GALVANIZED GAS TANK

[Robert Wilson NCRS#1337]

Any one have a technique to restore the orginal "natural" galvanized finish to a gas tank. My orginal tank is in excellent shape but dull with minor rust/corrosion of coating. Has any one tried the zinic metallic coating Eastwood sells. Any help would be appreciated.

[Jake Sovia]

Re: GALVANIZED GAS TANK

Robert, I used the Eastwood zinc paint that you mentioned on my tank, and I am very satisfied with the results. I used a scuff pad and some lacquer thinner to help clean and prepare the surface. Good luck. Jake.

[Juliet P.]

Re: GALVANIZED GAS TANK

Robert, I've got some of the Eastwood Zinc Galvanized paint and have used it quite a bit. It works great for protecting surfaces, like on the window mechanism brackets inside the doors and other non-visible galvanized pieces. However, the finish of it in my opinion does not resemble the original galvanized finish. It's really thick and you need to stir the stuff up from the bottom and almost scoop it out.

But.... it looks like flat grey paint you'd see on a NAVY battle ship. There may be ways to get a faux galvanized finish out of it, but I haven't heard of any. If you need it to touch up spots here and there which have a bit of corrosion which you're sanding & touching up you might get away with it, especially if they're not visible but if you're asking from an appearance to original galvanized finish point of view I don't think it's close enough. But for protection it's fine. Hope this helps. ~Juliet


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[Robert Wilson NCRS#1337]

Re: GALVANIZED GAS TANK

I am going for appearance. Thought of trying to just clean up with soap and maybe some steel wool. It appears dull with a slight powdery finish to it. I was hoping for some technique to return its orginal appearance. Thanks for the input on the Eastwood paint. Glad to hear from some one before I tried it and could not reverse what I did. There is no real rust on it now just an appearance of light brown corrosion if that makes any sense.

[Brett Driscoll]

Re: GALVANIZED GAS TANK

Hi Robert, My gas tank was in fairly decent shape. I used Mother's mag wheel paste cleaner and polished it with an old cotton rag.It might be a little too shiny but I think it will dissipate over time.I hope this helps. Brett Driscoll Member #26846

[Iron Duke NCRS #22045]

Don't use steel wool!

The coating (zink?) darkens with age and the white spots are probably an oxide. Use a scotchbrite pad without too much pressure to clean it with a stong detergent. Don't use steel wool. Steel wool will abrade the coating and leave microscopic iron particles behind, which will corrode. Since the tank is tough to see once its in the car your primary concern should be whether the original corrosion resistant coating is intact. Sounds like it is, so a good cleaning and only driving is nice weather should get you another 20 or 30 years of service.

Duke

[Patrick H.]

Re: GALVANIZED GAS TANK

Robert,

From personal experience, I would avoid the steel wool. You will likely rub through the galvanized coating, and rust will start on the exposed metal (trust me here).

The Mother's polish idea, or a similar polish like Maas' sounds like a better idea.

Patrick Hulst