gas tank plugged, Sea King

[ronboonville]

I have a 4 gallon tank that came with my 59 sea king 5. The outlet is plugged and since it makes 90 degree turn I can’t just run a wire thru it. The screws that hold the top on are stuck and I don’t want to use heat becuz the paint is good. I have the outlet plumbed to my air compressor with some pb blaster and 125 lbs of pressure on it. Any thoughts of something to un plug the tank?

[wiscoboater]

acetone or carb cleaner.

[auldscott]

Try chucking a short length of guitar string (5th or 6th) in an electric drill and work it down through the fitting. Just cut the end; don’t try to polish or protect it.

Any wire-wound musical instrument string about .06" or perhaps a bit less in OD should work.

Caveat: I have not done this, but I have used a guitar string for something similar. You may need a guide tube or an extra set of hands to keep the string from twisting up before it enters the fitting.

[dave-bernard]

soak it with ethanol gas works great. there might be a check valve in there. so watch the wire thing.

[Author]

Posts