• The Roadster Factory Recovery Fund - Friends, as you may have heard, The Roadster Factory, a respected British Car Parts business in PA, suffered a total loss in a fire on Christmas Day. Read about it, discuss or ask questions >> HERE. The Triumph Register of America is sponsoring a fund raiser to help TRF get back on their feet. If you can help, vist >> their GoFundMe page.
  • Hey there Guest!
    If you enjoy BCF and find our forum a useful resource, if you appreciate not having ads pop up all over the place and you want to ensure we can stay online - Please consider supporting with an "optional" low-cost annual subscription.
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this UGLY banner)
Tips
Tips

General Tech Old gasoline disposal

Dr.T

Freshman Member
Country flag
Offline
I’m getting ready to drain the 15 year old gas from my gas tank, there’s probably 3-4 gallons. Suggestions for safe and environmentally friendly disposal?
 

bobhustead

Senior Member
Gold
Country flag
Offline
You should be able to find a local oil distributor/jobber who can deal with this. They regularly dispose of questionable gas (e.g., recovered from a customer tank that had water intrusion). You local government waste department might also be able to help.
Bob
 

DavidApp

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
Do you have an old lawnmower garden tractor etc that you could use it in little at a time? Depends how bad it is.

David
 
OP
D

Dr.T

Freshman Member
Country flag
Offline
I don’t know, 15 year old gas? It smells ok, but not sure if I’d use it even in the lawn mower.
 

LarryK

Yoda
Gold
Country flag
Offline
I used old,old fuel in my lawn mower for 3 months, varnish broke the rings and it started shooting oil out carb. I have about 30 gals from over the years and 10 still in the boat. I am going to call Safety-Clean as soon as I drain boat tank. Probably expensive but better than dumping. Seems every old car I purchase has old fuel.
 

CJD

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
At 15 years I don’t think I would burn it in anything. Try seeing if you can find a recycle facility nearby that will take it. If you have no luck, I would just pour it out on pavement somewhere and let it evaporate...not near your house, of course. If you are really environmentally conciensious, you could burn it after pouring it out.

It reminds me of when I was a kid playing in the oil fields of eastern Texas. We figured out we could get mercury out of the oil field equipment...so being typical kids...we spent a week riding our bicycles from meter to meter draining mercury, until we had a full gallon milk jug full. (I am incriminating myself as I figure the statute of limitation is up on our petty vandalism...I hope!?!). Anyway, we were having a blast playing with all that mercury, until an older friend told us we were probably killing ourselves. We got scared and put the whole gallon hidden up in the barn.

Skip ahead 20 years to our Father selling the farm. He came across the mercury. We fessed up where it came from (I was flying in the Air Force and figured I was past a good whooping). He started by calling Exxon, the owner of the oil field, but they were way past using mercury and wanted nothing to do with it. Next he called the EPA, since he figured they would know what to do. They told him they would charge him to come get it, and then charge him an annual storage fee until eternity to keep it.

Dad was much sharper than these DC egg heads. Calling their bluff he simply responded, “thank you, but I won’t be needing your help. I’ll just go dump it in the ditch out front.” That changed the smug EPA attitude right away. Within 2 hours they showed up in full chemical gear, took the gallon away and Dad never heard back.
 

Bob Claffie

Jedi Knight
Country flag
Offline
I gave some "out dated" gas to a local garage owner who used it in his waste fuel furnace. Well diluted and mixed with drain oil and other combustible fluids
 

Tybalt

Jedi Warrior
Country flag
Offline
At 15 years I don’t think I would burn it in anything. Try seeing if you can find a recycle facility nearby that will take it. If you have no luck, I would just pour it out on pavement somewhere and let it evaporate...not near your house, of course. If you are really environmentally conciensious, you could burn it after pouring it out. .......

I ran into a similar situation when we were living in Fort Worth and wanted to "do the right thing." At one time the fire department would take stuff like that and use it at their training facility, but they told me they didn't do that anymore. Many calls to various other outfits later didn't produce any better results until one guy with TCEQ (Texas environmental agency) asked how much were we talking about and I truthfully told him it was about three or four gallons. He said no one will be willing to fiddle with that small amount for disposal and that my best bet would be to pour it off onto pavement in an area where roads had been paved but no development had happened yet and just let it evaporate.

