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MG MG Y Type - Rusted Fuel Tank

What to do with a heavily rusted fuel tank -- inside. Y6617 sat in a dump open garage for over 30 years and all steel parts suffered a lot.
I tried do de-rust the tank with lemon acid and vinegar and even found a recipe with molassis, but all in vain. I also tried with electrolysis, but what works outside and on a table nicely, does not work inside a tank.
Derusting with nuts or gravel is not possible, as the tank has several buffle walls accross. Which also makes it hard to cut and open the tank.

The outer side is ok, no holes.

Do I realy have to buy the expensive new tank from NTG or is there any other solution?

Walter
Walter Prechsl

A friend recently did a lot of de-rusting using citric acid. Google that to find out more. Results were impressive.
J B Turner

sorry I wrongly called it "lemon acid" -- with no result inside the tank.
Otherwise I use this mild acid since years for de-rusting.
Walter Prechsl

Walter

I would do this:
1) De-grease the tank inside with https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/fuel-tank-cleaner-sealer.html,
2) Etch the inside of the tank with https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/fuel-tank-etching-fluid-gac9859x.html
and then
3) Use slushing compound to put a protective film on the entire inside surface of your fuel tank to prevent rust. https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/fuel-tank-slushing-compound-608591a.html

Expensive but if you have pressure tested the tank already and it is sold (10 pounds per square inch is plenty or 70 kilopascals) then you will have good results with this method - I have rejuvenated a couple of tanks this way in the past.

Paul
Paul Barrow

Did I say 10 psi? I meant 80 psi or 550kPa - my bad.

Maintain the pressure by bunging up the fill nozzle hole (and the gauge hole if you have taken that out covering the screw holes by refitting new screws) with securely held in bungs and fill through the outlet pipe!!

Maintain pressure for 3 - 5 min while a helper brushes soapy water over the seams and all welds as well as the general flat areas.

Do this before you invest in the cleaning/derusting of the inside. There is no point in spending the money cleaning the tank if it wont hold the pressure as it will pop if you put petrol/gas in it to a full tank later.

Paul
Paul Barrow

Paul,

80 PSI?? Are you sure you mean that? Portable air tanks are only rated for 125 psi, and they are thicker steel and are welded. Unless a Y-type tank is not a typical tank, it sounds like too much to me. I think 80 psi might blow it to pieces, and might not do the operator much good either. I think 5 or 10 psi should be plenty to find a leak.

Charley
C R Huff

Thanks for your hints. IŽll try the Moss kit.

Walter
Walter Prechsl

Like C R Huff, I also think that 80psi is far too high. Some years back I was cleaning and testing a fuel tank from a Ford Model T. I tested it with only 15psi and the tank ballooned out like a football, and almost ruined it. I certainly would not consider anything more than 8 to 10psi which would be ample to detect any leaks.
T J Ciantar

Yes - I would start low and choke it off as much as possible. I had my doubts as I was upgrading the comments and happily stand corrected. Start as low as you possibly can and build gradually to 10 :)!

Love checks and balances.

Paul
Paul Barrow

Only a very low pressure should be used otherwise the tank will balloon and the baffles will break away, it will then not fit under the boot floor. That's my experience. I since used a little paraffin unpressurised inside the tank [I understand the molecules are smaller that H2O] this I found will show up any faults, it is also much less volatile even so the tank should be treated as a potential bomb even if has stood for years. Bryan
B Mellem

As a matter of interest the boiler of my model locomotive runs at 80 psi which requires a regular retest certificate. Happy Christmas Bryan

B Mellem

Now that is a fabulous thing to see Bryan - you have made my day.

Seasons Greetings

Tony

A L SLATTERY

I have really good results with Evaporust. You can get it at most automotive stores. you will need to flip the tank to get to all the different areas, but it does a good job of removing rust and leaving it with a black color that you can use a sealer over.

Bruce Cunha

This thread was discussed between 20/12/2017 and 24/12/2017

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