small parts painting

[ad356]

Is it safe to sandblast the gas tank and wash it out really good? I don't want to sandblast the inside but get all that nasty paint/rust off. I sandblast most of my small parts since it is the fastest/easiest way to get everything off. I have a harbor freight sandblast cabinet and a Husky pro 60 gal air compressor which produces 10cfm at 90psi. It works well for sandblasting and everything else I could use it for. I already did allot of the other small parts. I don't want to put this tractor back together with ugly looking parts. Now my problem is that I'm going to be is that I'm going to have a pretty looking engine but a tractor that still looks its age. I at least want to get it back together and running but I'm still not willing to put it back together without at least repainting everything that is apart now.

I'm using Valspar primer and Valspar Cub Cadet yellow. I just hope there isn't a difference between MTD Cub Cadet yellow and IH Cub Cadet yellow. I don't know if the Valspar paint is color matched to MTD Cub or IH Cub. I always considered them 2 different brands.

[Rhoderman]

I don't see any reason not to sand blast the tank if you're careful. Don't dwell on the solder joints for very long, and mask the pipe fitting and cap area.
Make double dang sure there aren't any fumes that could ignite. My experience w/ sand blasting has found there is a bit of static generated.
When you paint it, use hardener as Matt has said it helps protect against gas drips causing faded paint. Hardener is nasty stuff, so use adequate protection.

[ksanders]

Be careful because no matter how good you wash it out, getting all the gas fumes out is hard to do. Just don't want to see anyone hurt.
When I was touching a few parts up this past summer, I tried Valspar yellow and it was not a perfect match to CaseIH Ironguard yellow for Cubs. I want to say it was more brownish looking in comparison.

[thenrie]

I would absolutely NOT sandblast the inside of a gas tank! You'd be much safer going to Harbor Freight or any number of hardware stores and buying a can of rust remover and soaking the tank in it. The stuff works very well and you won't run the risk of blowing yourself up.

[ad356]

i did not plan on sandblasting the inside of the tank. my concern is the possibility of getting sand inside the tank since you dont want that going into the engine. the tank has sat dry for 5 years, so im pretty sure there is no fuel left in the tank either

[Matt G.]

Valspar CC yellow is the orange-yellow of the newer cyclops, 2000 series and 3000 series tractors and is not the same as the yellow used on the IH models.