rust in gas tank

imported post

I'm in the same boat and looking for the easier softer way to deal with a rusty tank.

I like the look of the evaporust oldtoys1961 posted, but don't cherish the idea of shelling out the $90 for the 5 gallons of this stuff that would be required to fill the tank with it in the bike.

I've been watching e-bay and looking for a clean replacement so that, if it comes down to it and I have to pull the tank, rather than messing around for a few days trying to get it all cleaned out and perhaps coated, I can just get right to work putting the new tank in as soon as the old one is out. (Great, so now maybe we'll be bidding on the sasme tank and driving the price up, eh? lol)

I'm hoping to put this tank refresh off until winter time, so maybe something more attractive in the way of a solution will come along before then. Perhaps using an electrolytic process, though I don't know how effectively one would be able to remove all the moisture after the process, and how much residual setiment might be left behind in the tank.

I look forward to following this thread and hope both gumby and I find the painless solution that takes less than a single afternoon and costs less than $5.00. Seriously though, I'd be interested to hear how to avoid clogging the screen if we use something like POR-15, as well as any info about alternatives to pulling the tank.

Thanks for atarting the thread gumby! I hope we both find a better way!

Johnny

imported post

I pulled my tank, used the electronic / soda ash method and pulled many rust "condoms" out of the tank after replacing the bolt and solution 4 times over a 4 day period.

When I was satisfied, I then used POR-15, so I wouldn't have to go back to this again (ever).

Here are two "After" pics:





Follow the directions to the letter. I used a heat gun to make sure everything was dry, then waited one day (in the SoCal 100 degree dry heat) before attempting to coat it (final step). I also used a compressor to ensure that the inside of the tubes were dry. The coating material is really thick, so I had to "roll" it around the tank many times with the large level sensor hole open, in order to see and get the tubes and other irregular surfaces to coat. Once I got everything that I can see, I spent another 30 minutes to slowly roll it around some more with the openings closed. Once I was satisfied, I poured the stuff out, and used my handy dandy compressor to clear the tubes (via the petcock holes). Then, using a long air nozzle attachment, I sprayed the screens to get them nice and clear before letting it sit to dry.

Then, just to make sure, about every 30 minutes or so, I'd shoot compressed air throught the tubes via the petcock holes to ensure I'm not plugging anything up.

I let it dry for a whole week before I reinstalled the tank. Then waited another week (to do other work, like the water pump, etc), before I put gas in it.

So far, so good.

Good luck.

Tony