I have a rusty gas tank. It won't let me drive the car very well (as those of you who have been helping me so far know). I am trying to drive 200 miles tomorrow to the mountains of NC. I'm at the point of getting creative and then fixing the problem correctly when I get where I'm going. -First option: drop the tank. clean it out as best I can with a chain and cleaner. Rinse well. reinstall gas tank with new seals. Go. Re-clean and put lining on the tank when I get where I'm going. Thoughts on if this will work as a temporary/get me to where I'm going fix? -Second option: Get the largest gas can I can find. Strap it down well in my trunk. Run an extension from the fuel line inside of it and seal it with RTV (I have a rust hole in the underside of my quarter panel in the trunk that would work well for this). Run a hose from the vent out of the hole where my trunk lock goes (it is open right now). Seal the vent hose to the can with RTV. Drive it like that until I get where I'm going stopping alot for gas. *I'd have to keep an eye on mileage either way because my gas gauge doesn't work anyway and just stop ahead of time to fill up before I run out. *I see a problem with when I get to the mountain that the incline might effect the amount of usable gas in the can. (I do have AAA and can get towed up the mountain if that becomes an issue but if I do this I'm intent on making it work). *I'm pretty intent on leaving tomorrow and reconditioning my gas tank appears to be more than a one day task. So "waiting to leave and doing it the right way" is always the fall back but not an option as of right now. *If option one is used, will JB weld work well enough to fill any holes I might find when testing with compressed air? *If you have any other options they'd be greatly appreciated. Pretty sure that I won't be able to find a new gas tank in town to be able to install tomorrow. -Thanks. I know it's ridiculous but I'm trying to find a fast solution and this is all I've got so far. It can't be the most ridiculous thing someone's done with a car...
No, on the gas can. Do you have a rad shop close to you? pull the tank, take it to them, have it boiled out, and tell them you need it as soon as possible. Have you removed the sending unit from your tank? is the sock still there? or add another fuel filter at the tank, to catch it before it gets any further?
i'd do w/e i could to the factory tank b4 i'd stick a gas can/jug in the back. that's just not safe....
Drop the tank its easy and fast. Like Dave said take it to the rad shop and tell them you have to leave yesterday. Its the quickest and safest route.
haven't removed anything yet. still working on getting the old gas out. Add another fuel filter even if a rad shop fixes it or is this for if I use option one? Seems people think option two is a bad idea (altho I still think it could work). Will option one work if I shouldn't do option two? because I have a feeling doing it myself would be way cheaper than a rad shop doing it. or would a rad shop clean it out for me and I could use it and then drop the tank when I get up the mountain to put lining on it?
Odds are when the tank is cleaned, whether by chain or radiator shop, there are going to be some pinholes pop up. Might as well have it at the rad shop so they can go ahead and fix them. If the tank is super clean inside this probably won't happen but if there is rust...bet on it.
so the gas can thing is really that dangerous for just a one time trip if it's all sealed up. I'm calling rad shops in the morning, but in theory if the can is sealed well and vented shouldn't it work? is it the lining that takes care of the pinholes after cleaning or are they fixed separately and the lining is just lining?
dont use jb weld. usually close to the jb weld in the parts store is gas tank leak repair. its a stick of stuff that you mix and stick over the holes. get a new sock for the intank pick up. the auto parts stores should have a universal one in stock. just need to match it up to the pick up tube size. get the bigest fuel filter you can find, and get a spare to take with you incase it pulgs up.
hey pete, was typing while you posted. I know. I feel bad spending that much money having a radiator shop do all of it when I know I could do it if I had the time. I feel worse staying in town any longer. It's like that big deity thing won't let me leave. The gas can thing was a try at the best of both worlds. would've made for a story either way...
is that the largest fuel filter I can find for the front of my carb to replace the one I have or am I adding a second one of the largest I can find? I guess I'm asking if I can change the one that attaches to the carb to make it bigger without screwing things up worse.
it will be hard to find a big one that will screw into the front of the carb. replace that one just so it doesnt have any rust in it. then get a inline one that hose ends on both ends and put that before the one on the carb. this should get pretty far. i had a friends car that would clog a stock size filter pretty fast. he ended up with a malory canister style filter that would give him a couple of months before needing to be cleaned out. fram does make a canister style that you may be able to find at parts store. it will give you the most filter area to get you as far as possible. you can just open the cansiter filter and knock out most of the rust and get going.
bryants suggestion is a good one...The bigger the filter the more crap it will hold before it starts to plug up.Replace your current plugged filter and it MAY do it for the mean time.Good luck!!!
Thanks for the advice guys! If the rad shop is too expensive or can do it quick I'll probably try a quick clean of the tank myself and then add the filters. If I can make it 100 miles I can get towed the rest of the way. If I do a quick clean am I going to open up any of those pinholes that the rust is covering? If so, would it be better not to clean it at all if I go the filter route?
