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Fuel tank internal coatings

67Survivor

67Survivor

Donation Time
My fuel tanks are out, have been cut in half, blasted clean, welded back together, primed and painted, ready to install.... or are they? I am getting differing opinions on the internal sealant topic. some "car guys" are telling me to coat them yet the welder and many others are telling me not to. The reason my tanks had to be opened was because a previous coating failed. I intend to drive the car a fair amount, all year round. Any opinions on the coating topic?
 
tony perrett

tony perrett

Gold Level Sponsor
The failure of the sealant may have been due to ethanol in the petrol. I seal my motorbike and scooter tanks here in UK with a product called "Slosh tank sealant". It is made by Hirsch Auto in US and it is not affected by ethanol.
 
T

Thor 1211

Silver Level Sponsor
Tank sealant

Plus 1 on the Por 15. I've done a few tanks, some cleaned out with their cleaner and some just sealed. Both products work well and after 10 years, no problems.
 
Ratical

Ratical

Donation Time
I have had success with por 15 also. But most recently I did my series II with caswell coating. It's a two part tank sealer. But it hasn't been on long enough to fail so it's still a gamble. I do try and buy no ethanol gas when I can.
 
john.hemsath

john.hemsath

Diamond Level Sponsor
Gas Tank Renu

Hello 67 Survivor,

This company was recommended to me by Rick at SS and I found a dealer in Stockton CA to work on my filthy peeling tanks!
After sandblasting, they baked on a liquid pvc to the surface and offer a lifetime guarantee for the process. Not sure if Canada has a franchise for this company or not.
They informed me you can ship tanks to them if it's too far to drive them there.
Price for sandblasting and sealing up my tanks was under $250.

Since you've done most of the work already perhaps they'll cut you a good deal on applying the coating.

Good luck.
 
67Survivor

67Survivor

Donation Time
Thanks for all of the information and opinions guys. It looks like PoR15 is the general favourite. Unfortunately the box containing my brake parts turned up empty at one of the UPS shipping points, so it looks like I have some extra time on my hands to coat the tanks while I wait for that to get sorted out. Drive safe and have fun.
 
hartmandm

hartmandm

Moderator
Diamond Level Sponsor
I am still working on sealing my series V dual gas tanks. (The wasted summer...) I have the POR-15 Fuel Tank Repair Kit. I am close to the last step of sealing the insides of the tanks and connection pipes with the Fuel Tank Sealer. The kit comes with a single 1 quart container of Fuel Tank Sealer. I have 5 items to seal - 2 tanks and 3 pipes. That is the challenge I see. The instructions indicate to pour the whole quart of sealer into the fuel tank, assuming a single tank is being sealed. Is 1 quart of sealer sufficient to do both gas tanks and the connection pipes? I'm not sure the working time I have after opening the can. Do folks tape together all 3 connection pipes, so you are sealing a single big pipe? Should I separate out the contents of the can into 3 containers, 2 for the tanks and 1 for the taped together pipes? Maybe recruit a couple of friends and each person is responsible for either a tank or the pipes?

Thanks in advance,
Mike
 
DanR

DanR

Diamond Level Sponsor
Mike, the solution is more than enough to do the two Alpine fuel tanks.

I did not do the pipes (three pieces) because they were in very good condition. Probably not a bad idea though.

DanR

p.S. A few extra hands is always nice. Your idea of taping the three pipe pieces together (end to end) is also a workable solution, I think,,,
 
B

Bill Blue

Platinum Level Sponsor
Keep in mind the POR instructions assume you are treating a twenty gallon tank. No need to pour a quart into each tank, just enough to easily coat the tank so you do not spend a bunch of time getting good coverage.

I treated two tanks and the connectors, plenty of material. I should have prepped the exteriors, they was enough material to do so. The problem would be holding the tanks while treating/drying. Once opened, the stuff cannot be stored for future use.

Bill
 
hartmandm

hartmandm

Moderator
Diamond Level Sponsor
100 monkeys update...

The problem for me was figuring out how to seal 5 parts (3 connecting pipes and 2 fuel tanks) within the short time it takes for the POR-15 sealant to setup. I ended up changing around the problem to be sealing just 2 "things" instead. I taped together all 3 pipes to be a single item to seal. I taped together the two fuel tanks as well. That allowed me to coat and seal both tanks simultaneously. I attached some old phone wire to the fuel tanks, so I could hang and angle the tanks to allow the excess sealant to drain out. So the process was:
- Pour in 14 oz sealant into each fuel tank.
- Close the hole used to pour in the sealant.
- Rotate both tanks at the same time to coat everything inside.
- Hang up the tanks on the wires I had attached.
- Open up all holes
- Cut the tape between the tanks.
- Angle the tanks to drain out the excess.

