I've just bought a 77 280z to fix up to play with and eventually make a really nice car out of. The car is in good shape to be all original. The only thing wrong with the car is the fuel tank. Full of rust. I've gave up on finding a new tank, I'm gonna redo the original. Is this a common problem for Z's?

 

I suppose any metal tank is suseptical to rust. Try the Eastwood Company. They carry a fuel-tank sloshing compound that can re-coat the interior of your tank. I think the # is 800-345-1178, in PA. I don't know if that is the current phone contact, but good luck.

 

Vicrtoria british makes polyethelyne (or however you spell it) tanks that arn't too pricey.(Atleast i don't remember them being way expensive.)

The other option is to find an openeing in the tank,maybe the hole where the fuel pump should be?,and find a Really strong magnet.You then just drain the tank and put ur arm in through the opening and try to get as much rust as you can with the magnet. Hope this helped at all. Gl

 

Yes, it is quite common on older Z cars to find rusty gas tanks. Check and see if you have a local Gas Tank Renu http://www.gastankrenu.com/welcome.htm dealer near you. They do a great job and warranty it for the life of the car.

 

Any metal tank from before the modern era of decent rustproofing metal coatings (roughly mid to late 80's) is susceptible to rust issues if the car wasn't regularly driven, sat in cold weather with a not very full tank, owner never used DriGas or IsoHeet, etc.
Bad news: The variation in tank shapes over the first gen Z's is significant enough that getting the correct replacement is very difficult.
Good news: removing and reconditioning yours is easy. The sources the others here mentioned are all great, and I'll add that Motorsport carries the POR 15 fuel tank, kit, too. As long as you wear a decent respirator, doing it yourself isn't too bad.
Depending where you live, you may have a local shop that can do it. Radiator shops often have it listed under their services that they offer.
Sending yours away is a great way to save time (though it costs more), but a lot of places will have to cut and reweld later model tanks (which are heavily baffled, making access difficult) to adequately clean them. That approach works fine, but will never pass for stock, if that's important to you. Also, USPS, UPS, FedEx and others are really touchy about shipping things that even remotely smell like gasoline, so you'll have to have it very, very clean. As in, have a radiator shop boil it out for you or spend a Saturday rinsing with really hot water and detergent. Wrap it in tons of plastic and pre-box it. Some clerks may turn you down if they find out it's a used gas tank, no matter how clean you got it. Truck freight companies (USF Reddaway, Consolidated Freight, etc.) are much easier to deal with for this stuff.
good luck!
Dave

 

I had to cut the tank apart and with a cutoff wheel and sandblasted the inside. Then I redone the lines inside. I then welded the tank halves back together. I'm now waiting on an epoxy tank sealer I ordered from a place called Caswell Inc. I'll let you know how everthing works.

 

That's a lot of work guys. The Eastwood kit isn't cheap and it's a lot of work to. I took a tank to the local radiator shop and for $95 it's like new.

 

The fuel tank was the problem. This baby runs like new! I'm tickled to death. Now to make it pretty.