I cleaned the last tank i did by letting the inside soak in solvent and then sticking the pressure washer nozzle in the tank through the pickup hole and going to town. You will get wet. It takes some time but you can clean it yourself. Just be sure to rinse it put good and dry it with compressed air when you're finished. I let the tank sit for a day to dry and then used a heat gun to remove any excess moisture. It was crude but effective and it worked perfectly!

 

I'm going to do just that. Did you re-seal or surface the tank after you cleaned it or did you just fill it up and rolled with it after it dried?

 

I also cleaned mine myself. The baffles in our tanks make it a challenge. I had the added "bonus" that my tank was coated with "red kote". I think that, because of our baffles, coatings are hard to be applied evenly inside causing the gas to eventually get under the coating through uncoated areas or areas where it is thin. I also found that "red kote" can break down at temperatures above 150 degrees. I live in Texas. I ended up heating my tank over a fire on top of a tin. Once the coating turned to charcoal, I power washed the heck out of it best I could and many, many rinses.

Texas summer heat helped the drying. I installed the tank with no in tank filter (it desintegrated) at first. Put a cheap, clear in line filter 3/8 inlet/outlet outside between tank and pump, filled it up, ran three or four tanks through. Probably went through four plastic filters. Once the filters ran clear, I dropped tank again, put in a Bosch in tank filter for a second gen (it fits decently on the pick up tube) and a replaced plastic one outside with metal one 1/2" inlet/outlet for better flow and good since.

In your case, I would get a five gallon paile of super clean from orileys, make five or ten strings of five or more clean nuts (not too small, but not too big that they could get stuck between the baffles, and count how many you put in/out) hang tank safely, fill tank with two gallons of super clean and five of water, and shake, shake, shake. You can clean what you can see in the tank easily, so concentrate where you can't see or reach. Rinse and repeat until it. Comes out clean.

If you are not going to start filling/ using the tank right away, dump about 8oz of 20w50 conventional oil in it and spread it around to keep the flash rusting to a minimum. Drain as much as you can before using the tank.

Read, research, use your imagination, and ask questions. I also would not cut the tank. I also could not find anyone around here that would "dip" or clean my tank, so I made do and I got lucky, I guess. Good luck.

 

I did not seal the inside of the tank as it looked really good once I was finished. Thinking back on it, its somethingI should have done. I did undercoat the outside of the tank though. There was no rust on the tank's exterior and it did have some scuffs from moving it around while cleaning it so I just went ahead and shor the whole tank before install. Took about a day to dry and it was back in and filled with gas.

 

I restored my own tank. I used a kit from KBS Coating. It’s called KBS Tank Sealer System. You just need to have patience doing this.

 

I used the KBS product on an old motorcycle tank I was restoring a while back. It's a great product and you're right, it takes patience. The baffles have me discouraged about resurfacing because I've seen a few instances online where they wind up having to go back in the tank, by cutting, because the product didn't take well. Tell you what though, this solvent I got is kick ***! GUNK part no. HS3, $32 bucks a gallon but we'll worth it.

 

Well worth it

 

RxTodd,
I went through this process two years ago... and ended up just buying a new fuel tank and fuel pump, and sent the injectors out to have them professionally cleaned. Sounds like your problem isn't as bad as mine, but since I plan to keep the car forever, I opted to just buy a new tank for a few bucks more. They were available two years ago. There is a thread that talks to what I did. Lots of helpful folks on this forum who can help.

 

I too am planning on keeping this car. Before I commit to a new tank, I've cleaned the tank to the best of my ability, the solvent soaked in and broke up a lot of the crud and rust that was inside. I power washed the parts that I could see got out lots of fine rust. I'm not going to resurface the inside but give it 2 or 3 alcohol rinses to get out more junk.

Does anyone know if I install one of those see thru fuel filers between the tank and pump,, would it disrupt the amount of flow or starve the injectors of fuel? I'm figuring to send fuel through a couple of those filters with get out the left over rust dust and partials in the tank. Any feedback is always welcomed and appreciated.

 

I added a clear filter because I wanted to protect the new fuel pump from the gunk you mentioned. I did check the pressure in the engine bay and it was good. Full disclosure, I did not check flow rate but everything worked fine. Once the engine ran for a couple weeks I swapped it out with a new one. I have not seen any performance issues that would suggest a flow rate problem and I don't think there will be an issue as long as it doesn't stop up. Although I intended for it to be temporary, I left it in place for now and will keep an eye on it. Assuming your pickup tube screen is OK, it really isn't needed once you have confidence the lines and tank are clear.

 

Thanks jk,
Your experience with this exact situation is just the nod I needed to proceed. It's been pretty cold here so I'm just waiting for a warmer day to hang the tank and hook it all up. I pushed compressed air through the lines to clear them but will spin the engine a few times with the lines off just to see and clear any debris left behind.

Thanks again!

 

Thi nice thing is the car lasted this long, you'll never have to deal with this again. Gas quality has improved, so fewer chances of getting a bad batch that may have water in it.

 

Hey friends, does anyone know of an override or a hot wire to check injector function? Installed motor with all new ignition parts, cleaned fuel tank with all new hardware, fuel pump, filter, hoses. I put a see through filter under the hood and fuel is moving through it. I even tried pull starting the car with my truck but it still didn't start. Any suggestions?

 

I would first apply 12V to each injector and confirm that the injector is clicking with 12V applied. If both are clicking then it means that the injector is functional. Often times the injectors will gum up and stick with the old gas sitting in them for a period of time.

The next thing you can check is injector pulse at the connector. Using a noid light made for Bosch injectors, you can plug the noid light into the connector and crank the engine over. From here you can confirm injector pulse sent to each injector. This confirms that the wiring, ground, and source voltage is good for the injectors.

 

Thank you for responding to my recent problem Dave. I sprayed some starting fluid into the throttle body and sure enough, it fired up. I'm pretty sure that the injectors are clogged or malfunctioning. This engine did sit for at least 6 years, maybe longer so I'm hoping that is the current problem. RockAuto has a refurbish service you can buy where you send your injectors to be thoroughly cleaned, tested, and tp be fitted with new o-rings. I took the set from the engine I replaced and sent them away. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

How are your cars running and are you guys having any problems? I've got an FB manual transmission with 144k if anyone is interested.

 

My cars are all running well. I sorted out all of the running issues on my 85 with the 13B EGI swap last year. I built the car in 2008 and it had always ran amazing. Last year it started running as if it were running on one rotor. A compression test confirmed the engine was in amazing condition. Turns out I had rodent damage to the coil ground at the ecu. Had weak spark but all ignition components were in excellent condition. I opened the 85 FSM and looked at the wiring diagram and started back probing for voltage, doing voltage drop tests and checking the grounds in the ignition circuit and found a half chewed ground for the coils ground at the ecu. Now the engine runs amazing!

Currently working on my 85.2 Porsche 944. Getting it ready for some cruising this summer. I have a few more things to do on my 88 10th Anniversary RX-7 and a couple things to do on my 1980 RX-7 Leather Sport. I'll stay busy this spring getting all of the cars ready to roll for the summer!

 

SWEET! I was in high-school in the late 80's and you've got every car I had on my wish list. I had an '81 GSL that was one of the best cars I've ever owned. I friend of mine had an '86 944 n/a and it was a beast. I really didn't understand what I had at the time but realize now. I drove a '69 beetle prior to that. I used to salivate over the Turbo II's, literally, but could never afford one in those days. I'm sure you thoroughly enjoy all of your automotive works of art, especially the Special Edition '88. That is also a Turbo correct?