I had a similar problem on a nonLBC project recently and I also wanted a metal
repair before I sealed the inside of the tank. The inside of my tank was quite
rusty and I first cleaned it by removing the sender, pouring sulfuric acid into
the tank, adding a short piece of chain (I have since heard that rocks/gravel
works just as well), plugging all of the holes (used expanding rubber freeze
plugs for the filler and sending unit holes) and aggressively sloshed the tank
to remove any rust. This is a excellent upper body work out! Poured out the
very brown slurry and rinsed out the tank. I got the advice on the acid and
chain from calling the Eastwood tech line. Then I took the tank to a local
radiator shop that also repairs gas tanks. I had them degas the tank - they
referred to is as "kill the tank". The radiator shop put the tank in a large
oven for a period of time and burned off any remaining gas fumes. Cost was just
under $30. I do not know if degassing the tank was necessary since there was no
gas smell after cleaning the tank with the acid but I considered that it was
cheap life insurance.
After the tank had been degassed, I soldered the hole in my tank (my tank had
been creased and I had a 1/4 in. long crack at the crease when I pushed the dent
back out - I used a small metal piece as a patch). If I had only had pin holes
I would have just soldered over them. Finally I used the gas tank liner/repair
kit as sold by Eastwood. Suggestion if you use this product - pour it in, slosh
and drain the excess into a sealable container, let the tank dry for several
hours and repeat until all of the sealer is used up. I tried to get the tank to
seal uniformly on the first application and the coverage on a single coat is not
that great. Also position the tank so that a different surface is down for
every coat as the tank dries between coats.
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