Drop gas tank? (1 Viewer)

[FJ60BigLou]

STILL restoring my 85 FJ60. Bought rust free frame and body 2 years ago and have made slow progress! Moving nearly everything from my rust filled 85 60 to the rust free. The "newer" truck has its gas tank, and it looks like there is less than 5 gallons in the tank that has started to turn and smells like turpentine. Removed sending unit and it looks as if there is a fine layer of crud in the bottom of the tank. I started this journey as a newbie but have gained a novice ranking now. Gas tank work is new to me so I thought I would turn to the experts. Considering options:
-On a scale of 1-5 (5 is a real PITA) how difficult is it to drop and reinstall gas tank by myself? Anything to watch for that is not in the FSM?
-Thinking of not dropping it, draining it, then using power washer through sending unit hole to spray out the crud that I can (with drain plug removed), drying out the tank, and calling it done. Thought I would need to buy a couple of fuel filters and change them out frequently.
-Another possibility is dropping it so I can get st it better with power washer (1-5 question may influence this).
- With a little help I pulled the engine and tranny from the rust bucket and put it in rust free. Maybe I'm being a chicken s**t with gas tank.
As usual, any and all advice from the experts appreciated!

 

[IslandJ]

Its not that challenging to drop the tank. Especially if you transplanted the engine and trans. I did it myself(newbie) with a floor jack and some 2x4's. Lots of PB blaster. On instal I had a couple friends over and they were helpful but I imagine not impossible to re-install with out the help. Cleaning up the thread on all the bolts helped with getting everything buttoned back up. Good time to blow out the fuel lines and replace all the rubber lines. While I had the spare tire cross member out I prepped and painted as much as possible with POR-15.
I didnt clean out my tank myself. I took it to a radiator shop who cleaned it out with some sort of bath. It cleaned out great but the exterior coating had disintegrated in areas so I also bed lined the tank on the exterior.
Like I mentioned earlier though, Im a newbie, and Im sure others will have some more advice.

 

[mochosla]

Replacing the tank is not very hard. Make sure you disconnect all the hoses though. There are 2 on the front side that are not very obvious. If you have a floor jack, use it to support the tank while you remove the straps. As for the crud inside, if you have some chain or a bunch of screws, drop them in the tank with some water and shake them around with and rinse. Repeat until clean and stand the tank on a corner to dry. If possible, vacuum the water out to help it dry faster. Oh, remove the sending unit as well as the pickup and return component.

Good luck!

 

[slacker24-7]

The hardest part is getting the hoses all reconnected on install but no big deal really. I've done it with and without a jack , both worked ok but the jack is probably simplest. Be sure and drain the tank using the drain plug before starting the job. I also went with the radiator shop as mine looked to have had baffles which would cause issues with the acid chain/screws method. If you go to a radiator shop ask them if it needs coated while they are doing it . Also I put a cheap clear inline filter in front of my Toyota one until I'm sure the system has cleaned out. It's very cheap insurance.

 

[Michael Hanson]

Hi, Drop the tank. DO IT OUTSIDE THE GARAGE ! Two people make it a lot easier. Not hard at all. Mike