Gas tank had a leak, help!

76CHIEFTAIN18

Recruit
Joined
Aug 7, 2015
Messages
2
Hey all, my dad and I are fixing up a 1976 Starcraft Chieftain(18) and while we were moving stuff around, we must have caused a small leak in the rusty fuel tank. It went about a week before I was able to work on it again and we realized 2 gallons of gas had leaked into the boat. I got it all out, but it looks like its starting to rust where the gasoline was sitting at the bottom. Any ideas of how to stop it or what to do? I looked into Rust Converter but it said that it doesn't work on aluminum.

thanks
 

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
Welcome to iboats, 76.

Gasoline won't cause any rust. Probably what you have is some crud that got dissolved by the gas. Is the floor out of her? I would try some good cleaner like Simple Green or something similar and a pressure wash. Some of the tinnies in the Starcraft section look a mess when the floors are pulled up and a good cleaning brings them back to almost new looking.
 

76CHIEFTAIN18

Recruit
Joined
Aug 7, 2015
Messages
2
That's great to hear! Thanks GA Boater. There was some bits of screws that were left after being dissolved, I bet that's what it is. Thank you, that's' a huge relief. This restoration is getting expensive. One thing after another, but its finally ready for the water. We still have a lot of cosmetic work to go before its done though. I'll post pics soon. Its hard to this since it seems like nobody has this exact boat and we are far from boat mechanics. You guys on this forum have helped a ton!
 
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