1G Is this fuel tank worth saving?

[Turbski91]

What’s up guys. Was getting ready to put a new sending unit with a walbro 255 in my 1g AWD and as i pulled the old sending unit off the tank i thought to myself “wow no studs broke this tank is perfect!” Then i looked inside and saw some surface rust. Wanted some of your opinions if it is saveable. Obviously i plan to drain it, and clean it out the best i can, but if its too far gone then i would rather find another one.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[97egl]

It looks better than I normally see inside our fuel tanks. If you drain it and then put a few gallons of e85 in it the e85 cleans up varnish pretty good. To me it looks more like varnish than rust for the most part. It hard to tell them apart tho. When I clean mine I leave them sitting for on one side for a day and then rotate them to another side so the e85 can soak against all sides of the tank.

I'd bet you'll be surprised by how much is actually varnish that comes off and not actually rust.

 

[Turbski91]

It looks better than I normally see inside our fuel tanks. If you drain it and then put a few gallons of e85 in it the e85 cleans up varnish pretty good. To me it looks more like varnish than rust for the most part. It hard to tell them apart tho. When I clean mine I leave them sitting for on one side for a day and then rotate them to another side so the e85 can soak against all sides of the tank.

I'd bet you'll be surprised by how much is actually varnish that comes off and not actually rust.

That’s kinda what i was thinking. I was just planning for the worst. Haha guess I’ll pull the tank out this coming weekend and see what is what.

 

[Talon43219]

My current 1g talon I've been working on fuel tank looked worst than that inside. I got about 12 gallons of white vinegar to pour in the tank and capped off anywhere it could possibly leak from. I let it sit a little over 24hrs, making sure to flip it a few times before finally draining it. After draining it, I used a water house to rinse the tank. The inside almost looked brand new. If you go this route, make sure to coat/spary something in the tank to prevent it from rusting over if it's not going to be filled with fuel within a few hours.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[CKOPOCT]

My current 1g talon I've been working on fuel tank looked worst than that inside. I got about 12 gallons of white vinegar to pour in the tank and capped off anywhere it could possibly leak from. I let it sit a little over 24hrs, making sure to flip it a few times before finally draining it. After draining it, I used a water house to rinse the tank. The inside almost looked brand new. If you go this route, make sure to coat/spary something in the tank to prevent it from rusting over if it's not going to be filled with fuel within a few hours.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Be careful when using vinegar though. I used it to clean rust on several parts. Works great, but keep an eye on it and don't let your parts sit too long. Vinegar is an acid and it will eat metal over time. I accidentally left a few bolts in some vinegar for a week, and when I took them out the threads were chewed and brittle. Ruined the bolts. I've also seen vinegar disolve an aluminum pan (like a thin restaurant doggy-bag pan) in just a couple of days.