[Farmall] Cleaning Rusty Gas Tanks

[Jerry Bossard]

Lane,

You may want to use muriatic acid, but I strongly advise looking into some
other how to's and some videos on using this to clean rust.  It is very
toxic and creates a chemical reaction and is harmful if ingested or
inhaled.  Protective eyewear and protective clothing should be worn when
using this type of acid.  It also works the best if you can remove the gas
tank from the tractor.  This can be an effective method however please be
careful and do it at your own risk.

I had a rusty Farmall H gas tank that I removed, dumped in some acid along
with some nuts and bolts and agitated it with using the rear wheel.  After
about 45 minutes of agitation it was pretty well cleaned on the inside.
Then I dumped out the acid into a safe plastic container and
neutralized the pH level with baking soda and water.  The amount of baking
soda depends on the amount of acid used. You will have to clean out the
tank.  I chose to use soap and water followed quickly by WD-40 liquid.
Muriatic acid if not cleaned and treated with either WD-40 or some other
type of lubricant the metal will return to a rust state quickly.  There may
be a better way that I'm not aware of however this work for me. I am now
three years into my clean tank with no issues.  Hope this helps and good
luck.

Thanks,

Jerry

PS. Muriatic acid will dissolve some brass metals, aluminum and possibly
cast iron very quickly. It will also dissolve some paints.  Be sure you
have removed your screw on fuel filter from the bottom of the tank before
pouring in the acid.  The fuel filter assembly and valve will dissolve if
you use it to hold the liquid in.




On Wednesday, September 24, 2014, South Mountain Pharmacy <somopharm at rcn.com>
wrote:

> I have a gas tank on my T-5 that is giving problems with clogging up the
> fuel filter with rust particles.  I know this was discussed many years ago
> and think I even cleaned up a few tanks since I still have some Johnson
> Fuel Tank Liner but thats probably 15 years ago and my memory isn't what it
> used to be.  I know some sort of soluition was mixed up and then chain
> sections were placed inside the tank to agitate and scrub the inside of the
> tank.  What was the cleaning solution and how do you guys agitate your
> tank.  I remeber some guys strapped them to a tractor rear wheel but I know
> I never did that.  Looking for any ideas that may come to mind as I need to
> get this done ASAP.
>
> Lane Freeman
> _______________________________________________
> Farmall mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/farmall
>