"The filler hole has a lip on the outside that will not allow me to just pour it all out"



I meant to say it has a lip on the inside. Sorry for the confusion.

 

I'm about to try the steel rod with battery tender method. Basically from what i understand the rod acts as a magnet to the rust.

 

You may need more than a battery tender. The charger will detect that it is not really hooked to a battery

and stop working. I bought a dumb charger, a manual charger that knows nothing except what I tell it. I had

to put the charger o n the "Start" cycle to get enough power for electrolysis to take place. After the

learning curve the process worked well but is a little nasty. Find the post with detailed instructions and

you can do this. Before the electrolysis I used a light steel chain inside the tank to loosen as much rust as

I could. I put the chain in the tank and shook it violently for several minutes, up to an hour, a few minutes

at a time. The chain removed most of the rust and the electrolysis did the rest.

I think my charger was actually putting out about 10 amps or so.

 

I used muriatic acid and then filled it with coca cola to keep it from flash rusting until I lined it. Worked great.

 

Tell me more about the process with muratic acid............that is a lot of coca cola.

I ask because I have muratic acid available close to home.

 

I have posted before about having your tank properly cleaned, repaired and sealed in that order. The average Joe does not have the ability to do this properly. If you can remove all the rust then what is left, holes and pinholes at the bottom of the tank that leak. You have to remember sealers like por15 and Red Kote, cream ect do not fix leaks. They seal the bare metal in the tank after the tank has been cleaned and repaired so no more rust will form. The bottom line is spend the $200.00-$300.00 to get it done right and you will not look back.

 

If its as bad as you say a new / used tank may be the best way out. Custom tanks are not that hard to find. For starters, complete your profile by adding your location and the bike year and model to the signature line. You never know, there might be a member nearby with a good tank at a fair price. If you watch eBay like a hawk, good tanks do come up at fair price butcha gotta move fast.



There's lottsa ways to get the rust out, it's the pin holes that'll put your efforts to null. If you're pulling rust flakes out with a magnet that won't fit through the petcock hole... Yikes!



Chains, gravel, steel shot, phosphoric, muriatic, Naval Jelly, and other methods coupled with kerosene rinses, more rinses, and rinse again. It doesn't get any cheaper than gravel, kerosene, shaking it until your arms fall off then using a garden hose to blast rinse and Coca Cola as a temp sealant. There's a post here where the tank was wrapped in towels and placed in a dryer. Yep, manual agitation will eventually grind the rust away and there's many ways to go about it, but is the tank worth the effort?

 

Yeah I understand that it may be a tough process, but like I said above, I'm broke! If shaking it for 5 hours will save me $100, I'll do it. I have been looking at replacement tanks, and some of them are affordable, but for me, affordable is still expensive. Also, (this might sound moronic) I really like the tank that I have now. It's a custom tank and the shape of it is just what I am looking for. So if I can salvage it, I would like to, but if I end up trying all of these suggestions and I can't fix it, then I guess I won't have much of a choice.



Any ideas where I can get muriatic acid?

Thanks again.

 

Muratic Acid is also known as brick cleaner.



Degrease the tank should be the first step. To remove oils, varnishes, old gas residue. The rust removal will require some mechanical method such as chain to break up the rust scale. Then you attack it with acid or electrolysis.



Electrolysis does not eat good metal like the acids will. It moves the rust (iron oxide) to the sacrificial anode. You have to clean the anode at least daily and be sure it does not short out on the tank.

You need a box of Washing Soda powder (Arm & Hammer is the most common brand in the US), this is NOT baking soda along with the coat hanger or a zinc anode from the boat supply house. Then the charger or power supply. The current will drop as the anode is coated and this slows or stops the electrolysis.



Either method may reveal leaks or pinholes through the tank bottom or seams. They may not show immediately if the paint is good as the fuel may take time to work its way under the paint until it breeches the paint. So where you find a leak may be some distance from the pinhole or larger hole. The POR kit comes with some mesh for applying with the POR to seal/patch leak areas on the outside of the tank.



The POR or even the Caswell kit needs a very dry tank, which if you have rust scale it isn't easy because rust scale will retain water. You do NOT want to seal water inside your tank and tank liner.



Improperly applied or prepped tanks will have a failed tank lining which is a real mess to strip and redo.

