510 wagon gas tank cleaning

[Legoman27]

I've been trying to get the tank for my wagon cleaned out for the better part of a week, and i'm struggling to get the pickup tube to clear.

brake cleaner and carb cleaner didn't seem to do much

 

I've gone back and forth between evaporust and denatured alcohol trying to get anything through the pickup tube, but so far no dice

 

Anyone have any recommendations on what else I can try?

 

[benzo]

I may be at this point soon for my wagon. I saw a post once believe on YT that someone doing a Z tank used some bike brake cable to push through the pickup tube and used a drill to spin it to act as a snake and clean out the tube.

Edited July 9 by benzo

[Legoman27]

I'll have to give that a shot

I've heard some Datsuns have a sintered brass / bronze filter at the end of the pickup tube, but not sure if that's the case here

[Legoman27]

9 hours ago, benzo said:

 bike brake cable to push through the pickup tube and used a drill to spin it to act as a snake and clean out the tube.

 

That did the trick!

Needed a few tries, but I got it cleared

1/8" steel cable worked great

[benzo]

@Legoman27 Hell Yeah! Glad it worked out. Look forward to seeing posts on your tank refresh as not a lot on them. Wish you were near me as i want to do mine and could always use a hand. 

[Legoman27]

Yeah, Datsun people seem to be few and far between on the east Coast

Would be nice to wrench with some other people occasionally

 

Gas tank started out like this

Car was last registered in 99' so definitely sat for a long time

Looks like 3-4 gallons in the tank when parked

 

After a 24 hr soak with evaporust, most of the varnish cleaned up, or at least loosened pretty well. Most of that cleaned up after pressure washing and a quick rinse with denatured alcohol got the rest

 

Cleaned up a bit of the remaining  corrosion on the outside and hit it with a coat of paint last night

If all goes well and the paint is dry enough, I should be able to reinstall the tank tonight or tomorrow

 

[benzo]

@Legoman27 Yeah it is like that for me where I live. Not too many datsun guys near me or would have to drive a bit to get to each other then there's life that gets in the way.

 

Looking good! Thanks for sharing your progress. Did or are you replacing the sending unit as well? I bought one for a Z and a sedan but waiting to do the tank refresh to see which one I decide to use. Hoping no hiccups in regards to the filler hose.

[Legoman27]

@benzo Just planning on using the original for now. Bench testing it seems to be kind of functional 🤷‍♂️

I've seen some talk that a sender from a 720 truck is the same, assuming you bend the float arm to the right shape, so I may pick one of those up soon

[benzo]

@Legoman27 Got it. There is that inspection door on the floor so if that opening is big enough or made big enough to replace the sending unit in the future with the tank in the car then that could be an option.

 

If the 720 sender is close or just needs a minor mod to make it work then all good.  Hoping it works.

[edekalil]

I took out the gas tanks in my cars a ways back after not being able to drive them from having seizures. All the vehicles tanks had sat for several years. I brought them to a radiator shop in New Orleans. They dropped them into the tank they put radiator's in and cleaned them out and then coated the inside and painted the outside. So far so good. Good luck.

[Legoman27]

Got the tank installed last night

The 3/4" fuel line I got doesn't fit through the frame, so I opted to copy the previous owner of this car

Used two ~6" pieces of copper pipe to go through the frame. 4 extra hose clamps needed and I had to remove the spare tire carrier to get the tank in, but likely wouldn't use that anyway with the exhaust taking up that space

 

The level sender doesn't line up quite as much as I thought it would've, but I still managed to get the sender into the tank so it's close enough 🤷‍♂️

 

 

 

[Legoman27]

1 hour ago, edekalil said:

 I brought them to a radiator shop in New Orleans. They dropped them into the tank they put radiator's in and cleaned them out and then coated the inside and painted the outside. So far so good. Good luck.

 

Found one place an hour from me that would do that, but they quoted $400 and 6 weeks

Figured I'd give it a try it myself first, but at this point I might say that's worth it

[benzo]

@Legoman27 Looks good. Have you gotten to drive it? If so notice anything different? I ask as since the pickup tube had blockage and now clear is there any driveability differences.

[Legoman27]

@benzo

I've never actually driven this car with the gas tank installed 😅

Ive taken it around the block once or twice with an old snowblower tank zip tied to the rad support

That pickup tube was plugged solid and likely wouldn't have been able to pull fuel through at all

Just got it registered for the first time, so hoping to drive it tomorrow if the weather clears

[edekalil]

10 hours ago, Legoman27 said:

 

Found one place an hour from me that would do that, but they quoted $400 and 6 weeks

Figured I'd give it a try it myself first, but at this point I might say that's worth it

Wow got mine done for about 150 each tank but it's been several years ago, good luck with it.

Edited July 13 by edekalil

[RLJ]

Just installed the gas tank back into my wagon.

If you get 5/8” fuel line with 29/32” OD the hose will fit through the frame rails. Amazon had the hose. 
With a little heat and some lubricant the 5/8” hose will fit over the gas tank stubs and the stubs that lead to the plastic tank in the rear fender well. The stubs measure approximately 11/16” and it was pretty easy to get the 5/8” hose to go on them. 

[benzo]

@Legoman27 Makes sense. Well hope you get to drive it soon and have good results. Look forward to reading an update.

[benzo]

@RLJ Thanks for that info. Looking at Amazon now to locate that hosing.

[Legoman27]

@benzoI was able to get it out on the road this weekend
maiden voyage to the gas station then a cars and coffee

 

It doesn't really run great currently, which is likely because of the worn out original hitachi carb
I think my next plan is to put a few pennies aside and pick up a 32/36 weber

[benzo]

@Legoman27 Sweet! Glad you got it running and made it out an event. Look forward to seeing an update post carburetor swap out. 

[Legoman27]

@benzo  I've got most of my updates over in the project section if you want to check things out there

 

 

[benzo]

@Legoman27 Thanks for the link to your project page. Will keep an eye on it.

[Shagy]

On 7/9/2024 at 7:33 PM, Legoman27 said:

 

That did the trick!

Needed a few tries, but I got it cleared

1/8" steel cable worked great

We did that to clean out EGR stuff...work great.