FirstFJ60
SGT. Lincoln Osiris
I just wanted to post a thread regarding my process, results, helpful tidbits and review of Eastwood Gas Tank Sealer Kit. The reason why I had to chose to use a gas sealer tank kit was because I found out my carb was getting contaminated in my 84 FJ60 due letting "Osiris" sit close to a year with gas in the tank...NOT a good idea... DONT have them sit. The carb was getting this green residue due to bad ethanol sitting in the tank and water/moisture accumulating in tank...result Nasty green curd each time (5x times taking down carb as a matter of fact, with 2 rebuild kits later). With the help of the guys here, it was decided to clean my tank. fYI, my tank was replaced by recall in 1995.
Below are suggestions that I came across that may help you (or not) if you use Eastwood Gas Sealer kit. I ordered the kit straight from Eastwood Gas Tank Sealant Kit for Fuel System Repairs - https://www.eastwood.com/gas-tank-sealer-kits-eastwood-gas-tank-sealer.html. Note: You will need Muriatic Acid and Acetone, which is not included in kit.
I narrowed it down to two Gas Tank Sealer Kits: POR-15 and Eastwood. There was more videos and reviews on POR-15 than Eastwood. A lot of people had good results from POR-15. However, since I didn't' see anyone recently stating the results of using Eastwood Sealer Gas Kit AND I'm one that goes against the grain (thanks Garth Brooks) I decided to give Eastwood a try. When looking at POR-15 reviews (blog and vlogs), a lot of people were using a heat gun to completely dry their tank...for this reason, Eastwood became more appealing since I wouldn't have to use the heat gun until one their steps ( after Step 6) due to one of their steps uses Acetone which dries the tank completely out within minutes.
Here are two links that can be found on Eastwood regarding the directions/ instructions:
Gas Tank Sealer - How To Sealing Instructions & Usage Guide - https://www.eastwood.com/gas-tank-sealer-howto-instructions-and-buyers-guide
How to Seal & Restore a Gas Tank | Eastwood Blog - https://garage.eastwood.com/tech-articles/restore-gas-tank/
[NOTE: it may be helpful to look at the cutaway of this tank by @nikeob1 (*) Chopped in half 60 series gas tank - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/chopped-in-half-60-series-gas-tank.752305/ so you will know how to rotate the tank...it helped me. I looked inside the tank for Steps 7 & 11(wearing a mask and using a led flash light. This stuff is STRONG) to see the viscosity of the Fast Etching and Gas Tank sealer thus determining how long to hold the tank in place to coat ALL services.]
Eastwood recommends to use Muriatic Acid and add three ounces of muriatic acid to 60 ounces of water, making about half a gallon of 20-to-1 water-to-acid solution, Step 5. Disclaimer: I recommend you to follow what the manufacturer suggests; however, I used this method the first time and found out it wasn't strong enough (and my tank wasn't rusty at all) to clean the tank sufficiently. So, I decided to use 3 gallons on water and one gallon on Muriatic Acid. I found this to be really stronger and results were great! I did let the 4 gallon muriatic sit for about 30 minutes on each side. NOTE: Always pour the Acid into the water, NOT water into the Acid (lets say it has to do with a chemical reaction). I used 2lbs of Baking Soda to Neutralize the acid while still in the tank and I poured it out using the fuel pick up opening.
There isn't much Fast Etching product so you have to take your time and make sure everything is coated well before pouring it out. With your mask, look inside the holes and see if everything is coated. If you see something that doesn't have a wet look or still has flash rust, make sure it is covered...take your time. You want all the Fast Etching to cover everything so the Sealant will adhere to especially the compartment where the fuel pick up rest in. This process is challenging because of the baffles inside of the tank...and yes, I made sure the baffles were etched coated. Pour off the remainder in bucket...it should be gray looking when pouring out and the interior should look gray.
Here is the cool part, Step 8, while tank interior is still wet from Fast Etch, pour in the Acetone (1 qt). Please wear a mask!!!! I tape up the areas and found out that Gorilla tape was no match for Acetone because it was so cold, the tape pilled off the top holes when I covered it while sloshing it around. It created pressure and due to the cold affect of acetone, it peeled off quickly when I flipped the tank on its top side for a quick slosh. The reason why its the cool part (pun intended) was after I did this twice, the whole tank was dry within 5 minutes. With POR 15, it seems with every step there was a use of a heat gun or a lot of time needed for a heat gun....not so for East wood.
Regarding the drain plug. I guess I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but I wasn't understanding of how the sealant would work with the drain plug. There weren't any instructions as to how to prevent the Gas Sealer from clogging up the threads or when to leave it in after gas sealant was poured in. Here was my solution: After I poured in the 2 bottles, I sealed off all holes with gorilla tape when I slowly rotated the tank (*). I knew I wanted the drain plug to be last place the coating to dry since this is where the majority of the time, the gas would be. I followed Step 12 (Properly Coated Tank in how to instructions) and make sure EVERYTHING is covered, then pour off the excess once. I found out that draining the sealant from the hole where the fuel pick up is easier. Once, coated for 8-10 minutes twice and coating all surfaces, undo the drain plug. When I looked inside, I noticed there was a lip that the drain plug bolt came up through which I thought no sealant would come through....I was wrong. When I removed the drain plug, the Sealant was dripping like out on the outside of the threads, NOT on the inside of threads, even though the sealant was below the bolt (see pic) . I know it might sound weird but that's how it was dripping. By this time, it was curing and dripping like snot. After it drained, I took some Acetone and used a Q-tip and cleaned the inside threads just in case, then put the drain plug back in. The next morning, I unscrewed the drain plug and left it out. BTW, it had cured enough that had harden.
