Am I crazy? A question for mechanics.


johnf

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The gas tank on the boat motor that I got had a lot of rust and tons of gas that had gelled to almost a solid.

I sprayed about a 1/2 can of carb cleaner in it, about 2 cups of gas, 1/2 cup of course sand and about 50 1/2" washers. It's been soaking for about 2 days and I go out about 3 times a night and shake and spin it for about 5 minutes at a time. My plan is to do this for another couple days then drain it, rinse it thourghly with water then dry it with a blow dryer.

There are aready some pretty big chunks of rust floating around in there, so I know I'm knocking it loose.

Any other suggestions would be welcomed.

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Re: Am I crazy? A question for mechanics.

be careful John dealing with old gas, I would suggest pitching the tank and getting a new one. Sure the tank may look clean after you got the gelled up gas out but if its rusted that means it pitted and corroded inside and may lead to problems down the road.

Unless the inside is re-coated with something to make it look new again it may lead to future headaches.

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Re: Am I crazy? A question for mechanics.

The problem is that it's a really old 3hp motor and the tank is permentently attatched to the crank. If this were a detatchable tank it would be a no brainer. It's a Sears and Robuck motor and I would guess it's a mid to late 60's model possibly into the 70's. I don't think I could ever find one.

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Re: Am I crazy? A question for mechanics.

[ QUOTE ]

Hi Johnf, enjoy reading your posts, PLEASE do not use a blow drier around any fuel tank of any kind, so I can continue reading your posts,,,,,,,,,Terry.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL. I wasn't going to do it on the inside. I figured I could set it out in the back yard and set the dryer a couple feet from it and just leave it there to warm up for the WATER to evaporate.

I figure with the outside temp it probibly wouldn't get over 75-80 degrees.

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Re: Am I crazy? A question for mechanics.

I agree that a new tank is the best choice but if that isn't possible a tank sealer will work great. I have used sealers on a bunch of old 3 wheeler tanks & they work great. The washers will work, I used a bunch of small steel balls to break rust loose. Worked good. The sealer I used comes with prep cleaner to clean the tank so the sealer will adhere to the tank. If you get the big stuff out then the cleaner should do the rest.

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