Hi everyone
I recently inherited a 1974 914-4
It has been sitting in a barn since the year of my birth...1989
So, needless to say, there is lots of crap built up in the gas tank

Does anyone have any suggestions for cleaning this gas tank out?
I have been doing the classic put-some-gas-in-it-and-swish-it-around technique, to no avail

Any advice is greatly appreciated for this 914 noob!

I had mine done at a shop, but if you do a search on this forum (gas + tank + cleaning/restoration) you will find many hours of reading. The one common denominator appears to be a company (Eastwood?) that makes a cleaning/sealing kit for fuel tanks.

yeah, I've read about the Eastwood kit and apparently it's pretty slick
I was also looking into having a radiator shop boil it clean

This thread reminded me that I need to clean my tank!

I just ordered the eastwood kit.

I have always been very pleased with everything that I have gotten from them. A stand up company!

Zach

First of all:

Sounds like you're o n the right track. Keep in mind that some radiator shops will perfom the cleaning/boiling and repairs at a pretty reasonable price. All without the opportunity for an explosion...

It its only varnish (no rust) DeNatured alcohol will dissolve it.

I used the stuff from POR 15. It had a cleaner that totally cleaned up the tank, and then had a metal treatment to remove any rust, etc. They also have a coating that is made to coat the inside of the tank, and even seal up any pinholes, etc. Instead of buying their kit, I just bought a gallon each of their cleaner and metal treater, and a quart of their gas tank sealer. I then had some extra of both cleaner and treatment to use for cleaning up other pieces in prep for painting, etc. I have used the Eastwood metal cleaning materials, but I hhave ad a lot better luck with the Por 15 materials. Just my very brief experience. for cleaning out the tank, I sloshed the liquid around in the tank along with a short piece of metal chain to provide some mechanical force to aid in cleaning. JoeO

I used the Eastwood kit (under $50 IIRC) and a new brass screen. You also need acetone and muriatic acid. It was something like a 7 step process but it went smoothly and came out nice. Use heavy duty rubber gloves and eye protection.

I used Gorilla duct tape to cover the sender hole and made a cover out of 1/2 plywood for the filler hole with a rubber gasket on the inside and used the 8 bolts to hold it in place. You need to completely seal up the tank a few times during this process. The Gorilla duct tape held up nice.

thanks guys

Fixed it for ya.

Zach

Take the tank to a radiator shop, they'll boil it in some nasty caustic stuff that will clean it out (outside and in). I got mine done for $80, You'll need to repaint the outside, the shop gave me a rattle can when I picked it up.

Much easier (and safer) to have the radiator shop do it, instead of having to properly dispose of chemicals yourself.

Just don't let your tank sit in their shop overnight AFTER they clean it. Tell them you want to pick it up right after they are finished. Rust will start forming right away, and if it sits in their shop overnight you'll find a bunch of surfuce rust in there again when you pick it up.

If there are no holes you're trying to seal up, I don't see any real reason to use any type of after market coating. Others will disagree though.

I used the POR 15 kit 10 years ago in my Beetle tank and it is still holding up really well, no rust, looks great.

I can't believe it has been 10 years.

-Chris

Tanks again guys for everything

one more question: does anyone have any recomendations for a paint to use to repaint the outside of the tank after it's boiled? apparently the boiling cleans the ENTIRE tank (thanks to Travis)
I was thinking like some kind of rust resistant spraypaint or something of the like
(I'm asking for a brand name recomendation)

It probably doesn't matter too much what you use. If you get a satin black spray paint. You can go the extra mile and put some primer on it first.

I used black por15 on the outside of mine and was planning on painting over that, but was in a hurry to get the car back on the road. You could just prime it, and then rattle can it afterwards. Only 1/8th of the tank is visible once installed.

Make sure you replace the fuel lines (unless they are new), the filter inside the tank and the washers when you put it all back together.

I live north of Grand Rapids, Michigan and apparently no radiator shops around here boil gas tanks
The EPA shut 'em down or something
So I used lacquer thinner
That worked pretty good, but there is still a ton of crap in there
Should my next step be using denatured alcohol or muriatic acid?
won't muriatic acid eat through the metal?
maybe if I just leave it on there for a short time and dilute it heavily...

Are you fighting rust or varnish? If its rust, I would consider looking for a good used tank, look for someone to acid dip your old one, or take your chances with one of the tank refurb kits. Personally, I prefer knowing the only thing in my tank is gas. But, people have raved about the kits/coatings when applied correctly.

I know I would hate myself if I spent days trying to refurb a tank and still have it strand me with a clogged filter or fuel sock.

My last tank, I tried the chain technique and a bunch of stuff to try and get the rust out. I made progress, but not enough. I could still see significant rust on the inside of the tank. I ended up using another tank. Do it once, do it right.

I had my tank boiled out and sealed by a radiator shop. 5 years later, after many clogged idle jets, I discovere a lot of "gunk" in the tank. I had it boiled out again and the sealant inside began pealing away from the inside of the tank. Because of the baffle in the middle of the tank, I coundn't get access to see how bad the pealing was through out the tank. I had to scrap the tank cause I did't know how to get the rest of the sealer off the inside of the tank. I got another tank that was very clean inside and rinsed it out and filled it with gas without sealing it. I think if you have a tank that is clean to begin with, you don't need to seal it. Fill it with gas, keep if filled and it should be OK. Use a new strainer and good fuel filters. That's just my opinion. Your results may vary.
Cheers, Elliot

thanks guys for the input

I spent some time today running diluted muriatic acid through the tank and that seems to be doing quite a fine job
Just gotta be careful I don't burn a hole right though it