How to seal rust inside fuel tank??? Gas-proof paint? Just Wire Brush Sender?

[83v6Stock]

How to seal rust inside fuel tank??? Gas-proof paint? Just Wire Brush Sender?

The sender or fuel gauge that resides in the fuel tank is covered with rust. I am afraid that rust will shed and invade other components like the fuel pump and carburetor. Is there a coating I can spray on that is gas resistant? There is also black slime on lower components of the sender.

I plan to clean it up with gasoline then carburetor cleaner and plastic brush, then wire brush. Maybe I will put a fuel filter in the rubber fuel hose inline before the metal fuel line going forward.

The sender is expensive enough, and working well enough not to replace. This restoration is getting very expensive already.

[gt pony]

If I were you I would just purchase a new tank, especially if you're restoring the vehicle. In the long run that would be the prudent thing to do, and give you better peace of mind.

[83v6Stock]

Thanks. I already bought the new tank.

[brianj]

Clean it up as you said with a wire brush, etc. Give it a shot with something like WD40 to slow the rust during reassembly, and don't worry about it as long as there are no loose rust particles falling off. Keep the tank full for a while to get a petroleum film on it, and make sure you have a good inline filter on the car. Any sort of coatings would probably cause more problems than good, and unless this thing looks like a rust ball, you will be fine.

[83v6Stock]

Thanks,

I just ordered a 5/16" ID fuel line spec inline filter at Autozone for $3.49.

I have some SEM RustMort. The pros at a body shop supply place recommended it before I paint the body with primer... I wonder if it would help... just brush it on after my cleanup work???

[webestang]

You could try and clean the sender but I would not use any kind of coating inside a gas tank. When I replaced the tank and pump in my 88 I also replaced the sender with a new unit as the old unit was rusty like yours.

[boboli]

If you can remove any electronics that might be on it, buy a gallon of white vinegar and sit it in it. It will dissolve the rust slowly. Give it a few days and then rinse it off. Only cost a couple $'s and is low effort

[83v6Stock]

Thanks for the help guys:

It looks like I need to just buy a new sender. Although I did not bend the thin arm, it just broke. I can't see how to fix it, and get it positioned to be accurate. Does anyone know of a cheap source? It looks like another 50-60 bucks on ebay now.

[erratic50]

LMR, but there is no such thing as cheap. The tanks on Mustangs stay on full forever because of the way the tank is shaped. No such thing as accurate really as the gauge sender can't go any higher than the top of the shallow part of the tank.

[83v6Stock]

I could be the world's worst solderer. But, I trimmed the plastic off a butt wire connector and soldered the crimped on connector. I found a couple of senders on ebay to get the angle hopefully close enough to work. I hope I saved $70 for a new sender. I cleaned and wire brushed enough I hope to keep rust from shedding much. I will cleanup the filter at the collection point of the fuel inlet some more with carb cleaner. I hope the new inline filter will catch any particulates. I guess we'll see.

[dagenham]

You had better just get a new sender. Otherwise you are going to be doing the job twice.

[Matt J]

I give you props for the effort, and I'm the king of trying to fix something just to see if I can, but it's 30 years old and clearly past its useful life. I'd pay 60 bucks to not have to drop a fuel tank a second time!

[83v6Stock]

Thanks guys:

I have been blowing carburetor cleaner and gas through gas lines in the sender, and on the car. As the filter paper on the sender inlet was coming loose, I found brown powder was blowing out of the gas line. I am blowing more carburetor cleaner through all the lines, and getting rid of the brown dust. It looks like the black slime has evolved into an easily airborne infestation of the brown powder form.

[83v6Stock]

It‘s purring again.

The last thing I did was cleaned the carb for the 3^rd time and installed a rebuild kit; and did all adjustments by the book. I also removed the automatic choke case, cleaned thermostat spring and parts inside, cleaned all attached pivoting parts and shaft, lubricated all moving parts.

The black slime must have invaded the new fuel pump. So, I installed the third new pump.

I blew carb cleaner at 110 psi through all metal fuel lines many times, and sometimes left cleaner sitting inside the metal lines. The invading black slime mutated into an easily airborne infestation. It turned into a brown powder. I blew it out about 20 more times, then blew brake cleaner through metal lines. This includes the sender unit that goes inside the fuel tank.

I installed new rubber fuel lines, new fuel filter at carb, new inline fuel filter at fuel tank rubber line that was not there before, installed new fuel tank.

[Falloutmike]

I went through this issue for a while then just bought a new tank. It was $120ish. No issues since the last 5 years.

[83v6Stock]

It is good to hear that you had a good resolution.

It takes me much too much time to get through these issues; and finding the time to sporadically do the work.

It is running kinda’ rough now. I ran bad black slime fuel for over 1/2 hour total before I flushed the fuel system clean with mostly new parts. I may need to clean the new spark plugs, clean the engine inside, and adjust the carburetor. With the electronic ignition, can I adjust the timing? Can someone give me tips on how to adjust this Motorcraft 2150 2 barrel carb, and tune it up?

Now it is back to Monaco. Do you think Ferarri is going to win the Grand Prix?

[83v6Stock]

The brand new plugs were pretty black with some grunge. It is running better now that I wire brushed soaked in gas wire brushed soaked in carb cleaner blew out with compressed air reset gaps.

It still is running a bit rough. The driver's side carb idle screw is almost impossible to see and turn. Any ideas?

I only run it a little, so a gas additive like gumout may not be the best for quicly cleaning the intake valves. Any ideas?

[Matt J]

The car has been sitting for a very long time, apparently, it might take a little bit of time to allow the detergents in the fresh fuel to get everything cleaned out. Keep in mind that often cars aren't parked when they're running great, so it might not have been running well when it was parked (I'm not sure of the history of the car). If all was well when it was parked, your best bet is a vacuum leak someplace, but if the car is running okay I'd run it gently for a little while to give it a little time to clear out any problems that might still be in there from the bad fuel. Check the idle settings with the car turned off, set everything in the carb to spec (I'm not the guy to tell you what that is), and check for any leaking vacuum hoses and fittings. Those will really mess with the idle. Make sure the plug wires are all seated properly and in correct timing order. Simple stuff, really. Run it for a bit unless the engine is really running bad as you don't want to damage it. If you're still having problems, then post questions that are really specific, for instance it idles rough at about 800 RPM but it runs great at higher throttle, or it stalls when I pull my foot off the gas, stuff like that. I promise you your car isn't having a problem that at least 100 folks on this site haven't had before, you just need to get to the info by providing as much detail as you can. You'll get it sorted with some patience!