John Comber Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Question please for anyone who has had to clean out a 352 elongated fuel tank. The vehicle we have just started to restore has sat for 10 years minimum the tank whilst looking sound is full of emulsified s..t , I see two drains , is there a baffle in there? Should I steam it out?, with it being near 5' long hard to dry out or blow out with an air line from one end, would appreciate advise from one of you old boys out there to save me wasting time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadline Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 (edited) When you drained it the first time was there any debris/rust that came out? If you flush with clean water and filter what comes out through a t-shirt if there are no chunks or rust then simply but a chemical coating system for fuel tanks and that should be enough. POR-15 is one product that gets high praise, but I have not used it. If there are large chunks of rust or debris in the tanks the baffles can make it hard to remove. Then its just time to get creative... a magnet on a string, a set of grippers etc. I have cut a LWB fuel tank open with a cutting wheel to remove beer bottles (approx 15cm sq), then make a patch with flanges on it to weld back in place (on the bottom, out of sight) and using a MIG welder the warpage is minimal. Following up with an acetylene torch to shrink the metal tight. Grind, sand, paint. You'd never know I have a big old hole in it. I do recall a place in Europe that had 352 fuel tanks pictured still in the wooden crates. Not sure the cost but on ebay in the US one shows up every so often.. they wanted about $350 for it last time it showed up... didn't sell. Edited March 13, 2013 by deadline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadline Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-WW2-International-M5H6-SWB-6X6-GMC-CCKW-G508-SWB-Fuel-Tank-Assy-Complete-/160912669860?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2577247ca4 Here it is now! Down to $250! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STRIKE AND RETURN 460 Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 HI John I have a nos swb fuel tank If looking for one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Comber Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 Thanks for your valued experience tips Deadline,along with tank lead on eBay, what would the carriage be to Uk ? Wow!! Not as yet drained to check content of rust , fingers crossed will have a go first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 What I did see done on a Quad was to cut the top off the old tank, take out baffles and fit a new plastic fuel tank inside, then braze top back on. You do need a couple of vent holes hidden in case of vapour build up, but it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadline Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 You'd have to ask the seller.. the link is in a previous post. I would assume that shipping to the UK would be more than having a local welder cut yours open and weld back up. If you do have rust come out of it you need to worry about thin metal or rust being held on by paint. POR-15 can only do so much.... having 80 liters of petrol spill out of a newly found rust hole would be expensive... and slightly flammable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shopnut Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Question please for anyone who has had to clean out a 352 elongated fuel tank. The vehicle we have just started to restore has sat for 10 years minimum the tank whilst looking sound is full of emulsified s..t , I see two drains , is there a baffle in there? Should I steam it out?, with it being near 5' long hard to dry out or blow out with an air line from one end, would appreciate advise from one of you old boys out there to save me wasting time. If you have the late tank, fillers both sides, these are attached by nuts & studs, I think, if you can remove them, entry holes are large, you have a good chance to steam clean the inside. We just done a tank at work, where we cut 3 holes in the top to gain access to all 3 compartments, large tank, 2 baffles fitted, it was cleaned with no problems, this was a DERV tank and only cut when thoroughly washed internally prior cutting, there was so much debris and rust in there, was the only way to clean out, steam cleaning would not suffice. Do not cut any fuel tank unless you are 110% all fuel and vapours have been removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Cubed Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 The 352 tanks are about 7 feet long they have two baffle plates in side them where the tank straps go round, they are almost solid side to side and top to bottom except for large diagonal cutouts on the corners where the tank is curved, there are two drain plugs one is the fuel outlet in the middle of the tank and the other is at one end in the base there is also the fuel level gauge sender which would also provide a hole for access good luck. Question please for anyone who has had to clean out a 352 elongated fuel tank. The vehicle we have just started to restore has sat for 10 years minimum the tank whilst looking sound is full of emulsified s..t , I see two drains , is there a baffle in there? Should I steam it out?, with it being near 5' long hard to dry out or blow out with an air line from one end, would appreciate advise from one of you old boys out there to save me wasting time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwiitrucks Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I cleaned 1 of my tanks on my ward lafrance with electrolysis, The tank has 2 baffles. Had to be a little crafty on the pos.+ electrode and takes a few weeks to really clean but it will look like it was sand blasted. Cleaned and dried it then sealed it with tank sealer from these guys http://www.northernfactory.com/CHEMICAL_AISLE/FUEL_TANK_LINERS_-_KITS Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulbrook Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 (edited) Put 5 gallons of milkstone remover in it and leave it to stand for a week, turning it regularly to slosh the stuff about. You can let it down a bit with water (say 25%) but I find it works best neat. Drain, rinse, leave it to dry out. Seal with slosh or similar if the milkstone remover (phosphoric acid based and used for cleaning milking equipment) has removed the rust blocking the pinholes that might have appeared (especially where the baffles are tacked in). Edited March 15, 2013 by paulbrook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Comber Posted March 16, 2013 Author Share Posted March 16, 2013 Thanks for the tip, lots of advise, looked up the product 'milkstone remover' and it would seem a product recommended by many of the classic car contingent for cleaning out tanks, will try to get some before and after pictures to see the results. Put 5 gallons of milkstone remover in it and leave it to stand for a week, turning it regularly to slosh the stuff about. You can let it down a bit with water (say 25%) but I find it works best neat. Drain, rinse, leave it to dry out. Seal with slosh or similar if the milkstone remover (phosphoric acid based and used for cleaning milking equipment) has removed the rust blocking the pinholes that might have appeared (especially where the baffles are tacked in). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Comber Posted April 13, 2013 Author Share Posted April 13, 2013 Well the milkstone remover is fantastic and inexpensive, the results are beyond what I expected, I now have a bright clean tank which I think is best to line out with tank sealer for longevity. Many thanks Paul for the tip,thoroughly recommended for anyone else needing to clean a tank :thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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