Refurbishing a fuel tank?

[dcyrilc]

I've heard of steel fuel tanks being refurbished by washing the inside with a fluid which strips it clean and then using another compond/fluid which coats and seals it.

Does anyone know anything about this process?

TIA for any info.

 

[wdchyd]

I've heard of steel fuel tanks being refurbished by washing the inside with a fluid which strips it clean and then using another compond/fluid which coats and seals it.

Does anyone know anything about this process?

TIA for any info.

The name of the stuff is "Kreem"....3 part chemical process.....I did it on an old motorcycle fuel tank 8-10 yrs ago....still looks new inside...

Bought it at local Harley MC dealer (all the Auto Parts stores and other Motorcycle dealers did not know anything about it)....these Harley buffs know how to save their old bikes...

#1.....wash and clean with solvent (laquer thinner)

#2......handfulls of clean gravel or nuts & bolts with laquer thinner (loosens rust from inside tank)

#3......any leaks found , dab on RTV silicone to spots (my first attempt I soldered with 50/50 solder, but silicone sealant will work better)

#4.......Phosphoric acid/water mixture (directions will have ratio) let chemical reaction take place....it will permanently freeze and seal remaining rust....during this procedure the solution will become warm(normal)...if leaks come out during, pour out and save mixture, dap more silicone, pour mixture back in

#5......rinse out with water.....

#6......dry out thoroughly (use air hose with just a little air for 1-2 hrs)

#7.......MEK Cleaner to degrease and clean (Nasty stuff keep it off your hands and don't breath it)

#8......pour out MEK, while wet with MEK pour white Kreem and work it around...

#9......let partiallly dry upside down....then repeat for 3 or 4 coatings swirling around then upside down


#10 ....Final dry use air hose again slowly hissing in tank for good dry....


This works awesome, the silicone can be rubbed off after, and Oh Yea I forgot to mention to grease up a bolt or plug at the Fuel outlet, do it just before the Kreem goes in

 

[dcyrilc]

The name of the stuff is "Kreem"....3 part chemical process.....I did it on an old motorcycle fuel tank 8-10 yrs ago....still looks new inside...

Bought it at local Harley MC dealer (all the Auto Parts stores and other Motorcycle dealers did not know anything about it)....these Harley buffs know how to save their old bikes...

#1.....wash and clean with solvent (laquer thinner)

#2......handfulls of clean gravel or nuts & bolts with laquer thinner (loosens rust from inside tank)

#3......any leaks found , dab on RTV silicone to spots (my first attempt I soldered with 50/50 solder, but silicone sealant will work better)

#4.......Phosphoric acid/water mixture (directions will have ratio) let chemical reaction take place....it will permanently freeze and seal remaining rust....during this procedure the solution will become warm(normal)...if leaks come out during, pour out and save mixture, dap more silicone, pour mixture back in

#5......rinse out with water.....

#6......dry out thoroughly (use air hose with just a little air for 1-2 hrs)

#7.......MEK Cleaner to degrease and clean (Nasty stuff keep it off your hands and don't breath it)

#8......pour out MEK, while wet with MEK pour white Kreem and work it around...

#9......let partiallly dry upside down....then repeat for 3 or 4 coatings swirling around then upside down


#10 ....Final dry use air hose again slowly hissing in tank for good dry....


This works awesome, the silicone can be rubbed off after, and Oh Yea I forgot to mention to grease up a bolt or plug at the Fuel outlet, do it just before the Kreem goes in

Thanks. That's the info I needed. This is for a generator fuel tank which has a fuel filter which slides into the fuel outlet tube. Any suggestions on how to protect the inside of the tube so that the filter will still fit after I am finished? It's a pretty tight fit now.

 

[AlanB]

There are also some other products available besides Kreeme.

Tractor industry normally uses another brand that the name escapes me at the moment, comes in a Red / white can, usually the places that have old tractors have it.

Aviation industry also has a couple as well.

As with any "paint" and I am using the term loosely, prep is the key part.

 

[wdchyd]

is it threaded? use a greased bolt or plug,

or cover it with silicone where you don't want the Kreeme to stick:thumbsup:

 

[dcyrilc]

is it threaded? use a greased bolt or plug,

or cover it with silicone where you don't want the Kreeme to stick:thumbsup:

Not threaded. It pushes into the fuel outlet tube from the fuel line side. It's about 3" long including 1" which is filter. I'll have to get a picture tomorrow. It would be tough to silicone as you cannot reach that area inside the tank. I'll have to think about that some. There might be a way, I'll just have to figure out how.

 

[dcyrilc]

There are also some other products available besides Kreeme.