A 5 gallon drum of Acetone will cost you $100 or more. The deluxe or std tank holds about 4.5 gallons to fill.



ADDED > (Was in Walmart yesterday, rarely go there, their price here in southern AZ was under $17 for a gallon of acetone. BUT they don't have 5 gallons on hand... Home Depot & Lowes had it for 18-19 a gallon the first time I bought a 5 gallon drum. The drum was cheaper then.)



David

 

I've just added the muriatic acid into the tank with some water to fill it to the brim. I am planning on waiting about 48 hours then rinsing it and possibly doing it again. I was talking to my girlfriend about it and, because she's much much smarter than me, she suggested I could take it to a local DIY carwash where they have pressure washer wands that are used for the carwash process. Would it be a good idea to use these on the inside of the tank after the acid breaks down the rust a bit? They are probably not as strong as a true pressure washer, but they certainly are much more powerful than any hose. Just thought I would see if any one has tried this or heard it's a bad idea...

 

Old Okie, good point about the tender.

 

I've just added the muriatic acid into the tank with some water to fill it to the brim. I am planning on waiting about 48 hours then rinsing it and possibly doing it again. I was talking to my girlfriend about it and, because she's much much smarter than me, she suggested I could take it to a local DIY carwash where they have pressure washer wands that are used for the carwash process. Would it be a good idea to use these on the inside of the tank after the acid breaks down the rust a bit? They are probably not as strong as a true pressure washer, but they certainly are much more powerful than any hose. Just thought I would see if any one has tried this or heard it's a bad idea...

Sounds dangerous and messy. The pressure wand at a car wash just does not seem like the right tool for cleaning the INSIDE of a tank. But what the hey, it's your project, not mine. Just be careful and be sure you and any spectators are wearing protective gear, most importantly, eye shielding. Be sure to let us know how it works.

 

The pressure on the wands at one of the car wash places is high enough I would be concerned about losing control of the tank. It is very light compared to the pressure on one of those wands. Have a strong friend hold it OR secure it in a meaningful way to something with some weight.



Then report back about how it worked out.

 

There are lots of methods, but my preference (especially on a BADLY rusted tank) is to use mechanical agitation....ie, put some soapy cleaner in the tank with a length of chain and shake the hell out of it. It will break down the rust chunks into finer particls that will exit the petcock hole.



Acids (phosphoric, Hydrochloric [muriatic] etc) will desolve rust to a certain extent, BUT also disolve metal, which WILL thin the tank wall and open up and pin holes or weak spots. I myself would only ever use a acid (phosphoric) as a prat of the coating process in lining the tank. A tank does NOT have to be 100% rust free to line properly .... BUT it MUST be 100% "moisture free" to line properly. If you dont want to line the tank, then clean it the best you can and store it coated with oil (WD-40 or similar spray oil on the entire inside surface) or on the bike FULL of gas.

 

Agree 100% with mechanical agitation versus acids. Although, just for the sake of conversation, since the project started with flake rust too large to fit out the petcock hole (that is presuming the petcock and straw were removed), realistically, how much metal is going to be left on this tank? The seams have got to be all but shot. Even with the best of sealers, will this tank be safe? Or will it be spewing fuel at the slightest bump?



Not meaning to take anything away from JakeMilrods valiant attemps to save his tank, but something in his sig line: 1980 CX500C (1st project, 1st Bike) Hmmm...



Anyway, enough of my Mother Hen BS... Jake? When you have the rust sufficiently removed to attempt using a sealer, what method will you be using to thoroughly remove all moisture and dry the tank? Just curious.

 

Alright, so I went to the carwash and used the wand to pressure wash the inside. It was not so much pressure that the tank flew around like crazy. I just put my foot behind it so it didn't slide. It removed some of the rust, but since the wand was rigid, I could not get into all the corners and sides of the tank. It removed a lot of the rust on the places that it could reach, but all the other spots still have rust. Next step is soaking it in some rust remover for a couple days, then using the mechanical agitation, as it seems from this forum that most of you approve and recommend this method.



I am planning on using a dry gas formula to remove all the liquid from the tank before adding the tank sealer (as I understand it, the tank does not have to by completely physically dry, just rid of all moisture that would cause corrosion under the seal, am I wrong in this?). Approve or disapprove? Thanks.

