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RE: [T3] FI Fuel Tank restoration - revisited


On 17 Apr 2006 at 5:51, big.al@bigblackdot.net wrote:

> Now that I've seen the drawing, I'm not sure I want to do the sealant...
> but the sealant is quite thin when it dries.

I don't know if we know of anyone who has done this and gotten away with it. 
It's possible, but I'd be extremely leery of trying. John's suggestions would 
give you the best possible chance of success, but the problem is that we really 
don't know how tight those passages are, or how crowded with rust, etc they 
already are.

I wonder if one could find an interested small child (small hands/arms) who 
could be persuaded to reach in the tank and push a wire thru those channels. It 
would be interesting to find out how much stuff was still in there and how 
large a wire one could push thru.

There are also a couple of small vent tubes that you have to keep clear, and I 
think if you probe those with a wire you'll find that they are not just simple 
straight tube stubs. You don't want to plug them up, either.

The Bentley manual has instructions for cleaning and then treating the inside 
of a gas tank to prevent re-rusting. I believe this is just a simple phosphate 
conversion coating that is essentially zero thickness. This method has zero 
chance of clogging something up.

Personally, I would never consider any kind of actual coating. I don't think 
it's a good approach to the problem, and I think it's likely to cause more 
problems..   

The main thing to understand is that the tank won't rust again as long as you 
keep water out of it. Chances are that the overflow hose is cracked, and those 
cracks let in water and dirt which caused the current problem. Make sure you 
fix that hose before you put the tank back in service.  

-- 
Jim Adney
jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, WI 53711-3054
USA

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