Tractor industry normally uses another brand that the name escapes me at the moment, comes in a Red / white can, usually the places that have old tractors have it.

Aviation industry also has a couple as well.

As with any "paint" and I am using the term loosely, prep is the key part.

Thanks Alan. I'll see what's available in my area.

 

[Kubota 2350]

Not threaded. It pushes into the fuel outlet tube from the fuel line side. It's about 3" long including 1" which is filter. I'll have to get a picture tomorrow. It would be tough to silicone as you cannot reach that area inside the tank. I'll have to think about that some. There might be a way, I'll just have to figure out how.

If it can be popped out, fit a piece of round wooden dowel in the hole till your done.

 

[pat32rf]

I've seen small (1 gallon) tanks done with ABS glue, after cleaning and drying. Gasoline won't touch it once its dry.
Plug the holes, dump in a bottle, swish it around until every bit of the inside is covered then dump out the excess.

 

[dcyrilc]

If it can be popped out, fit a piece of round wooden dowel in the hole till your done.

That might work. I can mic the filter tube and try to find a dowel the same size. I pulled the filter a couple of times last night and put it back in and was amazed at how tight the fit was. The plastic between the filter area section of the tube was flexing to the point I was worried about it breaking before it actually slid into the metal fuel tube.

This is an older, low hours, honda EX5500 generator which has sat outside under a tarp for the last 10 years. It was my fathers before he passed away. Functionally, it only has two things currently wrong with it.
1) The voltage regulator for the generator has failed and I will replace that.
2) The tank has rust. Light surface rust inside and heavy rust at the fill and fuel guage openings. The parts store wants nearly $250 for a new tank which I feel is a rip-off. At this point, I am considering trying to repair the tank rather than replacing it.

Money is somewhere between tight and non-existant right now, so this plays a large roll in how I tackle this issue.

Here is some history on the generator:
My folks bought it new and put around 50 hours on it. After my father passed, we had a power outage while we were visiting and I started the generator for my mother. My father had built a steel sleeve through the wall of the well house for the exhaust from the generator. When I refueled it, I did not get the exhaust lined up correctly and it started a fire on the wall. After about 30 minutes the generator quit running again. When I checked on it, I found flames going up the wall and all the way across the ceiling. I got the fire out by the time the fire department arived and they put out the coals which were trying to restart. We used the generator one more time after the fire, but the voltage kept spiking instead of remaining stable. It was put under a tarp for storage until we could get it fixed, but never got to it. This year I finally got around to the repairs and took it to a shop for an estimate. They quoted $1400 just to get the engine running again so I took it back home and looked at it myself. I replaced the oil, oil filter, spark plugs and battery. Pulled and flushed out the fuel tank and put a gallon of clean fuel in it. The engine purrs like a kitten but the generator has no voltage output. Sure glad I have the habit of turning off and running out all the fuel when shutting things down. I've troubleshot the voltage problem down to the voltage regulator. Simple repair except for the $300 cost of the part.

We actually got really lucky with the fire, as the heat from it actually scorched the paint off one corner of the fuel tank and melted the fuel guage. I bought a new fuel guage already. Total cost of repairs, so far, $159.13 (voltage regulator not purchased yet). Eventually I expect to replace the tank, but it may be a year or two (translates to ten if I know myself and it doesn't have clogging issues).

I'll get some pix when I go to the ranch later today.

 

[AlanB]

My suggestion would be to go to wal-mart, and buy a boat gas tank. Pick the boat fitting that you like (if I remember they are done by brand) and the hose / primer bulb thingy.

Take your tank off and get rid of it, make a mount to rest the boat gas tank on preferably above the generator, paying attention to things like exhaust or such, put the mating end that you bought at Wally world on the fuel supply line just in front of a nice clear filter, hook up the fuel hose to your tank and the other half of the supply line fitting thingy.

If you plan on running it much, buy two tanks so you can switch out and not have to pour gas from one can into a tank.

I think I could buy the two tanks, and lines and filter for in the neighborhood of what it would be worth for me to fool with Kreeme'ing a tank.

Hope the explanation above makes sense. If not stand in the Wal-mart boating aisle for a minute and you will see.

 

[dcyrilc]

Here are the pix I promised.

These two are of the outside of the tank and the corner where the paint was scorched. If you notice in the first pic, the bottom of the tank inside looks really good.

When I stick my finger into the smaller hole (fuel guage) and feel the top of the tank there is a fine coating of rust on the top inside of the tank and my finger comes out with a light rust on my finger.

Here are pix of the where the fuel line attaches and the filter insert.


This is the inline filter removed from the tank.

