Reply To: Painting gas tanks.

[Timothy McDonald]

So far, the best anode I made is this 1/2 inch ungalvanized pipe with 3/4 inch pvc to keep it from touching the tank.
Again, this tank subject is common and complicated. I found a ’46 Neptune with a steel tank but it seems they were more common mid 60’s to mid 70’s. My local outboard dealer is not happy with steel tanks and is glad they are gone..mostly?.
I can tell, the general condition of the original tank is a big issue. About painting the inside, answer is yes, you do paint but you buy special paint.
There are a lot of multi part compounds, mixed epoxies really, which will basically give you an epoxy tank inside the old tank. There are failures with these as well. It will always come back to how bad was the steel tank and how much effort did you give to cleaning the rust and patching the holes. Pin holes are one thing, large holes another. Nothing cheap or easy.
I’ve got my ’68 Evinrude tank back in the electrolysis solution. I will get every bit of rust out and see clean metal everywhere. At that point I will paint the inside with Red-Kote.
More coming.