How to protect clean steel fuel tank... empty

[Rowglide]

Just finishing draping scrubbing and wiping my fuel tanks clean... I can't fill the till spring(150gallons and boat away from marina.) is there any spray coating I can use to prevent corrosion till spring?

[Rowglide]

Ok I meant scraping...

[model 10]

LPS 3 might do it, If you keep it dry with some dehydrators maybe.

[Pauls]

Just brush on a coat of motor oil. It'll do a fine job of rust protection and will just mix with the diesel when you fill them.

[Rowglide]

Originally Posted by Pauls

Just brush on a coat of motor oil. It'll do a fine job of rust protection and will just mix with the diesel when you fill them.

that sounds simple enough... I'll try some heavy weight oil tomorrow.

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by Pauls

Just brush on a coat of motor oil. It'll do a fine job of rust protection and will just mix with the diesel when you fill them.

+1

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Rowglide

that sounds simple enough... I'll try some heavy weight oil tomorrow.

Military answer when placing into long term storage is to fog the tank with 10 weight oil.
Used to be thousands of trucks and tanks etc pre positioned in Germany, called POMCUS. Military got pretty good at long term storage.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/POMCUS

[Rowglide]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Military answer when placing into long term storage is to fog the tank with 10 weight oil.
Used to be thousands of trucks and tanks etc pre positioned in Germany, called POMCUS. Military got pretty good at long term storage.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/POMCUS

Is fogging with 10wt something I can do? I build a diesel spraying pressure washer to clean it, but not sure it would spray straight oil.

[hellosailor]

Motor oil would work but oil is not really designed to stick on vertical surfaces. Fogging oil, which comes in an aerosol spray can and usually is sprayed into an engine intake to coat the cylinder walls & pistons before layup, should do a better job.

You could also literally mothball the tanks. Shove in a mesh bag filled with mothballs before you close the tank up for the winter. The mothballs sublimate and coat the surroundings with a vapor deposit that prevents rust, that's why the USN literally "mothballs" ships in storage. Just take the mesh bag out in the spring, along with any excess mothballs remaining. (I'm not sure if you can leave them in with fuel.) One caution about mothballs: Ventilate any area where you have used them, the concentrated fumes can knock you out very quickly. Not good to breathe.