Want to see if all the varied knowledge here can bail me out once again. All I can find for a gas tank is a very rusty and porous one for my 1917 Maxwell. It is cowl mounted and very special in shape. I've split it in half and stripped one half to bare metal in molasses and just now came up with the idea of coating the two halves in fiberglass cloth and resin inside and out to strengthen and seal it and then bond both halves back together. This would have worked fine years ago but with this new ethanol tainted gas we are now forced to use I'm hearing boat owners are having fuel tank problems. Anyone know of an ethanol resistant resin I can use?
Howard Dennis
Howard,
Do a Google search for "ethanol resistant fiberglass resin" and you will find a bunch of info.
Jim
I have used West System epoxy for fuel tanks in the past, but the ethanol has changed things for sure. They have lots of info on line if you search around, and claim 5 to 6 coats of resin/hardener will work on a fuel tank, but they have a lot of disclaimers on the page about building tanks. Maybe one of the slosh around tank sealers after all the repairs are finished might also work..Good Luck,, Jim Derocher AuGres, Michigan
Howard
About 4 years ago I had to restore a motorcycle gas tank that was in about the condition your's is.
You might want to look at this product, it worked wonders for me: (4 years now and not so much as a seep)
http://www.caswellplating.com/aids/epoxygas.htm
The kit was about $40 including shipping and the shipping was prompt. The epoxy is supposed to be especially designed for adhering to rusty surfaces and also gasoline proof. I followed directions except I did not empty out the remaining resin after coating the tank, but rather let the extra settle to the bottom of the tank for an extra thick coating there.
This might work well for the inside if the tank, if the metal is thin with rust you might still want to use glass and epoxy for the outside to add strength. Be sure NOT to use polyester resin, only epoxy resin will do.
Use two part epoxy and then remove the ethanol from the gas before you put it in the tank.---Len
Gate has started carrying ethanol free gas in the stations around here but it is $4.00 per gal (that's more than diesel)
OK Leonard, Im going to ask.... How do you remove the ethanol from the gas. ?????
I've never tried it, but I;ve heard if you take a 5 gallon gas can, put in 4 gallons of gas and maybe 1/2 gallon of water. Shake it up, the water will mix with the alcohol and will settle to the bottom. Siphon off the gas and you'll end up with something like 3 1/2 gallons of pure gas.
As to the nylon or plastic marine fuel tanks: The problem was that the fuel had alcohol added. Are you familiar with the residue (some call it varnish) that built up in a tank with the old style gas? It was the result of the fuel evaporating. Adding more old style fuel to the tank didn't dissolve the residue so no problem. Alcohol does dissolve it however and the result was particles of this stuff breaking free and clogging the fuel system. Once it was gone that was the end of the problem. In a new tank with one type of gas available There's no problem.
Ok--I am going to answer again . Remember in the old days when you had a problem starting your car and parts store sold you something called dry gas.
You put that in your tank and in a few minutes your car started.
What was wrong with your car was there was water on the bottom of your tank---not in your gas, but at the lowest point in the system where the pickup line would take it to your fuel pump.
Water is much heavier than gasoline and the two cannot mix. But water can mix---lets change that word to " combine" with alcohol, and this mixture, if there is more alcohol than water will burn to the extent all the water turns to steam and pure gasoline is delivered to the carb.
Now removing alcohol --ethanol--from gas is nothing more than using this system to remove a lot of ethanol from a lot of gas with a little bit of water.
If you take a glass jug, or even a quart jar, and fill it with 10% pump gas, add 1/4 cup of water, you will see the ethanol gravitate to the bottom of the container,and combine with the water. From here on it"s up to you how you want to separate it. I pour the gasoline off and use a siphon to clear what might be left in the container after I get the easy gas separated.
Without going into detail, "up to 10% ethanol is only 5.4%" which is the minimum allowed by law. In truth that 1/4 cup of water is more than enough to separate the ethanol from 20 gallons of gas, but a little more water, speeds up the process.
My experiences with water and alcohol go back over 55 years when we injected the mixture into the 6 jet engines on B 47s. We had problems getting off the shorter runways without the assist.We found green scum and softened rubber inside the the tanks that contained the liquid. The solution--more powerful engines and the end of injection and the B 47.
I started this post about 12 hours ago, but I had to take my Lady Christmas shopping. I'm the one who puts one cup of water in my 5 gallon gas can. 100% ethanol removal with no shaking up.
I started this post about 12 hours ago, but I had to take my Lady Christmas shopping. I'm the one who puts one cup of water in my 5 gallon gas can. 100% ethanol removal with no shaking up.