I talked to someone who works at a garage that specializes in German imports and he told me that since I already have the gas tank from my 914 out of the car that I should have it "steamed". I asked him what places offer "steaming" services and he game me a name of a radiator place.

I called the radiator place and he laughed when I asked if they could steam my gas tank. He said they could do some kind of acid cleaning on it.

I'm confused now. Do I want an acid clean? He said it would cost me anywhere from $85 and up depending how bad it is. I don't think my tank is terrible or anything, I just think it would be good to have it cleaned while I have it out of my car.

I just went through this, here's my advice for what it's worth.
Have the radiator shop dip it in acid. Find out when they are doing it so you can pick it up as soon as they're done. You don't want it sitting in their shop over night as mine did because you'll immediately have rust forming again. Get it home & make sure it's fully dry inside (I took a hair dryer and blew hot air into it for 20 minutes or so.) Repaint the outside, and then get it into your car as soon as possible. If you aren't going to be putting it back into your car soon, make sure it's stored in a dry place where moisture can't get to it.

Others may tell you to apply some sort of sealer to the inside, but if your tank is in good shape it's probably not necessary.

if you have it dipped in acid, it needs to be flushed, neutralized and *sealed* immediately!

otherwise, you'll get surface rust within hours ...


you can do this yourself. here's a good sealer product. also has instructions on how to do the acid wash yourself ...

http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=...temType=PRODUCT

Andy

I agree with the above. I just did mine as well. But I think you can probably just clean it yourself with a degreaser. Then rinse with water. Use your hand if it will fit and wipe out any particles. Then air dry it with a blow dryer running through it. Oh, and be sure to remove the two fuel lines at the bottom. One of them has a screen which should be cleaned as well.

The 'sealer' part may or may not be necessary. However, what I did to keep rust from re-forming was to run about 2 cups of metal ready through the tank. I sealed off all of the openings and then agitated the tank until I knew all of the surface area on the inside had been covered. I Then I let it sit for about 15-20 minutes, and then rinsed it with boiling hot water several times to make sure all the metal ready was removed. Then I air dried it with the hair dryer. I had it out of the car for another 2 weeks, and no rust formed on the inside. If I had had a lot of rust on the inside, then I think I would have considered sealing it.

Definitely replace the tank filter and the supply/return line washers while you're at it.

speaking of, the o-rings are listed as NLA ...

anyone know of a source or repros?
Andy

I picked up a new sock and gasket from the local vw parts house. The return line was nla. I just made one up out of chemical resistant gasket material.

I won't use sealer on my stuff. I prefer a quick dose of WD-40 or Metal Ready for a tank that's been in acid.

I never understood the term 'boiling' a tank.

http://www.ratwell.com/technical/FuelTankRestoration.html

A great write up on doing your own tank.

I followed this procedure and have 30,000 on my tank with no problems. If you use the acid as discribed, be very careful. It can KILL you.

This guys website has TONS of useful info. It's geared toward VW bus's but swallow your pride and give it a chance.