Cleaning rust from fuel tanks

I just finished cleaning and coating my starting engine tank. A buddy who redoes old motorcycles suggested I use "snobowl" toilet bowl cleaner. Used another off brand and it did fine. It has an acidic content, but seemingly very mild. I checked label for ingredients, but not informative.

I put it in the one gallon tank with a small chain and shook the time out of it for a while. Rinsed, dried and coated with Red Cote liquid liner. I let it dry for a couple of days, (label says 24 hours), and poured gas in it. No residue whatsoever and no break down. Simple process.

Now to your citric acid question-I have used it with good luck on parts. I used it as well on an 8 gallon Ford 8N tank and not sure I had real good results. Long story, but ended up just replacing the tank. The old one had couple of issues.

I would not hesitate using Red Cote on the diesel tank on my D4, if I've ever the need. I think a pint quart will treat about 12 gallon tank. I am not sure how it would do with a tank having baffles.

I just finished cleaning and coating my starting engine tank. A buddy who redoes old motorcycles suggested I use "snobowl" toilet bowl cleaner. Used another off brand and it did fine. It has an acidic content, but seemingly very mild. I checked label for ingredients, but not informative.

I put it in the one gallon tank with a small chain and shook the time out of it for a while. Rinsed, dried and coated with Red Cote liquid liner. I let it dry for a couple of days, (label says 24 hours), and poured gas in it. No residue whatsoever and no break down. Simple process.

Now to your citric acid question-I have used it with good luck on parts. I used it as well on an 8 gallon Ford 8N tank and not sure I had real good results. Long story, but ended up just replacing the tank. The old one had couple of issues.

I would not hesitate using Red Cote on the diesel tank on my D4, if I've ever the need. I think a pint quart will treat about 12 gallon tank. I am not sure how it would do with a tank having baffles.

[quote="bernie"]I just finished cleaning and coating my starting engine tank. A buddy who redoes old motorcycles suggested I use "snobowl" toilet bowl cleaner. Used another off brand and it did fine. It has an acidic content, but seemingly very mild. I checked label for ingredients, but not informative.

I put it in the one gallon tank with a small chain and shook the time out of it for a while. Rinsed, dried and coated with Red Cote liquid liner. I let it dry for a couple of days, (label says 24 hours), and poured gas in it. No residue whatsoever and no break down. Simple process.

Now to your citric acid question-I have used it with good luck on parts. I used it as well on an 8 gallon Ford 8N tank and not sure I had real good results. Long story, but ended up just replacing the tank. The old one had couple of issues.

I would not hesitate using Red Cote on the diesel tank on my D4, if I've ever the need. I think a pint quart will treat about 12 gallon tank. I am not sure how it would do with a tank having baffles.[/quote]
Where did you get the red cote liquide liner? Is it really necessary to line the inside of a gas tank? I soaked mine with citric acid and shook a handfull of small ball bearings around for a LONG time. Seems clean.

Its all about prevention, the linning of the tank is more about keeping it from rusting again than just cleaning one time.

ChriscoKid is correct on the preventive maintenance. My fuel was filthy from the condensation and my bowl was the brass bowl that could not be inspected without taking off. Since I've put in a glass one. I am having carb fits now. It is cleaned with new gaskets, but there is still something wrong.

The high idle screw comes out from the right side above the fuel in elbow, and not the top as do those in the manual. The vertical shaft slips into a flat clip that is moved by the horizontal adjusting screw. Something just doesn't seem right with it.

I got the Red Cote at NAPA. I think it was around $25 out the door for the quart. I still have some left over. I heard of one guy using it to coat a float too. It is pretty dense so I am not sure I would try that as it might add too much weight to the float.

Sounds like good advice from both chrisco and bernie. I will look for the coating. Maybe someday I can be a SENIOR member too.:hat:

Sounds like good advice from both chrisco and bernie. I will look for the coating. Maybe someday I can be a SENIOR member too.:hat:

I will speak for myself here...don't let the number of posts fool you. Most of mine are from questions :noidea:and not from answers....the boards are good about redundancy on answers. If someone has a suggestion that has worked for them, usually someone else will offer some confirmation with their own twist.

Had it not been for these boards, (ACMOC and ACME), I may have given up my tractor long ago I think. I compare these things to a walnut. The big effort is cracking in and breaking it open. Once in, there is still work to do but with persistence, you can maintain glimmers of success.

[quote="bernie"]I will speak for myself here...don't let the number of posts fool you. Most of mine are from questions :noidea:and not from answers....the boards are good about redundancy on answers. If someone has a suggestion that has worked for them, usually someone else will offer some confirmation with their own twist.

Had it not been for these boards, (ACMOC and ACME), I may have given up my tractor long ago I think. I compare these things to a walnut. The big effort is cracking in and breaking it open. Once in, there is still work to do but with persistence, you can maintain glimmers of success.[/quote]
Most all of the restoration work I have done so far is a direct result of something I have learned from ACMOC and ACME. Nothing beats experience. Everybody keep up posting and dishing out pearls of wisdom. That bit of advice that you might think is common knowledge may save someone a lot of time and unessary expense.