Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2001 11:45:44 -0700
From: Mark Pilkington <mark@skywagons.com>
Subject: LRO: Series Fuel tanks
>Can anyone suggest a way to clean out and seal
a series land rover's fuel tanks if they do not leak, but have
a lot of loose scale and debris inside. Is there a cunning
sealant you can slosh around in there and tip out leaving a
perfectly clean and rust protected tank?
From what you told me awhile back about the business
you're in, I suspect you may have a possible solution to your problem
on the shelf in your hangar. Aircraft fuel tank sloshing compound
might do what you want. It's a liquid that's designed to be poured
into a tank, then the tanks turned every whichway to distribute the
material on all inner surfaces. When it dries, it forms a sort of vinyl-
like coating on the inside of the tank that's impervious to fuel. It's
purpose is to seal seeping seams in a fuel tank, but I would imagine
you can use it for the purpose you describe. Obviously, you have
to remove the fuel tank from the plane or vehicle in order to
use the stuff. It's a multi-step process,
and the instructions are on the can. I can't remember how
clean the inside of the tank has to be, however. It may be that
it won't adhere properly to a dirty, rusted, or scaly surface. The
can will tell you that.
I used sloshing compound to seal up a number of pinholes I had in
my original fuel tank. Series fuel tanks tend to rust from the outside in
because of moisture that gets trapped in the dirt that builds up between
the tank and the skidplate underneath it. My tank was actually quite
clean and shiny on the inside even after ten years or so. But rust had
attacked the bottom. I used the sloshing compound, and it did a good
job. Unfortunately, my tank was deteriorating rapidly, and in about a year
it started to seep fuel again. I replaced it with a new tank, but was careful to
apply heavy coats of primer and black Rustoleum to the tank before I installed
it. It's been almost twenty years since I installed the second tank, and so far
it has held up perfectly.
If you simply want to remove the dirt and debris on the inside, I suppose a
strong solvent would be the way to go. Or you could dump in some coarse gravel
and rattle that around in there for awhile to loosen the scale and whatnot
first. We used this technique on a road grader fuel tank in Colorado, and
it seemed to work great. Gravel is large enough to get all of it out, as opposed
to sand or some other finer abrasive. If you decide to do this, it's imperative that
you get all the loosened crud out, as if you leave any in there, it can do a neat
job of clogging your fuel filters in a big hurry.
___________________________
C. Marin Faure
(original owner)
1973 Land Rover Series III-88
1991 Range Rover Vogue SE
Seattle
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