It’s back…

OK, you have the D Model fuel tank back from Gas Tank Renu. You can see that they did a great job. The inside is red and the outside is black. Both are are patented coatings that are impervious to any of today’s reformulated, high alcohol based fuels.

So, rest assured that you have a gas tank for your Citroen D Model that won’t be causing you any more rust problems. The other thing is, if you should ever sell your little piece of history, don’t forget to mention what you have done with the tank, because this will definitely make your D model worth more money.

Wait a minute, before you put it back in…

Now, before we put that gas tank back into your Citroen, let’s take a good look at the compartment it came out of. There are several things you want to inspect and do before you reinstall the fuel tank.

First, we want to inspect the floor of the Citroen gas tank compartment. Water can roll right down the filler neck and into the tank compartment and end up on the floor of the compartment.

So, you want to inspect the floor, especially around that back corner, right below where the filler neck enters. If it is rusted out, you want to cut out the rusted metal and replace it with new metal. (Rust repair is a subject I intend to cover in a later article more in-depth)

If it is not rusty, you at least want to clean out the whole compartment. I like to use a scraper in the corners and follow it up with a good shop vac.

What the heck is “beading”…

Now, in the floor of the compartment you will notice what is called “beading.” This is a formed or stamped in notch that Citroen put in all the floor panels of the D Model when they made the car to give them strength and eliminate any “tin can” effect.

If you look closely at the two ends of several of these beads, you will notice a fanned out section and a cut in notch running width wise with the car. Now the purpose of this notch is to get air ventilation into the compartment as you are driving down the road.

Has your car ever been jacked up…

If the car has ever been jacked up or put on a lift by someone who did not know what they are doing, these areas could very well be flatted out and not serving their purpose.

If this is the case, you want to put a flat putty knife into these slots and reform the vents. You may not think this is important, but believe me, this system helps to keep the floor of the gas tank compartment dry naturally as you drive down the road.

OK, it’s all prepped…

Now, once you have the gas tank compartment all cleaned and any areas reshaped that needed to be, you want to paint the area with one of the better moisture curing urethane paints out there, such as Por 15 or Rust Bullet. Follow their directions for prepping and application, and you will have a nice clean gas tank compartment that is ready to accept that beautiful new gas tank.

These paints can be found at: www.por15.com/ and www.rustbullet.com/

OK, it’s painted…

At this point, because I am such a firm believer in oiling to prevent rust, I suggest that this is the perfect time to oil the gas tank compartment with the fuel tank removed.

Over the years I’ve used several different concoctions for this purpose. But, several years ago I settled on a product that is designed just for this purpose.

Use Fluid Film to prevent rust…

Fluid Film is by far the best in my opinion for this purpose. Using a base stock derived from sheep’s wool it has all the properties I like for preventing and sealing off rust. It does not evaporate like a petroleum product will. It creeps into small cracks and crevices.

It can even be used on top of old rust and will seal it off and help prevent it from spreading.

Info on Fluid Film and where you can buy it can be found at: www.eurekafluidfilm.com/

Watch for my article on Oiling a D Model…

A comprehensive article on rust prevention by oiling for the D model is in the works for this blog so watch for it at a later date.

Once everything is dry we can begin to put the tank back into our Citroen D Model, so that is next…

No related posts.