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MG TD TF 1500 - Fuel tank sediment

I just had my fuel pump rebuilt by Dave DuBois, Washington. In that process he found rust and sediment from my fuel tank (51 TD)in spite of a "prepump" filter. I removed the fuel tank to find the main feed, which looks like it was about a 3" pencil-sized filter that projects into the bottom of the tank, coated with thick, sticky black "gunk". If this is to serve as a first line filter, I will replace. The bigger question is how can I clean all the apparant sediment from the bottom of the tank? When drained there was plenty of rusty sediment in the old gas. My local parts store had nothing to "cut" through this sediment. I tried fresh gas and "sloshing" it around but I think this didn't help at all. Is it going to be a continual problem? Must I replace the tank for fear of constant "trash" in my fuel system? Can I clean the main feed, if so how? (I soaked it in clean gas and cleaned some yesterday. How porous was this thing?)

I have Green's book, Schact's book and a Workshop Manual: none address these nitty-gritty things that can be big problems. Sorry about the length of this tread? I know someone out there has some suggestions.

Bill
Bill Hester

Bill,
Take as much time and gather as much advice as you need because this problem will come back to haunt you (if it hasn't already). You have got to get the sediment out and also establish if rust has thinned the very base of the tank. Many rad shops will offer a chemical or steam cleaning process for gas tanks. In my opinion this and any welding/soldering of the tank is not a DIY project. If you feel the problem is strictly sediment or grunge then a a short lenth of chain, a sufactant and plenty of water and agitation (hard work) may loosen up the problem. There are petrol resistant "sloshing compounds" to coat the inside of older tanks. My feeling is they could cause further trouble if the tank is not properly cleaned and etched inside first.
Tony
Tony Cove

Bill - Tony's advice about getting the tank professionally cleaned is good. If you can find a place in your area that does dip stripping, that would be the ideal place to take the tank, although it will take all the paint off the outside of the tank also. The idea of a chain in the tank to knock the rust, etc. off, is of limited value in the TD tank as the tank has two verticle baffles in it and it would be hard to get the chain from one area to the next. A local Register member in our area set up a means of ratating the tank and then poured in a layer of gravel and started rotating the tank. Since he was in no hurry, he left the tank set up for several weeks and everytine he walked past it, he would rotate it for a while. I never got a detailed report from him, but it appeared to work quite well. I think that he also added water to the tank to eliminate any ssparking. The advantage to dip stripping, is that it will get rid of all the gas fumes so you can braze any rust hole shut afterward. My tank had several holes in it that I brazed shut and then I found several more holes, too small to see by placing a small drop light in the tank and then turning the light out and inspecting the outside of the tank. I had to center punch the holes in order to tell where to braze when the lights were on. Good luck - Dave
David DuBois

If you are interested in doing the work yourself, there is a very thorough discussion in the TD/TF archives from July 1998. Search for the phrase "fuel tank cleaning method".

I've been gearing up to do this for a few years. Haven't quite got there yet...Good luck.

Larry
Larry Shoer

Wow, this is weird...I just removed the tank from my TD this very afternoon. Car hadn't been driven in at least 6 years since I bought it. Any gas in the tank has long since evaporated, leaving an odd, cleaning fluid smell. I also found a number of fiberglass looking patches along the inside bottom edge, and behind the side panels. Can these sections be repaired? I realize good used tanks are next to impossible to find, and Moss wants all the money for theirs. (Any opinions on the Moss tanks?? The Abingdon Spares side panels fit beautifully, by the way).

Also, how does one remove the flip up gas cap? Mine's just about useless and some PO painted it white.

Thirdly, and in the same vein....I also can't figure out how to remove the battery tray without wrecking the firewall section to which it's mounted...any ideas?

Thanks in advance
Peter Whelan

The more I read about all the things which will keep my car from going another 50 miles the more afraid I get. Paranoia strikes deep. I hope this does not annoy Frank the frettor. Dave A1.
capdave

After further online searching, came up with this site
www.gas-tank.com, Moyer Fuel Tank Renu, which offers a restoration service for antique and hard to replace fuel tanks, including motorcycle tanks, and seems to address all the problems mentioned the this and previous threads.....apparently at half the cost of a replacement tank. Anybody have any experience with this outfit?

May very well worth the investment, especially considering the amount of time and effort the DIY processes seem to require.

Pete W.
Peter Whelan

Peter, the cap (and release flipper) are I think held on with tiny rivets, which must be drilled out. Many of the caps are polished stainless, so it could possibly be ok under the white paint. It has been 13 years since the battery box deal, but I recall the entire box is spot welded to the firewall proper. Each spot weld is drilled out, and the layers carefully chiseled/separated. Our local sheet metal/AC duct shop has auto body sheet metal- I fabricated the pieces, and found a shop that does welding/race car fabrication that did the welding. Virtually undetectable repairs. Do you just need to repair it, or are going for perfect restoration? Makes a big difference in what to do- thin plywood or whatever will hold the battery up nicely.
George Butz

Once you have cleaned the rust and other sh*t the problem is to stop it rusting. Here in the UK it is possible to buy SLOSH or something like that whoich you tip into the tank and swill it around to produce a "plastic" coat on the inside of the tank. Perhaps if the tank is that bad build a new one. This weekend got the TF from the body shop where the guy had just made a new tank for an ancient Alfa Romeo - it can be done.
Bob Marshall

My tank was too far gone to repair by any of the methods decribed above. Mo$$ price was far too high (especially with import duty into Oz) so I had the local Off road tank specialist build one using the old tank as a pattern. It is fabricated from 16 guage aluminium sheet with the baffles welded in under the retaining strap locations, end panels recessed with tapped blocks welded on each end to screw the cover plates to. Once installed you cannot tell the difference visually and there will NEVER be any rust.
Cost about half the pre duty price of a Moss tank.
Phil Stafford

This thread was discussed between 30/03/2002 and 03/04/2002

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