How to loose old gas... 40 Plus Gallons

[chulisohombre]

sitting for ten years id say its collected a lot of water in the tanks by now.id put in a couple of cans of heat fuel treatment and a bottle of the 110 octane booost fuel additive.get soemthing in there to help it burn.prime the old fuel out of the lines coming to the carb to get any crud out so you dont clog the carb,and see if she will run.best case scenario it will burn off the old fuel.worse case,you still have a free truck and need to take it to a shop to clean out the fuel system.i guarantee there is some crap in the fuel lines from sitting so long.check the pligs and ignition to see if it is good enough to run and see what happens.nice freeby by the way.i like it.

 

[K5dreamer]

plenty of options, but if it were MY truck. i wouldnt run that old gas in a vehicle unless realllly diluted. I would use the 55 gallon drum idea. pump as much of the fuel out as i could, then dump a few bottles of fuel treatment into the mix. then mix that fuel 1/4 - 3/4 with fresh 93 octain fuel in the tank till i burned it up. or as was stated, use it for a lawn mower, cuz ive got a few.

by the by.... awesome score on the truck, that thing looks CLEAN for having sat under a tree that long. im a little bit jealous.

EDIT - oh and as was mentioned, the fuel will varnish after a few years, you most likely need to remove the carb and soak it in a bucket of carb cleaner to get it out, not sure how to clean out the lines. I would add a temporary in line fuel filter somewhere under the hood between the fuel lines and carb, in addition to the filters already in there, to catch whatever crud comes loose over the next few months of operation. something easy to swap as it gets clogged.

 

[sweetk30]

I would add a temporary in line fuel filter somewhere under the hood between the fuel lines and carb, in addition to the filters already in there, to catch whatever crud comes loose over the next few months of operation. something easy to swap as it gets clogged.

and not a cheep glass one with plastic screen. get a good plastic one with paper element. so you can see it if pluged but the paper element will catch 98% of the crap first.

 

[Metal Twister]

Unless my eyes are really going bad, those headlights look square and that means 1980 model year. You sure its a '79?

No not too sure about anything with this beast. The door sticker says 11/79 on it so it may very well be a model year 80. It has Texas plates with no stickers on it. Bill of sale but no pink as of yet, might be in the 5th wheel after I start poking around? 36000 original miles on it so the speedo says. I had a hard time believing that till I looked at the brake peddle and gas peddle pads they look brand new. A old man had it and lost the ability to drive about 10 years ago. They put him in a home years ago and he signed the truck over to the property owners where it sat. The deal is that If I get the truck running then I go back and haul off the Fifth wheel that he hauled in there with it. So I guess I was also given a holiday rambler 5th wheel as well. Only real damage is the passanger side mirror was wiped off at some point, repaired and needs paint. Little rust in the front corners of the hood and the hood has been creased where the hindge stops. A few wires eaten through under the hood and a mountian of rat **** thatis now gone.

So the grill is an 80 GmC grill?

 

[4X4HIGH]

Anything beyond the 9th month is consider the next model year so 11/79 makes it a 1980 model.

 

[Metal Twister]

Anything beyond the 9th month is consider the next model year so 11/79 makes it a 1980 model.

Wow... Things just keep getting better. Any California Smog Equipment differences between an 79 and 80? Just thinking out loud here!

 

[bailey9r]

yea that's an 80, the model change was in Sept 79.

Octane is a flame retardant, I don't know why it is suggested to put a retardant in with already crappy gas.
Correct way is unhook the line from the carb and extend it to a tank with it switched to the smaller saddle tank (I think one is a bit smaller than the other) Start with fresh gas in a oil squirt bottle and run the fuel out. Won't take long to run it out with no restriction. then fill the tank with regular gas and run it.
Lazy way is to top the same tank with regular and additive to remove water and crud, the only problem is it will be hard enough to start the old thing as it is without the gas issue.
Dont forget you will need to change the fuel filter a couple of times anyway you go.

 

[diesel4me]

Wish I could park a truck here for 10 years,and still have it look THAT nice !..

If the gas doesn't smeel "rank",I would try running it with it...we had many vehicles at the junkyard come in with near full gas tanks and some sat there 10 years or even onger,from when a former owner ran the place,yet we got many of them running again with the fuel that was in them,and we didn't find as much varnish or shellac in the carbs and fuel system as you would expect--most ran OK after getting them started on fresh gas,once warmed up an engine will burn some pretty nasty fuel,though it might not perform well under a load..we often drained the gas tanks into a 55 gallon drum,let it sit a few days,then siphoned it out by putting the hose in only an inch or two from the top,to avoid sucking any settled water or crud out--then we'd add some 93 octane to it and some "Stabil",that helps revive the octane--we ran our torch cars and ramp trucks in it with few problems,once in a while we'd clog a gas filter--one truck we had ,someone put a large canister fuel filter on the firewall just like y diesel has,with a water drain petcock on it--we could use just about any gas in that thing!--had to replace the flter every 6 months or so though...

If the gas is completely unuseable,most town DPW garages will either take it,or have a place they can send you to dispose of it properly...you could use it to start bonfires and brush pile fires ,if nothing else...

 

[K5dreamer]

hahahahaha, dude, that coffee can air cleaner is so rat rod its sexy.

 

[Metal Twister]

hahahahaha, dude, that coffee can air cleaner is so rat rod its sexy.

