OpTiCz
Coast to Coast
I thought I'd take some time to share my experience in sealing my tank.
My tank was really clean to begin with.
After going to a fabricators to help me fix my knee dents, doing a water test, and then going back, I developed LOTS of surface rust.
I bought the Caswell kit because it got the best remarks from everywhere I read.
I started with a half liter of Acetone and 20 drywall screws.
I plugged the holes in my gas tank from both sides with a layer of seran wrap, play-doh, and tape.
I also taped up the seams, which had some pin hole leaks with aluminum tape.
I then shook it around for 10 minutes to loosen up any debris.
After pouring that out, I used a extendable magnet to get the screws out.
Make sure you count them!
I then rinsed again with acetone.
At this point, this didn't get rid of the rust.
Ok, so I asked around on the forum and read some posts about using ZEP rust remover from Home Depot.
I bought 2 gallons, poured them in my tank, and repeated my plugging efforts (wrap, doh, tape).
I let it sit over night, then the next day emptied about a gallon out.
I then flipped it over, and stirred up the tank every 30 minutes for a few hours.
After pouring that out, I rinsed with water and baking soda.
After pouring that out, I rinsed with Acetone.
I used a heat gun to blow hot air in the top of the tank, and the hot air came out where the petcock goes.
Minor surface rust will come back. I'm pretty confident the tank was dry, so I plugged the top of the tank again.
I proceeded to mix the Caswell sealer.
The kit comes with enough for 10 gallons, I decided to use most of it, and leave some in my mixing cup to check when the mix became hard.
I poured in the mix, then plugged the bottom of the tank.
Over the next 20 minutes, I SLOWLY rotated the tank to make sure I coated the inside well.
I was watching the up carefully, and before you knew it, it was as hard as glass and the cup felt VERY HOT!
I was anticipating there would be something to pour out since I used most of the liquid, but it all hardened so quick, there was nothing to pour out.
So I'm pretty confident there's a nice thick wall in my tank.
I'm going to let it sit a week, and when I come back from my out of town trip, I'll do a test to see if there are still any leaks.
Here's some pics.
BEFORE ZEP:
AFTER ZEP and DRY:
AFTER CASWELL:
My tank was really clean to begin with.
After going to a fabricators to help me fix my knee dents, doing a water test, and then going back, I developed LOTS of surface rust.
I bought the Caswell kit because it got the best remarks from everywhere I read.
I started with a half liter of Acetone and 20 drywall screws.
I plugged the holes in my gas tank from both sides with a layer of seran wrap, play-doh, and tape.
I also taped up the seams, which had some pin hole leaks with aluminum tape.
I then shook it around for 10 minutes to loosen up any debris.
After pouring that out, I used a extendable magnet to get the screws out.
Make sure you count them!
I then rinsed again with acetone.
At this point, this didn't get rid of the rust.
Ok, so I asked around on the forum and read some posts about using ZEP rust remover from Home Depot.
I bought 2 gallons, poured them in my tank, and repeated my plugging efforts (wrap, doh, tape).
I let it sit over night, then the next day emptied about a gallon out.
I then flipped it over, and stirred up the tank every 30 minutes for a few hours.
After pouring that out, I rinsed with water and baking soda.
After pouring that out, I rinsed with Acetone.
I used a heat gun to blow hot air in the top of the tank, and the hot air came out where the petcock goes.
Minor surface rust will come back. I'm pretty confident the tank was dry, so I plugged the top of the tank again.
I proceeded to mix the Caswell sealer.
The kit comes with enough for 10 gallons, I decided to use most of it, and leave some in my mixing cup to check when the mix became hard.
I poured in the mix, then plugged the bottom of the tank.
Over the next 20 minutes, I SLOWLY rotated the tank to make sure I coated the inside well.
I was watching the up carefully, and before you knew it, it was as hard as glass and the cup felt VERY HOT!
I was anticipating there would be something to pour out since I used most of the liquid, but it all hardened so quick, there was nothing to pour out.
So I'm pretty confident there's a nice thick wall in my tank.
I'm going to let it sit a week, and when I come back from my out of town trip, I'll do a test to see if there are still any leaks.
Here's some pics.
BEFORE ZEP:
AFTER ZEP and DRY:
AFTER CASWELL:
