Advice needed on 403 fuel tank cleaning

[mikebro]

I've just got the fuel tank out of the 403. After a period of indecision, the decision to remove it was made when one of the tank sender unit screwheads had to be butchered, leaving the remains firmly in the tank aperture. That's all fixed now, but having got the tank out, there is a fair amount of hardened petrol products in there (some stuck firmly to bottom of tank, some floating around) that I need to remove. Anyone have first hand experience of a good method? The tank is aluminium of course.

Thanks in advance.....

Mike Brooks

[David Olivant]

The residue is like a lacquer. I put in kerosene, I then used a Karcher steam cleaner to boil the kerosene. It worked for me! It can depend how long the tank has been laying.
David

[Calibrator]

I guess a last resort is to do what I did with my 405. Nothing seemed to remove the hardened deposits for me, so I took it to a local firm who, for many years, have specialised in radiator refurbishment. A sideline is fuel tanks. They cut a section out of the top, cleaned the inside out, coated it, re-welded the aperture and painted the exterior. Could never tell it had been opened. £110.00 seemed very reasonable to me.

[James McClure]

We have a company in the US called Eastwood. Many restoration tools, including a fuel tank resto kit. I've used it successfully. Includes an acid and a liquid that becomes an inner liner. Does not include the muriatic acid that is one of the first steps. Easy to get from swimming pool supply or hardware stores. It was unbelievable how much rust I removed from the tank.

[mikebro]

Originally Posted by James McClure

We have a company in the US called Eastwood. Many restoration tools, including a fuel tank resto kit. I've used it successfully. Includes an acid and a liquid that becomes an inner liner. Does not include the muriatic acid that is one of the first steps. Easy to get from swimming pool supply or hardware stores. It was unbelievable how much rust I removed from the tank.

Thanks for that - I've followed up the Eastwood suggestion and it appears to be POR 15 products which I can get in the UK from other stockists. As my tank doesn't leak I will not be sealing it, but I will be getting some of the POR 15 cleaner degreaser (the samestuff that comes with the tank kit) for other jobs on the 403 and will try some in the tank. I've already managed to get most of the loose stuff out by shaking the tank in different orientations.

Thanks also to Calibrator for his suggestion of cutting the tank but I am hoping to avoid such drastic measures!!

Mike