I left it to cure for 48 hours (as recommended) and I made sure my garage was kept at 65F or more so it would cure. Please with end results with last two pics below. I hope these little Tidbits will help when using Eastwood system. The results seem to be very durable but the true test will come when I install the tank with fresh gas and it fires up. My recommendation is do when its warmer weather if you have to do it outside. This can be done within a day easily if there is a well ventilated area and its above 60F.
Drain Plug
Before
After
Below are suggestions that I came across that may help you (or not) if you use Eastwood Gas Sealer kit. I ordered the kit straight from Eastwood Gas Tank Sealant Kit for Fuel System Repairs - https://www.eastwood.com/gas-tank-sealer-kits-eastwood-gas-tank-sealer.html. Note: You will need Muriatic Acid and Acetone, which is not included in kit.
I narrowed it down to two Gas Tank Sealer Kits: POR-15 and Eastwood. There was more videos and reviews on POR-15 than Eastwood. A lot of people had good results from POR-15. However, since I didn't' see anyone recently stating the results of using Eastwood Sealer Gas Kit AND I'm one that goes against the grain (thanks Garth Brooks) I decided to give Eastwood a try. When looking at POR-15 reviews (blog and vlogs), a lot of people were using a heat gun to completely dry their tank...for this reason, Eastwood became more appealing since I wouldn't have to use the heat gun until one their steps ( after Step 6) due to one of their steps uses Acetone which dries the tank completely out within minutes.
Here are two links that can be found on Eastwood regarding the directions/ instructions:
Gas Tank Sealer - How To Sealing Instructions & Usage Guide - https://www.eastwood.com/gas-tank-sealer-howto-instructions-and-buyers-guide
How to Seal & Restore a Gas Tank | Eastwood Blog - https://garage.eastwood.com/tech-articles/restore-gas-tank/
[NOTE: it may be helpful to look at the cutaway of this tank by @nikeob1 (*) Chopped in half 60 series gas tank - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/chopped-in-half-60-series-gas-tank.752305/ so you will know how to rotate the tank...it helped me. I looked inside the tank for Steps 7 & 11(wearing a mask and using a led flash light. This stuff is STRONG) to see the viscosity of the Fast Etching and Gas Tank sealer thus determining how long to hold the tank in place to coat ALL services.]
Eastwood recommends to use Muriatic Acid and add three ounces of muriatic acid to 60 ounces of water, making about half a gallon of 20-to-1 water-to-acid solution, Step 5. Disclaimer: I recommend you to follow what the manufacturer suggests; however, I used this method the first time and found out it wasn't strong enough (and my tank wasn't rusty at all) to clean the tank sufficiently. So, I decided to use 3 gallons on water and one gallon on Muriatic Acid. I found this to be really stronger and results were great! I did let the 4 gallon muriatic sit for about 30 minutes on each side. NOTE: Always pour the Acid into the water, NOT water into the Acid (lets say it has to do with a chemical reaction). I used 2lbs of Baking Soda to Neutralize the acid while still in the tank and I poured it out using the fuel pick up opening.
There isn't much Fast Etching product so you have to take your time and make sure everything is coated well before pouring it out. With your mask, look inside the holes and see if everything is coated. If you see something that doesn't have a wet look or still has flash rust, make sure it is covered...take your time. You want all the Fast Etching to cover everything so the Sealant will adhere to especially the compartment where the fuel pick up rest in. This process is challenging because of the baffles inside of the tank...and yes, I made sure the baffles were etched coated. Pour off the remainder in bucket...it should be gray looking when pouring out and the interior should look gray.
Here is the cool part, Step 8, while tank interior is still wet from Fast Etch, pour in the Acetone (1 qt). Please wear a mask!!!! I tape up the areas and found out that Gorilla tape was no match for Acetone because it was so cold, the tape pilled off the top holes when I covered it while sloshing it around. It created pressure and due to the cold affect of acetone, it peeled off quickly when I flipped the tank on its top side for a quick slosh. The reason why its the cool part (pun intended) was after I did this twice, the whole tank was dry within 5 minutes. With POR 15, it seems with every step there was a use of a heat gun or a lot of time needed for a heat gun....not so for East wood.
Regarding the drain plug. I guess I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but I wasn't understanding of how the sealant would work with the drain plug. There weren't any instructions as to how to prevent the Gas Sealer from clogging up the threads or when to leave it in after gas sealant was poured in. Here was my solution: After I poured in the 2 bottles, I sealed off all holes with gorilla tape when I slowly rotated the tank (*). I knew I wanted the drain plug to be last place the coating to dry since this is where the majority of the time, the gas would be. I followed Step 12 (Properly Coated Tank in how to instructions) and make sure EVERYTHING is covered, then pour off the excess once. I found out that draining the sealant from the hole where the fuel pick up is easier. Once, coated for 8-10 minutes twice and coating all surfaces, undo the drain plug. When I looked inside, I noticed there was a lip that the drain plug bolt came up through which I thought no sealant would come through....I was wrong. When I removed the drain plug, the Sealant was dripping like out on the outside of the threads, NOT on the inside of threads, even though the sealant was below the bolt (see pic) . I know it might sound weird but that's how it was dripping. By this time, it was curing and dripping like snot. After it drained, I took some Acetone and used a Q-tip and cleaned the inside threads just in case, then put the drain plug back in. The next morning, I unscrewed the drain plug and left it out. BTW, it had cured enough that had harden.
I left it to cure for 48 hours (as recommended) and I made sure my garage was kept at 65F or more so it would cure. Please with end results with last two pics below. I hope these little Tidbits will help when using Eastwood system. The results seem to be very durable but the true test will come when I install the tank with fresh gas and it fires up. My recommendation is do when its warmer weather if you have to do it outside. This can be done within a day easily if there is a well ventilated area and its above 60F.
Drain Plug
Before
After
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