Gas tank overhaul *Pics*

[MarkIII4Me]

Last night I found some old supra pics on my PC and came across a bunch from when I sanded and sound-deadened my gas tank. So I thought I would share.

Ok, so this nasty rusty thing is what I had to start with:

I used several course wire drill attachments to remove the factory coating. It was hella thick! Took several days to complete. I had a lot of free time back then.

I found there to be a good bit of rust along the seams, so I took extra care to remove as much as possible. After which I coated the tank with rust converter.

After which I apllied several thin coats, followed by several heavy coats of Second Skin Spectrum sound deadener. Probably a good 4mm-5mm (I no longer wanted to hear my fuel pump in the vehicle).

Mission accomplished. I can no longer hear my 285lph denso pump. Not even from under the vehicle.



Unfortunately, theses were all the pics I could find. The last part of the process was applying 2 coats of gloss black paint and then replacing all gaskets and hardware with new OEM parts from Champion Toyota.

Here is the finished product installed:

In retrospect, I would not recommend anyone going through the time and hassle to refurbish their tank. The sanding was by far the worst. I couldn't close my hands for 2 days. It would be far easier and probably more cost effective to just purchase a new one. However, if you wanted to sound deaden it like I did, this is the route to take.

 

[Enraged]

you could have had the tank media blasted (walnut shell or soda blasted, not sand) to remove the old coating, that would save you a lot of time, but it's not free.

nice writeup, thanks

 

[MarkIII4Me]

^
I considered that, but I didn't want anything to get inside of the tank. I used painters tape cut with a razor blade to cover the openings in the tank.

 

[Backlash2032]

If the coating on the gas tank is anything like the undercoating, then a sand blaster wont cut it. I used a wire wheel in a grinder and it still took days just to do the wheel wells in my car.

 

[MarkIII4Me]

The tank coating may be the same stuff. At least under the paint anyways. The factory coating on the tank is crazy thick. I went through 4 course wire wheels easily if not more.

 

[hvyman]

What exhaust is that?

 

[MarkIII4Me]

Trust Power Extreme II catback. Bought off a SF member stationed in Japan. Sheer awesomeness!

 

[suprajztwenty]

its not how it looks on the outside...its whats on the inside that counts.

i plan on going into mine and sealing it when i upgrade my pump/lines. the outside, i could care less...but kudos man, that looks killer.

 

[suprashy]

Nice job. Mine leaks from the seams when I jack up the car. I used Permatex fuel tank repair which works great, but I'm concnerned there could be a leak elsewhere in the tank that I can't see (or will become one soon). Is there an aftermarket fuel tank available? Or if I drop the tank, could a welder weld the seams? I read the Toyo tank is $600+.

 

[MarkIII4Me]

Actually I thought the factory tanks were surprisingly affordable, like less than a third of what you're saying, but maybe I'm wrong. I would be weary to weld any used gas tank in fear that lingering fumes would turn the thing into a giant grenade. If you empty the tank, drop it, grind the seams and use some kind of gas tank putty, you should be fine. Wouldn't hurt to use some sort of rust converter prior to the putty either.

 

[aloshan]

my tank was screwed as well. simply purchased a replacement one for $250

 

[suprashy]

I got the $600 quote from the online EPC. I called Toyota today for a price, but they wanted the VIN number, so hopefully I'll get a quote tomorrow, and if they are surprisingly affordable, I'll get one in a heartbeat. BTW, I agree the gas tank putty works well. Depending on what Toyo tells me tomorrow, I planning on dropping the tank as you suggested. Tks!