Lightweight petrol tanks

[DieselDan]

I've recently been back to where my lightweight is stored, with a view to giving it a once over and inevitably adding to the long list of things that I really should get around to doing it!
I had planned on trying to get it running, but despite arming myself with a can of fresh petrol, the state of the petrol left in each of the tanks and the state of the inside of the tanks themselves, left me thinking that it may be a harder task than I thought.

Leaving aside trying to get the thing running, what can I do about the tanks themselves? I've done a search on here about methods of cleaning up the inside of rusty tanks, using por-15, KBS and home-made grit washing, but considering that it'll be many, many months until I get around to doing this, is there anything that I can quickly spray around the inside of the tanks to slow the corrosion down? WD40 maybe? Bearing in mind it'll get removed when I finally get around to doing it properly.
Cheers for any suggestions!

[Jondavball]

I repaired my lightweights tanks successfully witht he POR15 kit (for future reference) but this doesn't help the problem at hand. I have tried to minimise additional rust in the chassis by using fish oil spray which I assume would do the trick with your tanks but I am not sure how hard it would be to clean up when you eventually get to work on them. I am sure WD40 would work but not sure for how long.

How is that for a response that doesn't help one bit!

[jamesnedtaylor]

I'm 90% sure I saw someone with the same problem on here on a series tank they cut the top off there tank cleaned it all Up and put like a resin down and then wielded it back up like new maybe a search will come with a bit more info

Hope this kinda helps
James


1969 109" 2a named loti

[Mick_Marsh]

You could fill the tank with a light oil until you repair it.
Or even partially fill and rotate regularly.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

With a lightweight they have a large top filler cap, very similar to Series 1 Landies. Surely you can merely take off the cap, fuel level unit, fuel pickup and drain plug, then hit the inside with a high-pressure water blaster to get rid of the old fuel and scale inside the tank.

As you say you could use WD40 or similar, but having gone to the trouble of cleaning out inside why not do the POR-15 or KBS or other tank sealer now. Then it is protected and has plenty of time to harden.

From memory the tank is only held in with 3 bolts, fuel lines and an electrical connection.

[DieselDan]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
Yeah the light oil is a good idea Mick. I'll have a think about how best to get hold of nearly 20 gallons :D

Lotza, I'll probably do exactly as you suggest. Eventually. When I get round to doing it properly! Trouble is, I'm only here for another day (here for a wedding so not really properly equipped or attired for a big job:rolleyes:), so I'm looking at a quick band-aid to slow the rot down until I can do it properly. I'll need to organise a good couple of weeks so I can move it out of its hidey-hole in the middle of suburbia to somewhere more suitable for draining old petrol and attacking it with a pressure washer:cool:

I had intended to try and get it running, but I think I'll just put some light oil around the bores, crank it over by hand and give the inside of the tanks a going over with a spray of WD40.

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[digger]

kero?

[Mick_Marsh]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
Yeah the light oil is a good idea Mick. I'll have a think about how best to get hold of nearly 20 gallons :D
What? You don't service your vehicle?
It doesn't have to be new oil. I'm sure I've got a few litres of old stuff about.

[DieselDan]

What? You don't service your vehicle?
It doesn't have to be new oil. I'm sure I've got a few litres of old stuff about.

Cheers Mick. I do service it. About once every 3 years based on the time since I last took it out of storage!! :o:mad:
It's a bit too infrequent to bother keeping all the old oil, plus I'd probably get told it's a fire hazard keeping it in storage beneath a block of units!!!

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[UncleHo]

Kero is not friendly to bare metal,as I found out when it was suggested to pore down the bores of a seized s/v ford V8,it etched into the bores,I would suggest filling with diesel,or partly filling and agitating it weekly,the diesel will dilute when the tank is refilled with petrol,I will have similar problems when I re-activate my Lightweight after repairing it,(rolled end-over last year) including replacing the bodged up right tank outrigger,will start it's repair in July.

cheers