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I have been making great progress on bringing my 1946 Deluxe Clipper back to life. Identified an overheating problem being a combination of leak in heater hose and a bad thermostat. I took the car out for a spin for about 15 miles and everything ran great, no overheating.

Got too confident and went for another ride and the car stopped 2 miles from my house. I immediately assumed the worse but then calmed down and started to troubleshoot the issue. Identified the problem was a clogged fuel filter. It has one of those fuel filters with the glass bowl underneath and the color of the gas was a deep rust color. I cleaned it out, kicked on the electric fuel pump and was able to drive it back home.

I then decided I should drain the fuel tank since it probably has a bunch of sediment in it and the gas that has been sitting in there 1/4 tank is very old.

The drain plug on the gas tank is not a normal bolt but a square nut, that I can get a 5/16 open end wrench on. I sprayed it with WD40 and couldn't get it to budge. I took a crescent out that had more leverage, but there is too much play and I was worried about damaging the plug. I thought I might go today to see if they make a socket that fits that sort of plug.

Here is my dilemma: Do I continue to try to get this drain plug out and get that old gas out of the tank, or do I just fill up the tank the rest of the way to dilute the bad gas and add some good fuel additive like BG44?

Thoughts?

You may have luck with penetrating oil but don't hold your breath. Others have tried a hot air gun along with the penetrating oil with hit or miss luck. The plugs are usually rusted pretty solid. I would advise removing the tank, pouring the old gas out and doing a cleaning. If you don't want to do that, then possibly the large capacity filter in the line near the tank as was discussed in another thread would trap the majority of rust thru a few tanks full.

If you do try and remove the plug, make sure to hold the threaded portion on tank with vise grips, a pipe wrench, or something with a good bite when trying to remove the plug. The tank portion is essentially pressed or soldered in and will twist loose without too much effort. Once that happens, there is a leak with no easy repair.

Even for older cars that see regular use, it's not a bad idea to crack the gas tank drain plug open a partial turn and retighten every few years. You might also consider replacing the threaded drain plug with a brass one if that's not what it already has.

Good advice is given above, but if you choose to try and remove the plug, a square socket wrench on the plug is the best tool to use instead of an open end wrench, vise grips, etc. The square socket will grab all four corners, not just two like other wrenches. You will still want to hold on to the threaded part that is attached to the tank with a pipe wrench or vise grips as suggested. Good luck.

(o[]o)

I'm with Howard on this one, pull the tank and have it stripped at a chem-strip kind of place and then have the interior coated with the Re-Nu process by a local garage that does this. You have really convince them to not coat the exterior, that is normally part of the process, but they will do it. Inspect the line for holes, look at your flex lines, and rebuild the pump with a fresh diaphragm from www.then-now
I take the "whole system" approach, having cared for a fleet of over 150 vintage cars, I dealt with fuel systems the most. Make every link in the fuel chain 100% good. It will avoid the kind of experiences that turn off wives and girlfriends from old cars.

I am 100% with Mr Pushbutton on this one. Do everything at once and then enjoy the car without the perpetually furrowed brow (you) and eyerolls and door slamming (female companion).

The whole shebang will cost less than having one bumper rechromed poorly. And you can shout useful advice to the owners of cars with 20K paintjobs that are being winched back onto trailers when the temperature crests 80.

Thank you OD, and JW, for the above jog. Tho' i dropped, and had a radiator shop strip, clean and recoat my gastank years ago, i've never cracked the drain plug as precaution since, and forget whether i've the original steel or brass plug.

Tho' i only buy gasoline at busy stations to avoid picking up dirt, sediment, i'm wondering if the design of my 20-gallon '47 Super's tank is the same as '47 Deluxe's 17-gallon. Should i want to remove the plug at some point,
would that allow any sediment i may've picked up to drain out?
I may not have any dirt at all, but it's nice to check after the many years, though the fuel filter at the rear of the car for the electric fuel pump i use only to prime the system before starting after the car's been slumbering a spell,
and the glass bowl filter before the carburetor both stay
clean.

Just when i get cocky and think i'm up to snuff on every
little thing, one of y'all sages gets me thinking. Thanks!

Su8overdrive, Spray the threads every day with PB Blaster. I have also had good luck with a 50/50 mixture of Acetone and ATF. After a month of soaking the threads try the square socket wrench while maintaining a good grip

I would leave that drain plug along. It's probably rust welded at this point and any strong arm attempt to get it free will probably result in breaking the bung loose from the tank. Then you have much bigger problems.