From: Vernon Tuck (vtuck@tucklings.com)
Date: Sat Jan 24 2004 - 11:46:28 PST
I'm not sure I know the answer to that.
But here's what I know about the enemy. In fact, this is why I much prefer
diesel vehicles.
Although some nasties can grow in diesel fuel it continues to be diesel
fuel.
Gasoline on the other hand becomes something which decidedly is not
gasoline. I have often heard the word "varnish" used appropriately.
After 40 years of sitting around in a tank gasoline turns into some really
really bad stuff. Even if you drain the tank there will be layers of it
caked in there... waiting for some nice fresh gasoline just so it can
partially re-emulsify... just enough to float free and invade new
territory... such as your painstakingly rebuilt carburetor.
As to precisely how the cleaning is done I'm not sure. There are shops
which specialize in this work. I know they put tanks in a vat. I imagine
they use muriatic acid or something similar.
After the crud is gone the next issue is rust. The military tanks I've seen
have thoughtfully been galvanized.
On a '51 M37 years ago, I was talked into using something called "sloshing
compound". It was touted as being the ultimate answer to all my problems.
Afterward I heard someone say it was a blend of hogwash and snake oil...
Another shop I talked to (but did not use due to the extreme cost) had a
process where they cut a small hole in the tank and then did some kind of
new fangled bonding process, after which they then re-closed the hole.
The price of this was on the far side of ludicrous.. or so it seemed at the
time.
In summary, I don't know the best way. But any way is far far better than
no way.
VT
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