I worked with an old mechanic (Roger Menadue...built all the Healey "Works"
race cars) who would take a gallon of gas, a quart of oil, and a pound of
sheet metal screws... dump the whole shibumi (technical term) in the tank
(obviously removed from the car) and shake that bastard around until your arms
fall off. The sharp edges from the screws, along with the lubrication of the
gas/oil mixture do a good job of loosening up all the rust and crud in the
tank. Rog and I spent an afternoon on the Team Thicko moped pit bikes doing
this...
WST
Team Thicko
jphender@soli.inav.net wrote:
> Hi Dustin,
>
> Too early to give you a definitive "good" or "bad" as far as my tank's
> health is concerned. You'll be happy to know that you are entitled to my
> opinion though! :-)
>
> I think the main reason for heat is to loosen some of the petroleum-based
> residue from the bottom of the tank. I just added the vinegar hoping it
> would help loosen any flaky rust. What poured out after about 4 hours
> looked just like sewage. This was a tank that had been on the car for 18
> years then in my garage for 10 years.
>
> I didn't use Muratic acid because of the brittleness concern. I'm too
> clueless to know what "not too long" is.
>
> After it dried, I shop-vac'd it out (no vapors left after boiling!) I took
> a piece of chain and dropped it in and shook it around for 15 minutes to
> try and break loose any remnants. I couldn't detect any.
>
> Just a word of caution though: The siphon that sucks gas from the bottom
> of the tank appeaars to have a plastic component (at least mine does) so
> don't let the tank boil dry!
>
> Just to be cautious, I double filtered the lines. One at the tank and
> one before the carbs. If I still have trouble with the tank I'll probably
> buy new (~$100) because I got mixed reviews when I asked about sloshing
> compounds.
>
> Jim Henderson
>
> '69 Sprite MKIV HAN9U78817G
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