It reminds me of when I was a kid playing in the oil fields of eastern Texas. We figured out we could get mercury out of the oil field equipment...so being typical kids...we spent a week riding our bicycles from meter to meter draining mercury, until we had a full gallon milk jug full. (I am incriminating myself as I figure the statute of limitation is up on our petty vandalism...I hope!?!). Anyway, we were having a blast playing with all that mercury, until an older friend told us we were probably killing ourselves. We got scared and put the whole gallon hidden up in the barn.

Skip ahead 20 years to our Father selling the farm. He came across the mercury. We fessed up where it came from (I was flying in the Air Force and figured I was past a good whooping). He started by calling Exxon, the owner of the oil field, but they were way past using mercury and wanted nothing to do with it. Next he called the EPA, since he figured they would know what to do. They told him they would charge him to come get it, and then charge him an annual storage fee until eternity to keep it.

Dad was much sharper than these DC egg heads. Calling their bluff he simply responded, “thank you, but I won’t be needing your help. I’ll just go dump it in the ditch out front.” That changed the smug EPA attitude right away. Within 2 hours they showed up in full chemical gear, took the gallon away and Dad never heard back.

Again, somewhat similar situation when we moved our lab to a different building at Georgia Tech. The lab we inherited in the new (to us) building was much nicer but a number of unlabeled jars of chemicals had been left. I called the campus environmental folks who refused to accept these chemicals we wanted gone. I told them that was OK, I'd just sneak over to Joe Pettit's (GT president at the time) place and dump the chemicals on the lawn. Suddenly butter would not have melted in their mouths. They asked that I box them up and bring them over to their building which I did, dropping them off at ~3 in the morning at the building entrance when I took a break from running a bunch of x-ray diffraction patterns overnight.
 

CJD

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
Yeah, evaporation is what I started doing with anti freeze too, which I have been unable to find any recyclers that will take it. I just pour it out in small enough amounts on the drive, so that it doesn't run in any drains. By the next day it's all gone. I got the idea from the aviation industry. In the winter it takes hundreds of gallons of ethylene glycol based fluid to de-ice one airplane. On a typical winter day DFW airport uses thousands of gallons, that is captured in drains, but is not re-usable. They drain it to a 10 acre pond where it simply sits until it evaporates off by summer time. They have some sort of pyrotechnics looking gizmos to keep the ducks away from the pond.
 
OP
D

Dr.T

Freshman Member
Country flag
Offline
Thanks for all the input. I’ll see how much I actually have when I drain it. I might dilute it with fresh gas and try it in the lawnmower or let it evaporate on the driveway. Evaporation doesn’t seem too environmentally friendly though.
 

groupdeville

Jedi Hopeful
Country flag
Offline
Find a friend with either a Model T or Model A Ford - either one will run on nearly anything. Even in its deteriorated state, your gas is probably higher octane than 90 years ago. Run it through a filter, of course, to avoid clogging the fuel system with dirt or rust particles.
 

Graham H

Jedi Warrior
Country flag
Offline
This is my 1926 Chev the owners manual instructs you to strain the petrol through a Chamois which back then was probably a good way to go and you are right she would run all day on that old gas. Could someone set this photo the right way up please thank you Graham
IMG_0562.jpg
 

Trevor Triumph

Jedi Knight
Country flag
Offline
The local O'Reilly's takes the oil, but coolant and gas is something else. It is frustrating and I can understand why some of this stuff ends up in the wrong place. When i began the first restoration I used to dump the little bit of spilled paint I had on the ground next to the driveway. The one night I dreamt that all the bugs and furry critters were coming after me with snarling teeth and huge pinchers and stingers. I stopped that practice.
 

CJD

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
The local O'Reilly's takes the oil, but coolant and gas is something else. It is frustrating and I can understand why some of this stuff ends up in the wrong place. When i began the first restoration I used to dump the little bit of spilled paint I had on the ground next to the driveway. The one night I dreamt that all the bugs and furry critters were coming after me with snarling teeth and huge pinchers and stingers. I stopped that practice.


Could be worse. My Old Man used to pour his old engine oil down the gopher holes to control the gophers. Today it seems unthinkable, but I remember that before the '90's there was nothing to be done with old oil. Nobody took it like today, so draining your engine in the storm drain was the norm. We've come a long way...but still have far to go.
 

