TOPIC: OMC gas tank color

Thought I'd paint one of my metal tanks and was wondering if anyone had used Chevy orange engine paint on their tanks? Looks real close in color to me. And might hold up to gas getting on it. What do y'all think ? I think there was two different color oranges that was used on GM products. I'd go with the darker one. Had a '72 Chevrolet C-10 that I used the darker color on the engine and it looked great. jim

With age they will look more orange than original red. Sure ya can do that, if you like it. I've done a few old pressure tank restores, and "Duplicolor Ford Red" is closer to original.

But me being a chevy guy..well, ya know what my choice would be!

Gosh,I hadn't even considered Ford red.If I can get that in an engine enamel,that might be better for more top end

I repainted a tank with automotive paint in a rattle can. Cleared it after the decals were well set. I wish I would have taken it to a body shop and had done the same thing with hardeners added. Live and learn.

Jim L wrote:

Gosh,I hadn't even considered Ford red.If I can get that in an engine enamel,that might be better for more top end

Its Duplicolor "Ford Red, DE 1605" on the red cap. And its High heat engine ceramic paint.

Thanks Robby, I think I've found a close enough color to the slightly orange/red I need. It's VHT engine paint hemi orange. I bought the chevy orange a while ago today and checked it up against an area of the tank that I had compounded and it's just a little too dark. So they had the "hemi orange right beside the chevy orange and it's a little lighter. I'm gonna give it a try. Can says, chemical resistant. Maybe that will do the job. jim

Got my tank painted today and it turned out decent. Washed it down with distilled vinegar before I painted it. Worked good. Paint's close enough for me,not exact. If I ever get around to painting my OMC tanks,I'll prolly use the chevy orange with new Johnson decals. This tank was free,so I could experiment with it. I like the fact I can go to Walmart and get a connector for it and not have to rebuild it.

White vinegar is a super rust remover too the inside. Toss in a gallon and keep sloshing it around occasionally for 24 hours. Found some pries long forgotten that were outside rusted solid. Soaked in vinegar overnight, and didn't even need oil to work fine!

On the back of the spray can it said that the paint needed to be baked on at 200 degrees for one hour to achieve better chemical resistance. I put it outside against a brick wall in direct sunlight for 4 hrs in 90 degree heat. The paint actually seemed to start to get tacky again. Brought it in the basement and the paint cooled off leaving the paint feeling very hard. Supposedly is a ceramic based paint so I'll keep you posted on how the paint holds up to gas getting on it(and it will)

looks good jim, was that a rattle can, if so it turned out very good. greg

frog wrote:

looks good jim, was that a rattle can, if so it turned out very good. greg

Thanks Greg.Yep,rattle can. We'll see how it holds up.