Poly Gas Tank Replacement

andrew_

I have an old Cushman that I'm tearing down and doing a complete restore on. The original gas tank is rusted pretty badly inside, and any liquid (including gas) comes out a lovely shade of brown. So it's time to replace the old steel tank with a new poly tank.

However, I'm having some serious trouble tracking down a matching (or similar) tank in size. The original tank is cylindrical, 7" diameter, 14" long. Below is a picture of the innards of the cart with the gas tank visible.

Sorry for the (remove) bits, the forum wont let newbies post links.

sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn(remove).net/hphotos-snc6/263106_10100237866495648_909642_n.jpg

Can anyone point me in the right direction for a nice poly replacement?

And as a secondary question: How would one go about hooking up some kind of a fuel gauge to a cylindrical poly tank?

Cheers

BGW

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tew45

I would look at lawn mower tanks, new or used. Poly or aluminum tanks should be available some where you will just have to use your imagination. McMaster Carr would be a good place to start with. Gauge ? I doubt it.

CharleyL

There are several tank repair kits available on the internet for cleaning, etching, and then lining the inside of your existing tank with an epoxy coating. I just bought one of these kits off Amazon and will be using it on the fuel tank of my 1987 Cushman Truckster as soon as I get the chance (it came today). Just do a Google Search for "gas tank repair" and you will find links to several brands. A friend told me about this kit and said that he has repaired four tanks over the past 10 years this way, and even the first one that he repaired is still doing fine. The kit isn't cheap, but less than a new tank would cost, if one could even be found for it. I'll report back in a week or two with my experiences using it, if you are willing to wait that long.

Charley

andrew_

tew45 - thanks for the suggestion. hadn't considered looking at lawn mower tanks.

CharleyL - please do share your experience. I'm trying to cut weight on this cart rebuild, and moving from a steel tank to poly was one spot I was eyeing. I know from marine applications that poly tanks do better with gas breakdown as well, and the cart does tend to sit at times.

I'd still love to hear any ideas about hooking up a gauge to a tank.

DOOmsman

I'd still love to hear any ideas about hooking up a gauge to a tank.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com...=167712&NEXTAG

They are out there cheaper.

tew45

If you are strapped for cash you can also install a home made gauge by a tubing attached to the side near the bottom of the tank through a fitting . The tube will show the level of fuel. I would do this if the tank was ferrous and could braise a fitting on the lower side. Also if the tube is in a visible location. This method has been used for a very long time.

andrew_

Thanks fellas, very helpful.

CharleyL

My tank repair kit arrived, but so did Winter. I'll need to wait for the temps to get back above 55 deg F before I can fix my tank. Epoxy won't cure below that temp and the cleaning process uses some nasty chemicals and produces equally nasty fumes, so I can't do it indoors.

Charley

CharleyL

I've started on my gas tank repair. Yesterday was a nice warm day here, although cloudy, so I got started. The repair kit from KBS is a 3 step process and I'm about done with the first step. It involved using a quart of a special super detergent diluted 50/50 with hot water. You seal all the openings of the empty tank except for the fill, add this detergent mix, and also add either some chain pieces, bolts, or sharp stones. In my case I used some white crushed landscaping stones as large as would fit through the neck of the fill. I used 4 heaping hands full of these stones for this 8 gallon tank. The cap gets put on and then you are supposed to flip and rotate the tank frequently so that the detergent coats all parts of the tank and the stones scour the flakes of rust loose.

Well, after 2 hours of doing this I drained the tank into a plastic bucket and then shook out the stones onto the driveway. The detergent/water mix looked like brown coffee. I looked into the tank and found the entire tank, except for the bottom, looked like an almost new tank. What a difference! However the bottom area still had a heavy caked layer of rust, so I washed the stones off and then put them back into the tank along with about 1/2 of the detergent. Much more agitation was going to be needed if this process was ever going to get that caked rust out.

My son came home from work and we decided to use a pneumatic hammer chucked up vertically in the vise, with a flat end tool in it. On top of this we placed an 8" sq piece of 3/4" birch plywood and then held the tank on top of it. Careful control of the hammer speed, use of hearing protection, and delicate balancing of the tank got the stones really bouncing around and after about 15 minutes of this we dumped the much browner detergent into the bucket and then shook the stones out onto the driveway again. Now the bottom of the tank was completely free of the caked on rust. Since it was now late and a storm was arriving we decided to postpone any further work. I put about 1/2 quart of the dirty detergent back into the tank (I wished that I had some more clean mixture to use), but without adding the stones this time, and I left the tank sitting upright so the detergent could work on the tank bottom overnight. I have other chores today, so the tank will need to wait until late today or tomorrow for further progress.

The next step involves rinsing and drying the inside of the tank with water until it runs clear and then drying the tank out completely using a shop vac set on blow to circulate air into and through the tank. Following that a quart of etching solution needs to be added and the tank rotated frequently again to wet all surfaces and keep them wet for several hours by frequently flipping the tank. This etching solution is supposed to remove the remaining rust and leave a pattern that promotes bonding of the epoxy. It also contains a rust stopping property to prevent further rusting. This is nasty stuff and requires safety protection, face shield, rubber gloves, and lots of ventilation.

Then that solution gets washed out and the tank gets completely air dried again before the pint of epoxy coating is applied. This will again require the tank to be rotated and flipped frequently so that all of the inside surfaces get completely coated. The epoxy isn't as nasty as the etching solution, but if you get any on you, they say that nothing will take it off except time and wear, so safety equipment is a good idea here also. After about an hour of this the excess epoxy is drained, the fuel, return, and vent lines into and out of the tank get cleared out using large pipe cleaners, and the tank is left open to air dry for 3 days in a warm dry area. Since I'm only nearing the completion of step 1, the details of my experience with the etching and coating steps will be in my next post(s).

So far I'm very happy with the results that I'm getting, although this is turning out to be more labor intensive than I had expected. I've removed about 4-5 heaping tablespoons of rust flakes and a whole lot of very fine rust powder (suspended in the detergent). I'm amazed that the tank is still solid after this much iron oxide has come out of it. The bottom of the tank is now almost as smooth as the sides although it still has a very rusty color to it.

Charley

CharleyL

After leaving about 1/2" of the super detergent in the bottom of the tank for almost 24 hours I drained and rinsed the tank with water and then looked in, WOW, what a difference. The rust on the tank bottom is almost completely gone, leaving only a trace of rust color in various places. I almost can't believe that this is the same tank that had over 1/4" of rust/scale on the bottom before I started this cleaning process.

I used a long tweezer type tool with sheets of shop towel material to reach in and remove as much of the remaining puddled water as I could and then I hooked up my shop vac and set it to blow and proceeded to dry out the inside of the tank. After about 1/2 hour the inside of the tank was completely dry and it was late, so I decided to quit for the night. I'll continue the tank restoration as soon as I can get the chance. The etching and epoxy coating steps should go very well since the tank is now so clean inside. It's so clean that I'm tempted to just put it back in the truckster without going any further, but I've convinced myself that I should finish the job and do it properly, especially since I've already paid for the materials to do so.

Charley