 

[dcyrilc]

My suggestion would be to go to wal-mart, and buy a boat gas tank. Pick the boat fitting that you like (if I remember they are done by brand) and the hose / primer bulb thingy.

Take your tank off and get rid of it, make a mount to rest the boat gas tank on preferably above the generator, paying attention to things like exhaust or such, put the mating end that you bought at Wally world on the fuel supply line just in front of a nice clear filter, hook up the fuel hose to your tank and the other half of the supply line fitting thingy.

If you plan on running it much, buy two tanks so you can switch out and not have to pour gas from one can into a tank.

I think I could buy the two tanks, and lines and filter for in the neighborhood of what it would be worth for me to fool with Kreeme'ing a tank.

Hope the explanation above makes sense. If not stand in the Wal-mart boating aisle for a minute and you will see.

Alan,

I appreciate the idea, but one thing that really drives me nuts is when someone jerry-rigs something instead of fixing it correctly. There's no way I'm going to do that. I would spend the $250 and replace the tank before I would try to jerry-rig some other tank above the generator.

 

[mmurphy]

I think you can still get a fiberglass patch kit for fuel tanks. That may take care of it untill you decide on some way to do it better. With your tube, maybe a smaller fuel line snug fit pushed inside of tube, sprayed with penetrating oil may help with the kreen method.....????

 

[dcyrilc]

cyril,I think the way I,d do it is empty a couple shoot gun shells(bb,s) into the tank with vinegar (acidic) shake around to remove rust scale,drian&rinse,then use the kreem mentioned earlier.The bb,s work well we,ve done it and easy on the pocket book.Have a great holiday weekend and don,t spend all of it working:laughingave

Good morning Dave,

We took our holiday last weekend and went camping. Less crowds and traffic.:thumbsup: My wife had Monday off so we took the kids out of school for the day, I took vacation, and we enjoyed ourselves.

As for the fuel tank, I'm leaning heavily toward the Kreem method. Now it's just figuring out how to protect the inside diameter of the fuel outlet tube so I can still put the inline filter insert into it. Keep the good ideas comming guys. I wont be doing it for a couple weeks yet so I have time.

 

[banjodunn]

G'day cyril if you have not got any leaks as such in the tank then empty a couple of shot shells into it as mentioned and shake like anything , then sand up the outside and repaint good as new. I did this 10+ years ago with mine and not a problem since just make sure when it is stored it is full of fuel ( i actualy put a bit of 2 stroke oil in mine for storage ) Not a prob since


Jon

 

[dcyrilc]

G'day cyril if you have not got any leaks as such in the tank then empty a couple of shot shells into it as mentioned and shake like anything , then sand up the outside and repaint good as new. I did this 10+ years ago with mine and not a problem since just make sure when it is stored it is full of fuel ( i actualy put a bit of 2 stroke oil in mine for storage ) Not a prob since


Jon

So you think that just cleaning the inside and repainting the outside will be enough? Could be. I have a mirror at work which I plan to use with a flashlight to check how bad the inside is rusted. All the rust is on the top inside so a mirror will be necessary to check what the true condition is.

The rust I can feel just inside the fuel guage opening feels light, but I have no idea yet what the condition is in the area where the paint was scorched on the outside.

I'll post more next week after I have a chance to examine the inside better. It might be interesting to try and get pictures via the mirror. Not sure that would work, but will be interesting to try.

The more I think about this, the more convinced I am that reconditioning of some form is the better option over replacement.

 

[varmint]

This thread is a good example of why this forum is so good- guy has a problem/question, and advice and quidance is quickly provided. I sympathize with the desire to make it like it was, and not to just find an easy way to make it work. Using my dad's whatever often makes me stop, for just an instant, and think about him and years gone by. Even though I have newer and better tools (usually its a tool that's from him I'm talking about here) the ones that were his are important reminders. Maybe because it's Memorial day right now that I'm on this track, but there's value to things with history.
On that note, I had an Austin Healy's gas tank cleaned and recoated, probably around 1975, and it worked fine for as long as I had the car... cost me maybe $35 back then, but a new tank would have been almost $250, if I remember right.

 

[CurlyDave]

It looks to me like the inside is coated with with something.

If the rust on the inside is light, any aggressive cleaning may remove the existing coating, which could make the issue worse.

One possibility is to sand & paint the outside, jettison the existing fuel filter and add a large clear aftermarket fuel filter. This would both protect from rust coming loose and let you see what is happening in the fuel filter.

I know you are against jerry-rigging something, but his preserves the original look of the generator while making only a small modification. Plus, I bet it is more cost effective than cleaning & coating the tank.