I used the remaining 4 oz of sealant on the 3 pipes.

The whole process went smoothly and was quite fast. Photos attached.

BTW, the POR-15 eats right through Solo cups quite quickly. :)

Mike
 

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65beam

65beam

Donation Time
coatings

If the tanks have been dipped , there are many that do not use a coating. one of the retired premier restorers of sunbeams in PA never coated the tanks after cleaning. the cars he restored are still going. not coating the tanks is no different than not coating your metal fuel line. do any of you coat the fuel line?
 
alpine_64

alpine_64

Donation Time
The fuel line generally on a car that's running stays filled with fuel and no air.. the level of fluid and air in the tanks varies constantly and there is a greater chance of corrosion starting than inside a fuel line .
 
65beam

65beam

Donation Time
coatings

The average life of gas with a 10% blend of ethanol and nothing to stabilize it is around 90 days. In an unsealed system like alpines and tigers there is a strong chance of water building since ethanol does absorb moisture from the air especially in high humidity areas. If the gas sets undisturbed what we in the fuel business call " Phase Separation " occurs. There are two distinct layers with the gas and a small amount of ethanol in one layer and the other layer is water and most of the ethanol. If left to set for several months it's possible the water could cause tank problems as could the high concentration of ethanol. This problem with the ethanol also occurs in storage tanks both at the bulk plants and end sellers. The end sellers are required by law to have monitoring systems installed to gauge the amount of water in the tanks. Stabilize the fuel if not disturbed for maybe a month and you won't have too many problems with your tanks. If the fuel sets longer keep the tank low and drain the old gas out.
 
hartmandm

hartmandm

Moderator
Diamond Level Sponsor
65beam said:
If the tanks have been dipped , there are many that do not use a coating. one of the retired premier restorers of sunbeams in PA never coated the tanks after cleaning. the cars he restored are still going. not coating the tanks is no different than not coating your metal fuel line. do any of you coat the fuel line?
Click to expand...

Bob,

Why did Doug coat the interior of your fuel tank as mentioned in the other thread - http://www.sunbeamalpine.org/forum/showpost.php?p=167641&postcount=28
?

For my tanks, where the gas always sat in the fuel tank (the bottom) was clean steel. The upper part of the tank showed corrosion where the paint had peeled off, presumably from contact with air. After removing the paint and rust from the inside, my tanks began slowly rusting inside just by sitting in my garage for a number of days.

Mike
 
P. Scofield

P. Scofield

Bronze Level Sponsor
I've used the POR 15 gas tank sealant on many sets, too many to remember. I've sealed many tanks for people on the board and they are still going. I think Scott Christie's tanks being the oldest set I did. What's it been....10-15 years?

The key is prep, and there is no better prep than what you have done. You have the perfect storm, seal that tank!

I'm not sure what someone said about the product setting up too fast? This stuff dries very slow. Plenty of time to do each tank and pipes. Be sure you have at least one small hole at the end of each pipe to attach a wire to hang. I quart will do all your pieces. Put plenty of paper under your drip area when you hang them. They will drain for some time. I use plumbers expandable plugs for the tanks, and duck tape where the sending unit fits. For the pipes you only need to tape one end, then as you pour the solution back out into container, turn the pipe to coat.

Need any more details give me a shout.
 
P. Scofield

P. Scofield

Bronze Level Sponsor
hartmandm said:
Bob,
Why did Doug coat the interior of your fuel tank as mentioned in the other thread - http://www.sunbeamalpine.org/forum/showpost.php?p=167641&postcount=28
?
For my tanks, where the gas always sat in the fuel tank (the bottom) was clean steel. The upper part of the tank showed corrosion where the paint had peeled off, presumably from contact with air. After removing the paint and rust from the inside, my tanks began slowly rusting inside just by sitting in my garage for a number of days.
Mike
Click to expand...

Because Bob likes to argue, even if it's not the truth, especially if it's a post by Mike. Since Bob has all his work done, I don't think he remembers what exactly what was done. Heck, I don't remember what I did and I did it. If I didn't do it, why would I remember it. Did I just write something, I don't remember.
What were we talking about?
 
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