TR2/3/3A 3A Petrol Tank Sealer - Is this necessary

[angelfj1]

In the final stages of the 7 year restoration of TS58476 LO - I have heard pros and cons concerning sealants for the inside of the petrol tank. One of my favorite suppliers, Eastwood, recommends their package.

Eastwood Gas Tank Sealer


They state that there is no way to be sure you get all of the crude out of an old tank. Of course they are promoting their business but, I was just wondering if there is a consensus here on the forum.

 

[DNK]

Send it to a rad. shop and have them pesure test it and boil it out.

 

[prb51]

You only need it sealed if it has leaks. Have it properly cleaned and pressure tested.
Sealants work well if everything is perfectly cleaned and there is no residue in the tank. If there is residue, old gas varnish etc. then the sealant will fail, peel and flake, and you have a major problem clogging up your fuel lines, filter, as the stuff breaks down into granules. I bought an older Mercedes that had a sealant in the tank that failed and it was a mess.
I'd suggest getting it professionally sealed if you do have leaks as it's very dif to get all of the gunk out of the tank without proper dipping tanks etc.

 

[Andrew Mace]

At the very least, make very sure that a: your locally available gasoline does not have any alcohol blended into it, and b: if it does, you obtain the correct formulation of gas tank sealer. Dealing with sealer that's breaking down due to dissolving is not fun.

To this day I have vivid memories of the 1985 VTR Convention in Illinois, where my friend's Herald spent many preciouse minutes on the side of the road while someone pulled strands of dissolved gas tank sealer out of the fuel line, fuel pump and/or carburetor.... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif

 

[TR3driver]

At the very least, make very sure that a: your locally available gasoline does not have any alcohol blended into it,

As I understand it, that is basically impossible now. New laws require all gasoline sold for street use in the US to have at least 10% alcohol.

I have never bothered with sealer on any of my Triumphs, and I've never regretted it. Yes, the tanks rust and there is a certain amount of crud that finds it's way into the sediment bowl. A much smaller amount finds it's way into the carb float bowls, but even that doesn't appear to cause any problems. I just wipe it out when I have the carbs apart for other reasons.

I've even repaired leaky tanks by soldering with a torch ... but I wouldn't recommend that to anyone else.

 

[YankeeTR]

Frank,

if the tank is cleaned by an expert shop it won't need any sealer. I've used pOR-15 many times with excellent results but i'm sure the Eastwood stuff is good, too.

we need more pics of the car....

 

[billspit]

I sealed the tank in my 64 Spitfire with Bill Hirsh's sealer 10+ years ago and am happy with it.

I recently got to work on cleaing and sealing the tank in my 1500. It devloped small pin holes on one corer. I wellded them up (after much cleaning and flooding the tank with CO2). After cleaning the inside, it would rust like crazy. So I finally used more Hirsh sealer and it looks fine so far.

 

[foxtrapper]

If you are determined to use a tank sealer, make sure it is flexible, and alcohol resistant. The hard types flake off nicely, plugging up filters and such. Used to make a lot of money cleaning out Kreem from motorcycle tanks years ago because of exactly this cracking and flaking.

A steel tank flash rusts on the inside. This is perfectly normal, and causes no problems. OEM manufacturers have used flash rusted steel tanks by the hundreds of millions over the course of the century because it works well. Tank sealer companies try to spook you because you notice the flash rust in restoration work, and frett about it. So they sell you a product you don't need to address a problem that isn't there.

If you have a tank that is so badly rusted it is leaking, a sealer will bandaid you, but is really a lousy fix. Replace the tank.

 

[dklawson]

You said you had read previous posts on the topic so I won't repeat my earlier comments about the various kits.

A thread you may have missed was the one on the Spridget forum. This thread ran within the last month and was started by board member "Costalman". The thread focuses on DIY tank cleaning methods followed by the typical discussion of tank liner materials and coatings. The thread was a bit different than most of the ones I've posted to and may be helpful if you're considering doing this yourself.