Also, any recommendations on the tank sealer? I've heard that Tank Kreem makes some quality stuff.

 

After the tank is free of all volatile fumes, how about a hair dryer, a low temp bake in a conventional oven (preferably electric since a byproduct of natural gas combustion is water vapor) or at least set it in the sun for a day or three with something like a rag over the inlet to keep out whatever. I'm thinking the sealer you chose will have prep instructions.

 

Take a look at the Caswell sealer. I have used it and it is good.

 

Just used about 3000 BB's and about two feet of chain inside the tank. I shook it til my arms went numb, took a break and shook it some more (about an hr and 10 mins of actual shaking time). Most of the rust is up and out of the tank, finally. There are still some small sections on the the inside I can see that have some rusty spots, but I think with the in line filter I put on it should be ok. After all the acid washing and crazy solutions I tried, it just needed a little muscle. Thanks for all the help everyone

 

Persistence and elbow grease pays off! Any pinhole leaks? You gonna seal or not?

 

don't have too much time to search now, but do a search for 'tank snake'...it was a contraption I came up with when i cleaned the inards of my tank. pretty effective...much more so than shaking some screws and such inside. Will search and edit my post later...electrolysis is awesome too.

 

Now this is what I call a timely post. I was looking for your posting of the "snake" today and couldn't remember what it was called. I'll be making one up this weekend to clean out my spare tank.

 

Once you get to a point where it's dry and you still have to get all of the little bits and dust out, you can duct tape a smaller diameter hose like a fuel line to your shop vac or house vac and suck it all out. Your neighbor's air compressor with the pointy tip is also good for force blowing it out.

 

I searched for pinhole leaks just by filling it with diesel and letting that sit for a few hours and checking every so often. There don't seem to be any leaks but I know that sometimes the paint can cover them up. I am having a friend come over today to help me with stripping and re-painting (he does this for a living while not in school) so during that time I will check again.



When I shook everything loose I used a soap solution instead of doing it dry. Should I repeat this process or possibly wait until the inside of the tank is dry and do it then? Or is it as clean as it's going to get (I know that's a hard call to make as you can't see the inside of the tank) using these processes?

 

You can check the internals with a flashlight and a dental mirror. Harbor freight has a variety of them. I just used a coathanger, a busted piece of mirror and duct tape. I have yet to use that 'kens electrolysis' set up on my tank, but HAVE used electrolysis to clean up a lot of fasteners, and other pieces parts with GREAT success. I have always said the next time I would clean my tank would be via electrolysis, and frankly after snaking it out, and running in line filters, there is very little if at all any sediment worth mentioning in the float bowls on the carbs.



When I was done with my tank I flushed it until nothing but clear hot water was coming out of it, and then dried it using a an industrial heat gun (glorified 18A hair drier!) that I used to dry the tank inards...a regular hair drier will do nicely. just remove the petcock and reserve tube/screens so you can have some air movement through the tank. I probably spent about 15 to 20 minutes drying out the tank?



Keep us posted on this! eager to see the new paint!

 

Hmmm.... Don't depend on me to be the final say on this project. Nope, there's too many variables. Everyone has their own methods. Leaks can occur weeks or months down the road. Best I can say is to read what others have done, pick a method, cross your fingers, and hope that it works. So far it looks kinda like you're doing your own thing.



Question: Are you going to use a sealer or not? If so, follow the directions. If not, stock up on inline filters, you're gonna need them.

 

So an update to an old thread:



I did the electrolysis with sodium carbonate. Worked very well, except I learned it must have line of sight, and the deluxe tank isn't too friendly for this. I then used vinegar. WOW! One night soaking and tons more poured out. Rinsed and let soak one more night. Rinsed. Neutralized with baking soda. Rinsed, drained, added WD40, gas. Done!

 

On my GL1000 tank that sat for 20 years, I used a wire bottle brush on a flexible wire, well actually three of them, then I filled it with a bucket full of pennies and shook it for a couple hours, then I emptied in a half gallon of Zep Rust Remover for concrete stains for Home Depot. Then rinsed with gas and compressed air. Then sealed it with Red coat. It's been working like a charm for five years.