as electrodes, a tank big enough to sink the part in, and washing soda mixed into water this can be done at home. Sort of a reverse plating process if you will.

Now all I need to find is a tank big enough to submerse my fuel tank!

http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp

Sun May 06, 2012 10:50 pm

Plastic garbage can works well!

Mon May 07, 2012 1:10 am

Dale M. wrote: Might be just as cheap in long run to have a new tank fabricated.... Maybe aluminum....

Dale X2 - a coated tank will probably not be as good as a new one anyway. I heard the coating falls off after a while... Aluminium or stainless is the way to go.

Tue May 08, 2012 4:08 am

Dale M. wrote: Might be just as cheap in long run to have a new tank fabricated.... Maybe aluminum....

Dale

Totally true. From my perspective, it looks like your tank sits adjacent to the engine?

Must get hot in there....

Get a fuel cell. And some proper 'glass work. And heat shielding would be a good idea as well.

I used this stuff to do the tanks on my bikes: http://www.kreem.com/fueltankliner.html
It sounds like these shops just dip the old tank into a big vat of this stuff. If you go that route, then it's critical to have a thoroughly cleaned piece to work with, or the coating won't stick very well, and yes, could fall off after just a few years.

Tue May 22, 2012 5:04 pm

I finally got around to starting the process. The oustide will be sandblasted but the inside is getting the electrolysis treatment.

I used rebar as an anode because it was cheap and I had some laying around. To insulate the rebar from the tank I used a couple of plastic pipe nipples slid on over the crossbar.

I started this about two hrs ago. It was pulling 3.5 amps at 1st but within 45 minutes it was down to 1.5 amps. Now it is down to .5 amps! After pulling the cleaned rebar out I was quite surprised on how quickly this works. The rebar is covered in a thick layer of rust from the inside of the tank.