Gas Tank Restoration - Tank RENU

[CA Victoria]

If anyone is considering sending out your Model A gas tank to Tank RENU for restoration this may be of interest.

My 30-31 gas tank had been left with fuel in it for 45 years and was in sad shape inside. Because of the degree of difficulty in cleaning and recoating the inside of my gas tank I decided to send it to a Tank Renew dealer to have it restored.

The Tank RENU process comprises cleaning, baking, sandblasting, seal coating, and baking the interior seal coating at a high temperature.

The workman explained the process and told me that he would need to put a few holes in the tank to access behind the baffles to clean them thoroughly. Afterward they would weld in plugs that could be filled with body filler. I understood that they would TIG weld the plugs onto the tank.

When the tank returned to my fault I did not inspect it well, I cleaned the exterior and used metal prep to protect it until I could get back to the filling the small holes left where the plugs were welded in. They were small 1.2" dia holes. A few days ago I begin inspecting it and was ready to fill in the small holes. What I noted was that they did not TIG weld the tank but rather stick welded it causing severe metal warping on the top of the tank.
The tank fit is still good. I had hoped to fill several small holes and not apply a thick coat of body filler to re shape the tank. Because there is a high spot, the top cannot be filled. The workman told me over the phone that they usually "beat down" any high spots so filler can be used.

There are several Tank RENU Dealers across the US, the closest one to my location was 300 miles away near Bell Ca. My recommendation is to meet with the person face to face to decide if the process and quality of work done on your gas tank meets your expectations and desired outcome. The coating process seems solid, the quality of welding done on mine was inferior for any restoration.

I have since purchased another gas tank and will pursue another route to restoration of my gas tank.