Is there an acceptable level of rust inside a gas tank?
I’m currently working on fixing up a 1991 Alfa Romeo 164 and having some issues with the gas tank. It’s been patched and repainted but the interior had a lot of rust as well. Before anyone asks, no I can’t find a replacement, I searched and called high and low throughout all of North America for months and came up empty handed.
I’ve soaked it for almost a week and the bulk of the rust is gone at this point. There is no more flaking off and a majority of the tank is completely rust free. The issue I’m having is with the top of the tank where the chemicals did not make contact while it was soaking. Fumes freed up the rust and I’ve been able to scrub a majority of it off but there is still some small stuff there. At this point the water comes out clean every time I rinse it out.
Frankly, it’s an Alfa that’s pushing 200k miles, it’s a fun project not a daily driver. I bought the car because I’ve always wanted to work on a Busso engine and the gas tank was just an unfortunate repair that went along with that. I expect to pull maybe 2 or 3 years of fun and maybe a few small road trips out of the car before the body is pretty much done for. I would like to keep the engine healthy because I have some friends with experience swapping engines and if the opportunity arises I would love to give the engine a new life in a different car.
I guess my main question is how much headache might this cause if I just call it a day where I am and toss the tank back in as is?