I pulled the gas tank out of my 76 Cherokee due to filters clogging with varnish and rust. When I looked inside the tank, I noticed a layer of what looked like talcum powder on the bottom of the tank. I scrubbed it out as best I could, and got to the clean metal underneath, but there are portions of the tank that I could not reach, and I can still see the junk in there. I got quotes to boil out the tank and seal it from several local and semi local radiator shops, and the average quote was $200. I found a plastic tank here: http://www.bjsoffroad.com/prod-259.htm that is about the same price.

I am new to Jeeps, and I was wondering if it would be better to rehab my steel tank, or go with the plastic replacement tank? Any advice for this newb would be appreciated.

 

If you are planning on wheeling the FSJ then you're gonna end up putting a skid plate under it anyway so go plastic and save yourself the hassle of getting the tank boiled.

 

Have you considered DIY? A couple 3 bottles of 'the works' toilet bowl cleaner (K-Mart or Wal-mart)$2-3.. Let it soak a few hours, slosh it around every 30 min. or so and see how it looks, soap & water to clean out chemicals, final water rinse, blow it dry (hair dryer or shop vac) and if it looks decent enough, get some liner for it. I see you already used a lot of elbow grease on it.. maybe spend $12 to see if it'll work. But if I was going to choose between having it boiled or new plastic.. I'd go the no rust inside or out route

 

Thanks for the info guys... I just wasn't sure how the plastic tanks hold up for a little trail riding. I may try to chemically remove the scum, but so far, it has been pretty resistant to everything but carb cleaner, and then it turns into this thick paint-like paste that is harder to wipe out. I think I will try that plastic tank, and see how it holds up.