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EFV-8 Club Forum / 1940 Ford Discussion / 40 Coupe Fuel Tank:

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Posted By Discussion Topic: 40 Coupe Fuel Tank:     fortyford 06-24-2017 @ 5:38 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 216 Joined: Nov 2009 I keep getting some sediment in the bottom of my fuel pump bowl.Besides pulling the tank and having it cleaned or replace it is there anything else I could do to maybe flush it out without removing?Just asking,I figure tank is shot! kubes40 06-25-2017 @ 6:15 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 3394 Joined: Oct 2009 There is a drain plug at the very bottom of the tank. I suppose you could rid the tank of some containments via that route. However, my gut tells me this would not provide enough of a fix to cause any sustainable repair. If you suspect the tank is "shot", it most likely should be removed and cleaned / sealed properly. There are services that do this type of work. Me? I prefer to have the tanks professionally acid dipped which removes all of the rust. I then seal the tanks with a product specifically designed for this purpose. I prefer the sealer available from Bill Hirsch. It may be cheaper to purchase a reproduction tank but be forewarned, regardless of the advertising, they (tanks) are not "made to exact factory specifications". Not only will your original sending unit not fit, the repop tanks are too wide to install without lifting the body a bit. While you can certainly purchase a repop sending unit, any quick search of forums will find these units rarely work even reasonably well. Mike "Kube" Kubarth len47merc 06-25-2017 @ 6:35 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1165 Joined: Oct 2013 Don't count your tank to be 'shot' too soon. Follow Mike's advice - a quality radiator shop typically can perform a complete cleaning, repair (if necessary) and sealing with a quality (red) product. Agree that draining it 'ain't gonna get it done'. Mine sat for 40 or so years and had about 7 gals of muck and crud inside, but after cleaning professionally it was found to still be solid and required no repairs, only sealing, so you very well may be ok. EDIT - on my '47 I never even tried cranking the car upon receipt, but pulled the tank as the first order of business and ran it through the process noted above. Conversely, and to reinforce the notion that draining your tank will not do the trick, back in the day I had a daily driver '68 International Travelall that the glass bowl began to show sediment in and so I siphoned the tank, drained it repeatedly, removed it and tried flushing it out myself, and sediment continued to show and ultimately both the fuel line clogged as did the mesh filter in the top of the fuel pump. Bottom line was the top of the tank interior was rusting and all that my cleaning efforts did was bandaid the problem and not fix it. After having it professionally cleaned and acid dipped I did have to have a couple of repairs performed in the top before having it sealed. Was told had I not tried to milk it like I did and brought it to them immediately that perhaps no repairs may have been required. It ran without any further problems for an additional 100K miles before the fenders started falling off the (beach) truck. You, though, may likely only have to have it cleaned and any scale that has yet to release removed before having it sealed. Good luck! Steve This message was edited by len47merc on 6-25-17 @ 10:41 AM TomO 06-25-2017 @ 9:11 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7250 Joined: Oct 2009 I strongly suggest that you follow Mike's advice. The re-pops are not as good as a rusty original tank. You may not be able to remove the drain plug. They sometimes rust in place and only come out after the tank is boiled out. To drain the tank, run the car until you have less than a quarter tank. Try to remove the drain plug, if it will not come out, jack up the left side of the car to make the fuel stay on the right side of the tank. Disconnect the fuel line and slowly lower the car so the fuel will empty into a 5 gallon container. You can use a short piece of 1/4" copper tubing with a fitting to have more control over the flow. This will get out most of the fuel, you can plug the line hole and remove the tank, then drain the rest of the fuel. Tom fortyford 06-26-2017 @ 7:47 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 216 Joined: Nov 2009 Yes,I have been reading all kind of stories about the repo tanks and the worst is the sending units which none of them seem to work.I am scared to even mess with the drain plug!I think pulling the tank I have and have it cleaned and sealed is my best bet.I was hoping this sediment thing would go away but it keeps on showing up.Thanks, Men for all the help.My gas gauge also seems to work pretty good that I have now. kubes40 06-26-2017 @ 8:59 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 3394 Joined: Oct 2009 When the sending unit is out, check the float for leakage. I trap it beneath water for 24 hours and see if any water entered the float. Great time to replace it if necessary. If you find you need to replace it, check the new float for leaks (get a brass one for certain). Many of the repop floats are poopy. Mike "Kube" Kubarth TomO 06-27-2017 @ 6:24 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7250 Joined: Oct 2009 Easy way to check the float is heat a pan of water to boiling, turn off the heat and submerge the float. If you see bubbles coming from the float, it is leaking. You can solder a leak without affecting the buoyancy of the float. A short pipe wrench or 10" vice grips are the best tools to use for removal of the drain plug. I replace the plug witha brass plug and paint it black. Brass will not seize like iron. If you do go with the iron plug, use anti-seize compound on it and refresh it every year. Tom thunder road 07-13-2017 @ 5:20 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 212 Joined: Dec 2016 Thiers's a company called Tank Re-New, I think they advertise in Hemming's, that cleans and reseals the gas tanks. My friend has had two done with no problems, one was done in his 1959 Chevrolet belair in 1994, and the other in his 1959 Oldsmobile 2010. They guarantee their work for life. Each tank is given a number for the company to keep track of it. They claim to have never had one fail to date. Now the bad: They have to cut open a section on the top of the tank to properly deal with it, and then weld it back together, after it's coated on the inside and on the "outside", So after they coat the outside, it will not look correct from 4ft. away . Gas these days gets old fast and because I don't run the cars that much, I only put a I/4 tank of gas at a time with the red "stable" It's not great to add new gas to old gas." Now " I going to switch to the Stable that "coats" the upper part of the tank, for the old cars. Domenic This message was edited by thunder road on 7-15-17 @ 5:46 AM

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