[ducpainter]

Cool, thanks for the pic, I guess that's not quite what I'm looking for after all.

Now about the sand idea...

I can speak from experience when I say river washed pea stone does a great job. You won't feel too good, but I'm sure you'll love the results on the paint, exhaust, engine cases.

 

[ducpainter]

won't scratching up the tank to reveal the steel cause it to rust eventually? Maybe I'm wrong, but I've seen steel wrust beneath a clear coat.

If the steel is not exposed to the atmosphere for long, or contaminated with skin oils/acids it shouldn't. The real issue is adhesion. Clear is not intended to stick to lots of bare metal.

 

[ducpainter]

So if it's just scratches tho, do you think the clear coating would bond to the paint around the scratch and end it covering it in the process?

Also, if it did rust, would it just be cosmetic or would it damage the integrity of the tank?

The rest of the paint would need to be prepped. If you have a dark it will be tough, but anything can be done.

Rust is like cancer. It will kill anything given a long enough period of time to work.