Am I gonna have to replace the whole gas tank?

I am replacing the fuel filler hose and vent hose.....when i bought my 71 this hose had be ripped in half or rotted or something.... anyhow....to keep fumes down previous owner stuffed a rag in the nozzle coming out of the fuel tank. When i took the rag out and looked....the rag has held some moisture and there is some surface rust on the inside of the nozzle where the rag was.

I haven't put the new hose on yet and I'm not sure what i can do to battle this issue....i'm also worried about trying to get the rust out of the nozzle with fumes etc...possible ignite? then there is the whole question of what i can't see dodwn in the tank.....

THOUGHTS?:v6:

 

Drain it and have it cleaned and resealed. Some rad shops still do it.
There are a few here in the metro Nashville area.

 

Thanks for the advice...definately will look into that....

 

anyone got any coaching points or lessons learned pulling the gas tank?

 

Is it a rear tank? I dropped mine twice. Once to replace the rear cross member and once to try and fix the sending unit. I pretty much drained it dry. If you can get ahold of a tranny jack that might help. I used a piece of 3/4" plywood on my floor jack. Set it on the jack and lowered it down. Not too bad on a flat surface.
Not exactly sure how much gasoline weighs (7#'s per gallon give or take) but I would try to drain as much as possible. I have a Suburban that holds 44 gals. The fuel pump is in the tank. When the fuel pump went I had 1/2 tank of gas (about 150#'s) and had to drop the tank in the driveway to replace it. Not fun wrestling with 150#'s sloshing around on a slope. Kids learned a few new words that night.

 

Oh yeah, my 71' had three gas lines, make sure you mark the one going to the fuel pump.

 

"the typical weight of gasoline at 72 degrees F was around 6.25# per gallon"

 

jzeber,

man i really appreciate the tips....gonna try to get that done next week....gotta find a place that can clean it...etc... This is really step one in my process....so I am really pumped about getting it going! You have been a great help!

 

You have another option. Harbor Frieght sells a cheap borescope. (flexible lighted telescope) Pick one up and take a look inside the tank first. It might not be that bad.