LOL... While I do build Rats Rods the can was to keep the Rat shiit from jumping in the carb while power washing it. Wish it was 76 or older and pre smog. Id run a filter like that! LOL Removed a whole trash can of rat shiit and nests.... NASTY! I know when I fire it off the first couple of time its going to stink soooooo bad!

 

[Metal Twister]

Wish I could park a truck here for 10 years,and still have it look THAT nice !..

If the gas doesn't smeel "rank",I would try running it with it...we had many vehicles at the junkyard come in with near full gas tanks and some sat there 10 years or even onger,from when a former owner ran the place,yet we got many of them running again with the fuel that was in them,and we didn't find as much varnish or shellac in the carbs and fuel system as you would expect--most ran OK after getting them started on fresh gas,once warmed up an engine will burn some pretty nasty fuel,though it might not perform well under a load..we often drained the gas tanks into a 55 gallon drum,let it sit a few days,then siphoned it out by putting the hose in only an inch or two from the top,to avoid sucking any settled water or crud out--then we'd add some 93 octane to it and some "Stabil",that helps revive the octane--we ran our torch cars and ramp trucks in it with few problems,once in a while we'd clog a gas filter--one truck we had ,someone put a large canister fuel filter on the firewall just like y diesel has,with a water drain petcock on it--we could use just about any gas in that thing!--had to replace the flter every 6 months or so though...

If the gas is completely unuseable,most town DPW garages will either take it,or have a place they can send you to dispose of it properly...you could use it to start bonfires and brush pile fires ,if nothing else...

Thanks for the post
I think Im going to try it with some additives and fresh fuel mix. The question is how I drive it all out before I do the smog test after I register it in my name. Maybe I can get a temp. license for a few weeks and drive the wheels off of it before the smog check. Who knows what old gas would do to a smog check reading?

 

[K5dreamer]

if youre gonna run emissions, you absolutely have to remove the old gas and put fresh stuff in there. you can burn it later, but if you try running it while doing the emissions, im 98% sure you wont pass.

 

[Stomis]

Why not use some good gas to prime the carb to get it running than just run it out by letting the truck run at a high idle it would take about 8 hours to run the tank dry. Old gas will burn once the motor warms up did this on a car that sat for 8 years.

O.o A big rig at high idle burns 1 gallon an hour. You think a 350 is gonna suck down 40 gallons in 8 hours?

Personally I would 55 gallon drum it and let it sit in the corner of the yard til it evaporates. Its gonna take a hell of a long time though. Could always half and half the gas in the tank of a beater car.


Or you could burn it. It sounds ridiculous but if you light the top of the drum it wont explode since its not compressed. I'd still get really far away from it though cause its gonna mushroom cloud like a mofo.

 

[imiceman44]

Thanks for the post
I think Im going to try it with some additives and fresh fuel mix. The question is how I drive it all out before I do the smog test after I register it in my name. Maybe I can get a temp. license for a few weeks and drive the wheels off of it before the smog check. Who knows what old gas would do to a smog check reading?

For moving it you can get a one day pass for free from DMV, just say you are moving it from one storage to another.
If you need to run it more then you need to register it and pay for a Red sticker, it will give you 2 months to get it smogged while you work on it, but it means you pay the reg and an extra $25 I think and you can drive it.
As for the fuel, just take it out and put new gas with some additives for treatment, not octane. They help absorbing all the moisture from the tank and mixing with the fuel to burn it.
You will see more condensation in your tailpipe when you use them.
You do not want octane in the mix.
After you run a couple of tanks of new gas, you can get it smogged then start adding some of the old fuel with new, no more than 50% but preferably 25%.
DO not waste the fuel by burning it or dumping it.
I have used every drop of any fuel I got from vehicles that were sitting for a while, it works.

 

[Metal Twister]

Very Cool

Thanks for all the help here. I think I will drain it as suggested then add it back in at about 1/4 tank per fill up after the smog thing is all over. I really appreciate the help on this one. Lighting it off would be cool but not environmently friendly, besides Im cheap and want run it through the tank.
l

 

[imiceman44]

Very Cool

Thanks for all the help here. I think I will drain it as suggested then add it back in at about 1/4 tank per fill up after the smog thing is all over. I really appreciate the help on this one. Lighting it off would be cool but not environmently friendly, besides Im cheap and want run it through the tank.
l

I am not cheap, just frugal

 

[Jeremy_C]

Somebody GAVE you this truck? I hate you

 

[sweetk30]

Or you could burn it. It sounds ridiculous but if you light the top of the drum it wont explode since its not compressed. I'd still get really far away from it though cause its gonna mushroom cloud like a mofo.

he!! no you didnt say that. i put 1 qt of old gas on a 55 gal burn barrel 1 time. put chicken wire over it and a huge style cinderblock on top. i lit that and it blew the block off / chicken wire off / and every last piece of trash out of the top of the barrel like a cannon.

do not try that with 40 gal of gas. you will have a mushrom cloud on your hands possibly.

 

[K5dreamer]

yeah, im not a fan of "burn barrels" for stuff like old gas. as has been said by everyone here, you can burn it, just wait till after you get smogged, and burn it in small quantities mixed with new fuel.

 

[ktmoutfront]

1 year ago I went to pick up a neighbor ladies 1960 bonneville. Was park in 1985. After a battery and priming of the carbs, yes 3 of them, it fired and I drove it home 12 miles. Ran ok. New gas over the old made it run great.

My old gas, oil and diesel get mixed and used as lighter fluid for my stove in the shop. No paper needed.