Need ideas for tank repair

Bought a SH that the previous owner had the gas tank lined or coated. Its a mess , coating is loose and mixed with rust. Think its the worst mess I ever saw down in a tank. They made two holes in the tank to install the sealer and patched the holes. Worst thing is its a stage 2 with the different tank outlet location than a H or stage 1 SH tractors. My question is there anything that will remove the sealer and rust now? Thanks

Well, I know a solution and a suggestion, but it is not cheap. There is a company in Greensburg, Pa. that I used for the KB5 tank. Their process is simple: bake the take to burn off any previous coating, varnish, paint, etc. The sand blast it then. Put in a perm epoxy coating and give it back. They will also repair any holes, rust, etc. Excellent job, excellent company. Sit down now..................my KB5 tank was $300 for the service. I am VERY pleased with the result and the quality. Now, I am also only a 30 minute drive from them, so I didn't have to pay shipping both ways.

Moyer Antique Fuel tank repair

http://www.gas-tank.com/

If you are absolutely looking to do it yourself, all I can say is it depends upon what they used to coat the tank. You can try acetone or MEK to dissolve it. If that doesn't work, you are going to have to bake it out. Rust is easy, muriatic acid, then triple rinse with water, then rinse with acetone. I use Caswell Epoxy tank liner, which also isn't cheap, but it is absolutely the best on the market.

so, your pocket book will dictate how you proceed.

Bite the bullet, take it to a radiator shop or a M/C shop and let them do the whole job.
And I checked my Stage II SH and you are right the outlet is farther to the rear.

I don't think you will ever get it all out unless you have someone boil it out. I'm all for doing everything myself, but that's one I wouldn't even consider. If it was an open tank you could see with a mirror it would be different. With those baffles in there it would just never come clean for you.

A couple gallons of muriatic acid will do the trick. Been there, done that.

This is what happens when someone tries to fix a problem and they do not follow proper procedures. Had the original owner properly cleaned the tank before placing the sealer it would have bonded fine, stopped the rust, and sealed the tank. No holes have to be drilled if one will follow the instructions.
I suspect that none of the solvents we can buy will remove the epoxy. You can give the Muriatic acid a try but it will take several gallons and you may have to let it soak for several hours. Have one of those plastic tubs available and collect the acid from the tank when you remove it to take a look inside. If it needs more time put the acid back in. You will need as much water in the tank as acid so remember to add the acid to water and not water to acid and take other safety precautions such as wearing gloves, eye protection, and a face shield. If for any reason you get acid on you then wash it off with cold water immediately removing contaminated clothing and shoes. If it gets dumped on your shoes then discard the shoes. Have a working water hose handy. If this doesn't work either replace the tank or have a professional try to boil it out.
Even so, have a tank sealer kit ready and know where you go next once the tank is cleaned but I would not buy a kit until I had the tank clean. You can follow the link below to get a tank sealer kit.
Eastwood

Thanks for the suggestions. Since the tank needs a lot of cosmetic work anyway. Think I will get a clean H tank and use fittings or cut a rectangle piece where the sump is located out of both and install the stage 2 piece in the H tank.

I have a good H tank. Already sandblasted and epoxy primed. Needs one light sanding with a DA and primer surface, block sand and paint.

Muriatic acid is already a 50% solution. You do not want to dilute it any further. Use it straight up. 2 gallons will do it, but you will need to tip the tank onto one side and support it in that position for a period of time, and then do the same for the other side. Might even want to stand the tank on both ends, and maybe even support it in an upside down position for awhile.

I made the same mistake several years ago of putting the fuel tank liner in a tank that was not properly cleaned first. The muriatic acid DID remove ALL of the liner stuff, as well as left the tank nice and shiny clean on the inside. A fuel tank that has been properly cleaned DOES NOT need tank liner.

(quoted from post at 13:00:56 07/05/13)
... A fuel tank that has been properly cleaned DOES NOT need tank liner.

Click to expand...

I totally agree! I put Red Kote liner in 2 of my tractor gas tanks, but ONLY because they had pinholes and were seeping.

I agree with some of what you say, but it will take more than a couple of gallons if the tank is in bad shape. The acid I get from Lowes (they no longer sell it by the gallon but a short "gallon" to keep the price for the bottle the same) is about 31% Hydrochloric Acid which is essentially "concentrated HCL". 34% acid is about the maximum concentration possible as per theory and that is so volatile that you would not be able to stay in the same room with an open container of 34% acid. It can be cut with water (equal volumes) to fill the voids and avoid some of the tank manipulations required for using a more concentrated solution of less liquid. Solutions down to 10% are typically used in industry to clean and pickle steel. Added water stimulates the disassociation of the acid into ions that act in dissolving rust and forming iron salts so that the same amount of acid will go a little further if water is added. Properly cleaned a tank that was not leaking does not need a liner if acid was not used in the cleaning process. If I used acid to clean a tank I would include a liner just because the acid will stimulate rust . . . unless the tank will be used for Diesel. A moot point here because his tank was reported to be leaking.

Correction, the theoretical maximum concentration for Hydrochloric Acid would be about 40% but 30 to 34% is the maximum concentration it can be safely transported and used.

I think the number is 37%. I worked in a lab for several years. We used the concentrated version to make dilute versions for titrations, usually 0.01-0.1 molar. The concentration out of the bottle was 12 molar. The opened bottle gives off fumes, but was not a problem when making the dilute versions if being careful. The hardware version is much less, could be half as Rusty says, I don't know.

I would try the muriatic acid just to see what happened. Is the coating white? That is the only one I have heard anything bad about.


But...I am half sure my RedKote got washed away by the gas because the gas was red for a few tank fulls and I can't see it anymore. It is weird because I let it dry twice as long as the label said.

> ...add the acid to water and not water to acid
> and take other safety precautions such as
> wearing gloves, eye protection, and a face
> shield.

And have an open box of baking soda at hand.

Redcoat and others are solvent based, and don't react well with the ethanol. Caswell epoxy, is just that, an epoxy. Once mixed and cured, it is impervious to any fuel you can put in it. diesel, ethanol, methanol, kerosene, gasoline, all will not affect cured Caswell.

Here is the link:

http://www.caswellplating.com/resto...-sealer.html?gclid=CKbZ_bDKm7gCFcWZ4AodJkQAJQ

Previous owner said he had the tank coated at a business. Does look like it was a red coating. They made a hole in the bottom rear and the end of the tank at the rear. They would need redone to make the tank look nice. Also the tank has some pretty deep pitting on the outside. Looked today and I have a good H tank. Since I already have one I'm going to purge the tanks and try putting the sump part of the SH tank in the H tank. When I take the SH sump out I can clean the inside of the sump. Long time ago I had a tank coated at a repair shop and the coating started coming loose and caused the intake valves to start sticking in the head. I have stayed away from coated ones ever since.
Sounds like the place tom posted about knows what they are doing.