Best way to flush out the fuel tank

[danban]

Hi as above. My 71 westy seems to be sucking dirt through. Any ideas to the best way to flush the tank out?
Am I best to just drain it through the union on the bottom of the tank? Then fit a new union and filter?

The van sat on axle stands for 10 years I california before I got it and I did drain it all down when the tank was out. Was fine for a few months.

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[Moseley]

Best option is going to be removal - it'll need a good shake and drain repeatedly with some petrol for starters to make sure all the loose crap is removed. Then you can look at re-sealing the inner with one of the products available on the market.


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[gas1man]

Drop a large handful of stainless nuts and bolts in when shaking.
Tends to loosen the stubborn bits.

J & P

 

[Bluesnailman]

I bought some marine cleaner from 'FROSTS' that seemed to do a good job, and used gravel rather than nuts and bolts. I stayed clear of trying to seal it though. As you will discover trying to get cleaner and gravel to wash against all the internal baffles is very difficult, and the likelihood of getting a good and consistent film/seal over it all seemed really low. In my work we've shot blasted and painted bridges, and to get good paint adhesion youve really got to get the prep right. I wasnt confident that I could get teh prep right inside the tank...

Whatever you chose though, you will be dropping the engine and pulling the tank out. So you might as well.....
Change your fuel lines to proper ethanol resistent
Add a electric or manual inline fule on/off
Change hose from the filler pipe
Add some 25mm enginebay suitable sound deadening,
Assess clutch thickness
Paint tank and engine bay
Etc etc etc

Or you could just put a really good fuel filter in place and leave the rest until winter