LarryK

Yoda
Gold
Country flag
Offline
I still have the article from MotorTrend magazine on how to make an oil disposal tank by digging hole and putting in a pipe and filling the dug hole with gravel and topping the top with dirt and planting grass on top. Pour oil down pipe and cap.
 

DavidApp

Yoda
Country flag
Offline
The guy I would work with some weekends before I had a real job had an oil burning heater. It would burn anything like old engine oil, diesel or kerosene. The chimney part glowed dull red. He called it a Salamanda. It had a round tank at the bottom that held the fuel ( + gallons) and a chimney about 8" dia. There was also a smaller pipe that "T" into the chimney about 1/3 the way up and connected to the fuel tank.
It made a throbbing sound when it was burning. It was not a home made thing. Maybe a British army heater.
OSHA would have a fit if they saw one now.
David
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
K TR2/3/3A Old school battery shut off switch....... Triumph 3
S TR2/3/3A old 4 bolt axle set up Triumph 12
K TR2/3/3A Old school penetrating oil? Triumph 24
tr6nitjulius General TR Plenty thread left on my old OEM 185 Redlines Triumph 5
S TR2/3/3A old 4 bolt axle differential. Triumph 11
R Old History - List of USA TVR Authorized Dealers TVR 10
Popeye General TR Old robbins top in box Triumph 7
dougie Pistons - Old vs New Austin Healey 12
B Help for Old Men Restoration & Tools 15
AUSMHLY BJ8 Clutch Pressure Plate, Old vs New Austin Healey 4
Popeye General TR Old imperfect windshield - keep it toss? Triumph 3
Racer-X- Looking for old parts catalog(ue)s with listings/part numbers for early 1960s Vanden Plas 4 Litre Princess Restoration & Tools 3
roscoe New / old hard top Austin Healey 16
apbos New/Old wheels for my Speedwell Sprite. Need Center Caps Spridgets 13
D Removing Old Radio Austin Healey 4
Bob Claffie New old car Other Cars 7
Mark Bailey Old tire rule? Restoration & Tools 5
F Wanted wanted new old stock driver side door latch Triumph Classifieds 2
T TR2/3/3A Question on old radio from my TR3 Triumph 9
DrEntropy Looking thru old pix Other Cars 8
B How to clean the old gunk out of a Spridget gas tank? Spridgets 21
B Dodge Chrysler Cool Vanilla = Old English White? Spridgets 7
R How old is "dead" FORUM Navigation Questions 5
I Ball Bearing cup for old style BN1 steering box Austin Healey 0
tinman58 General Tech Why I love old cars Triumph 1
S TR2/3/3A copied an old original interior piece and carpet pad Triumph 6
B TR6 New [Old] Member Triumph 2
M Old English White Paint Code for early BE Spridgets 1
E Trying to ID some old classic car gauges Restoration & Tools 2
Zitch For Sale TR4 - old door cards Triumph Classifieds 0
AngliaGT Cool Old Truck + Spotted 1
D TR2/3/3A Recondition old wire wheels or buy new? Triumph 10
jfarris "Old Yeller II" Spotted 3
anarchy99 Help with new [old] Sprite hardtop Spridgets 17
CessnaTPA New Tires or Keep Old Ones Austin Healey 36
AngliaGT My Old Ford Consul Capri Other Cars 0
Answerman Restoration of OLD [pre WWII style] leather seats Restoration & Tools 5
jdubois Wanted Old BMH Original Technical Publications CDs Triumph Classifieds 0
doc50 New old member. Spridgets 43
doc50 New Old Member...sort of. Spridgets 7
T Pertronix Ignitor - old potential reliability issue is still there Austin Healey 12
T Pertronix Ignitor - old potential reliability issue is still there Spridgets 0
S For Sale Triumph tr3 tr3a tr3b tr4 tr4a differential cover new old stock Triumph Classifieds 0
S TR2/3/3A On those old original coils Triumph 2
D never throw old parts away.... Austin Healey 7
simon1966 Eclipse Day Photos, back to her old color! Austin Healey 2
JimLaney Liquids for 50 + year old Sprite Spridgets 5
L Wanted WANTED: old Conv Top Triumph Classifieds 0
NutmegCT T-Series New home for an old TD MG 30
GTP1960 nice old caddie spotted in my town Other Cars 0

Similar threads

Top