I am restoring my car and thought I would clean up the tank and give it a fresh coat of paint. I used some standard Rustoleum on a gas tank that has been treated with Renu several years ago. The paint still has not dried and it has been almost a week? I suspect I've used the wrong paint, but what do I do now - strip it and repaint? - wait 'til it dries (may be Spring)? - get a new tank?

I don't know what Renu is so this may not help you. Anyway, when I repainted an area of my 911 trunk that had the factory pebble finisish undercoat, I had the same problem. Paint (automotive enamel in rattle can) was still tacky after 2 weeks and I ended up wiping it down with brake cleaner which took off some of the paint but did let it harden. The area where I had stripped the undercoat and applied POR15 dried normally so it was definitely a reaction with the undercoat.

From my experience any phosphoric acid residue can interfere with proper drying of paints. Many metal conditioners and rust converters use phosphoric acid. Also, enamels can take a long time to dry especially when its cold. You could try putting a heat lamp or halogen light a few feet away and see if that helps dry it. If that doesn't work then you have to strip it all off with lacquer thinner, paint remover, etc. then prep for new paint. Just a satin black spray paint is the easiest but it's not very durable around the fuel filler area if you tend to spill a lot.

MMMMMmmmmmmm......

Rustoleum..........

And what is the rust preventative?

FISH OIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't believe me? read the can......

Once you use it, you won't ever be able to paint over it with any other paint.....

Ever wonder why cats like your car?

Ken

I was once told that rattle can enamels never really dry...ever...

It never cures like a two stage paint or two part paint with catalyst paint cures...

Given that... I would say apply heat, a light of any type, or bring it inside for a few days...

If all else fails, it can easily be removed with laquer thinner...

Rich

Thanks for the input and suggestions. I have it in the house next to the furnace so it is not the cold. I also tried the heat gun and all this did was make the paint really tacky - like I just applied it? It seems to be drying verrry slowly, so I will give it a bit longer then I may strip it off and start again.

Gas tank, furnace, Yikes!!!! be careful. Rustoleum if applied too thick will take forever to dry, also it is very improtant for the spray paint to follow the directions like 'recoat within one hour or after 72 hours" If you recoat inbetween these times (see lable) you will end up with a slow drying mess.


Rustoleum like many spray paints requires several light coats as per teh time constraints on the can. dont heed the warnings, and you will likely have problems. The underlaying paint might have someting to do with your problem. Give it more time, or strip it off and start again. sorry.