Vinegar to clean rusted tanks?

[cmattina]

Thinking about using some vinegar to get the rust out the oil tank and fuel tank on my 1952 NH. Are there any risks to this?

I have heard both great success and experiences where metal was dissolved by the vinegar...

[JohnnyBeckett]

hi i know it is very good for cleaning and rust on parts and i have not had metal dissolved i have got lots of parts soaking in it at the moment, it cleans up brass and copper nice as well, if the bottom of you tanks are rotten it will make it leak like any cleaning products will do

[cmattina]

hi i know it is very good for cleaning and rust on parts and i have not had metal dissolved i have got lots of parts soaking in it at the moment, it cleans up brass and copper nice as well, if the bottom of you tanks are rotten it will make it leak like any cleaning products will do

Do you dilute it?

My plan was to put it in with a bunch of small nuts and give it a vigorous shake every few days.

[JohnnyBeckett]

hi NO, do not dilute it i change my vinegar wen i looks very dirty and put new in and if they are not clean i put the parts back in again

[Gui.dorey]

Also good to “restore” chrome. Rub the part with aluminium foil stolen from wife’s kitchen soaked in vinegar. Be sure to wash it with water after and then use your favorite chrome polish.

[simon.holyfield]

Neat vinegar works fine in a rusty steel tank. Just make sure your fuel tap isn't some cheap die cast zinc alloy.

[Simon.Gardiner]

Well, I've tried de-rusting with vinegar and it was absolutely useless - so good luck to all you chaps who manage to get something out of it!

SG

[allan.walker]

I haven't tried vinegar (acetic acid) but my acid of choice for de-rusting tanks is phosphoric. This is present in many soft drinks (we've all seen the old penny being cleaned in coca-cola.)

A 50% concentration of phosphoric acid removes rust pretty quickly and, as has been mentioned earlier, it is reusable.

Available on your favourite online auction site!

[JohnnyBeckett]

hi you have to use a good full strength vinegar not that cheap stuff, get like malt vinegar also i done my exhausts with foil and vinegar and the chrome come up nice but wen i run it, it smelt like a chip shop so i had to go and get some fish and chips to

[Gui.dorey]

Well, I've tried de-rusting with vinegar and it was absolutely useless - so good luck to all you chaps who manage to get something out of it!

SG

Try vinegar essence. Not the same as kitchen vinegar which is very diluted. Haven’t tried on a tank, but for chrome it works very well.