I just took out my gas tanks, and I have to say they are pretty rusty. I don't really want to have to get them professionally cleaned - how can I go about getting all that rust out myself?

here's some ideas for you http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112260&highlight=rust+tank

have a pickup truck? fill them up 1/4 with gravel and rip down some back roads...

They also sell a paint that you pour in, shake around and it seals up everything. Just don't use fiberglass because the new E85 (in the USA) eats through the fiberglass.

I just went threw this with my car. I need new ones, but I replaced all the lines between both tanks with new ones and drained all the tarnished gas from 14 years of sitting in both tanks.

I say do waste your time cleaning them/ or patching them if they are too bad, just find another car to get them from, or replace em.

i loaded a tank full of gravel and duct tapped it to a cement mixer turned it on and walked away for a day. works like a hot damn but is noisy as hell.

That is a great idea Mike. Maybe I could wreck my mom's dryer since I don't have a cement mixer.:devillook

This link might help - not sure if they cleaned inside the tank though.
http://www.coeinc.org/BMW320i/Fuel.htm

so the general consensus is that I should get some marbles and kerosene, shake them around in there for quite a while, clean it out, repeat, and then put some POR15 in there?

No. Por 15 sells a tank repair kit. If you get that follow their instructions. If you don't, then use rocks, nuts, marbles whatever and don't bother searching for kerosene since diesel is the same thing.

kerosene and diesel are differnt. kerosene has shorter hydrocarbons than diesel but longer than petrol. kerosene will run in a hot petrol engine diesel will not. jet engines run on kerosene not diesel. kerosene is often used as a cleaning agent in engine rebuilds or as a degreasing agent when cleaning blocks ect. you can make a petrol engine run on kerosene but they wont start on it so twin fuel tanks are reqired.

I would not use rocks... seems counter to cleaning as they break down into dirt as they bang around. Stick with steel nuts/small bolts.

BTW jet engines WILL run on diesel, I've run marine propulsion turbines (Pratt & Whitney FT4-A-same as used on early 727's) on JP5, marine diesel and arctic diesel-all worked fine. Jet engines will run on just about any flammable liquid you can get into them and meter correctly.

Finding a good used set is the best bet.

ken

comershial jets are run on kerosene not desil i should of put. also yes desil engines will run kerosine but they genrally over heat as it runs too hot. desil engine will also run on engine oil vegtable oil lots of things. the point is kerosene or parafin as we call in in the uk is differnt from desil/fuel oil.

I found the gas tank cleaning kit here: http://www.por15.com/prodinfo.asp?grp=FTRK&dept=11

is that something i'll have to order or do they have those at auto parts shops?