No idea how the original tank filler neck got so rusty. Inside of the orig. tank was pretty clean except for one line of rust along a seam about 18" long and about 3mm wide. Replacement tank cost $275 delivered to my driveway.

There was some goo in the replacement tank but I got out most of it with a spoon and some flat sticks. Also, I hung the replacement tank by a rope and sloshed a couple of gallons around to clean it out. The little Harbor Freight hand pump made it easy to get rid of the dirty fuel. Radiator shop wanted $125 to clean it out, but I didn't feel like having to supervise them as they would probably have not done a very good job. Bought the enzyme fuel additive and regularly run Stanadyne.

It occured to me that when the plant is up on the boil, it needs all 3" of that tank strainer. Start limiting the available fuel and you get power problems.

Seriously, it seems like someone put a new engine in this thing. I should have done this job 5 years ago.

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