What colour do you paint the tank on on overhaul or do you leave it as is ?

 

Who sees the tank?

What color was it painted when it left the factory? My guess is, it wasn't painted. So why paint it anything? Very often, for originality, people want to see the factory stamp on the tank, and that would certainly be covered up if painted. So for the sake of an original look, if for no other reason, you would want to leave it unpainted.

When I removed the tank on my car ('67 Delta) to replace the sending unit, the "USS Steel" stamp was still partly visible amongst the rust. A photo is below with the stamp circled in yellow. This demonstrates that the tank wasn't painted when car left the factory.

 

The tank had a plating on the steel that Eastwood spray paint "tank tone" duplicates pretty well. If the plating is weathered and you want a little darker color to match that look, Rustoleum stainless steel spray works.

 

You can clean it up to bare metal and clear coat it if you can't make out the stamp! My tank is covered with undercoating from days gone by!!

 

I cleaned my tank and used the Eastwood tank tone spray paint. It looks real nice.

Randy C.

 

I wirebrushed my tank and tank straps and spray painted a satin black when I dropped the tank to replace the sending unit. Not exactly original, but it is better than the multi-colored rust and silver color it was before. I like it because it now just blends in underneath the car.