I blew out the rear main oil seal in my 86 van (back-up work van) so I pulled an 87 out of the bushes (back-up to my back-up). Since it had been sitting so long I started by draining the old gas out and testing the fuel system. Well darn it, looks like the fuel pump has failed. That's funny because same exact thing had happened to the 86 when I drug it out last year (it had sat for 13 years). So I dropped the tank & pulled the pump. I had reworked the sender just before I parked it so I know it was clean then, well it sure isn't clean now. I was taught to park rigs with full tanks when long term storage is expected. Yes, the gas will go bad after a few years, but it keeps the air and moisture away from the metal parts and protects them from corrosion. Well evidently that's not true anymore. Check out the condition of things (worst of it was submerged under the gas). I'm not sure why, but I think changes to the fuel market must be causing gas to become corrosive when it sits for long periods. I've been resurrecting dead vehicles all my life and have never seen severe corrosion like this on parts submerged in fuel.









The funny thing is, this is exactly the way my 86 looked when it sat 13 years with the same gas. Next time I store one of these I'll have to fill it with something else.......diesel maybe? The thing is, I never know how long they're going to be stored, so I hate putting something other than gas in there. Maybe I'll just drain and store them dry? Tough call. Suggestions?

I had a lot of trouble with rust clogging my injectors on the 86 (with rust) after it's long sleep, so I decided to clean this tank. I rinsed the big stuff out with water, then put about 20 rocks inside (ranging from the size of grapes to the size of ping pong balls). My son & I shook the crap out of it (to break up the rust) and I washed it out again. Next I put the rocks back in along with about a cup of phosphoric acid thinned with isopropanol (eats rust). We shook the crap out of it again and left it for the night. Hopefully the acid will take out more rust during the night. In the morning we'll shake it again, remove rocks, rinse, and I'll take some more pics. To be continued. Tim