ttodhunter Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Hi everyone, I've been a member on here for a while but just picked up my first Z last week. It's a 1976 280Z with solid frame rails! The only rust I could find was surface rust on the floor boards, and the spare tire well was almost completely rusted out. I have since dropped the tank and cut out the tire well, but upon inspecting the fuel tank, there appears to be a bit of rust inside. I guess I have a few questions: 1) Should I try to duplicate the spare tire well or just weld in a flat piece of metal? (I guess I don't really care about having a spare) 2) How can I remove the rust from the tank? 3) Should I just switch to a fuel cell? ...a) Is there a way to hook up the stock fuel guage to that? ...aa) I have a Walbro 255lph pump. Should I install this while I'm in there? Would I run into issues with a stock system or can the regulator/return handle it? I've attached some pics, I know the fuel tank ones are hard to see, but it's tough to get the lens and flash down there. I apologize if I failed to search sufficiently, but I wasn't able to find what I'm hoping to find. Thanks for the input! Tyler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModernS30 Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 If I were you I would cut a larger chunk of that spare well out. There is still cancer rust on there, no way of stopping it without cutting all of it off. Personally I would go with flat sheet. Have a radiator shop boil out the gas tanks and coat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttodhunter Posted October 7, 2010 Author Share Posted October 7, 2010 Don't worry, I'll take care of that rust. Thanks for the info on the radiator shop! I'll call around today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daver Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Hi everyone, I've been a member on here for a while but just picked up my first Z last week. It's a 1976 280Z with solid frame rails! The only rust I could find was surface rust on the floor boards, and the spare tire well was almost completely rusted out. I have since dropped the tank and cut out the tire well, but upon inspecting the fuel tank, there appears to be a bit of rust inside. I guess I have a few questions: 1) Should I try to duplicate the spare tire well or just weld in a flat piece of metal? (I guess I don't really care about having a spare) 2) How can I remove the rust from the tank? 3) Should I just switch to a fuel cell? ...a) Is there a way to hook up the stock fuel guage to that? ...aa) I have a Walbro 255lph pump. Should I install this while I'm in there? Would I run into issues with a stock system or can the regulator/return handle it? I've attached some pics, I know the fuel tank ones are hard to see, but it's tough to get the lens and flash down there. I apologize if I failed to search sufficiently, but I wasn't able to find what I'm hoping to find. Thanks for the input! Tyler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daver Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Tyler, I just refurbished the gas tank on my 76 280Z. I used POR-15 tank renew kit. It worked great. It took about a week to allow for venting and drying. One word of caution is to follow the directions completely. There are other coating manufacturers such as KBS and Eastwood. While you have the tank out replace all of the fuel hoses. Here's the list of hoses I used Replaced all Breather hoses: Top of Gas tank to reserve tank: 5/8" (16 mm) Bottom of Gas tank to reserve tank: 1/4" (6.3 mm) Vapor line from Reserve tank to hardline: 1/4" (6.3 mm) U-shaped 3/8" Vent hose: Reserve tank to filler tube Replaced all fuel vent hoses: tank return line 7/16" (11.1mm) Tank outlet line to fuel pump 3/8" (9.5 mm) Placed Fram G-3 Filter at gas tank outlet and electric fuel pump inlet. Good luck Tyler. Dave Ruiz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttodhunter Posted October 7, 2010 Author Share Posted October 7, 2010 Awesome info Dave, thanks a ton! Will the Marine Clean or Prep & Ready remove the rust sufficiently? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodoldjam Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 (edited) Awesome info Dave, thanks a ton! Will the Marine Clean or Prep & Ready remove the rust sufficiently? It works good, Marine clean works real well when you boil a big pot of water. I used it with a pressure washer and basically tryed to blow off the big scale. Then did about 4 pots of boiled water and that's when the rust started breaking loose. After you get it clean enough then you use the prep. Edited October 7, 2010 by goodoldjam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z2go Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 +1 for the POR-15 system. I did my fuel tank with it and it turned out nice. You definitely want to make the whole process take a couple days, if you rush it, it will not turn out well. The hardest part is sealing off all the holes so the solutions can soak on every surface. The dirtier the tank, the longer it needs to soak. I had a pretty clean tank with only a few blemishes on the inside, and I let it soak for half a day, turning it all around to get the varnish off. You know you've really got it clean when you stick your nose inside and all you can smell is fresh metal. I took some pictures of the process and posted them on here, let me know if you would like the link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttodhunter Posted October 7, 2010 Author Share Posted October 7, 2010 Sure, pics would be awesome. What did you do with the solution when you were done? Is it Hazmat? Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z2go Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Here's the link, it's mostly about the sump that I added, but hopefully there's enough info for you for the cleaning process. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/90977-my-stock-fuel-tank-sump-kit-modinstall/page__view__findpost__p__861837 The solutions are considered hazardous, definitely wear gloves. If you read the MSDS sheet on the POR-15 website, it says the specific precautions and what you can do for cleanup and how to neutralize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodoldjam Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 (edited) Sure, pics would be awesome. What did you do with the solution when you were done? Is it Hazmat? Thanks guys. Marine clean is probably safe enough to dump on the ground (oddly it's water based) really there is no other way to dispose of it. Metal prep you can reuse so your going to want to catch that, probably not a good idea to dump that. The extra sealer you dump it back into the can and let it harden. Edited October 7, 2010 by goodoldjam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19762802+2 Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 One thing though, If you cut out the spare completely are you going to put in a fuel cell? because I don't think the stock tank will mount without the spare as the tank rests against the bottoms of the spare, You could probably just make some rectangles out of the flat piece so the tank has something to rest against. Otherwise I don't think you could mount the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttodhunter Posted October 8, 2010 Author Share Posted October 8, 2010 Hahaha, yeah, that makes sense! The things you learn after cutting out the spare tire well.... I did order the POR Fuel tank repair kit today but maybe I should look more into the fuel cell... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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