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Rust in gas tank

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tamara
  • Start date Start date
T

Tamara

Guest
I have an '85 GS450L that's been parked for awhile. I have some rust in the tank (surprisingly not too bad but needs to be taken care of). I've been doing a lot of reading and some people swear by evaporust, others oxalic acid and others shaking bbs around. I don't need that much of a workout and fishing bbs out of the tank afterwards does not sound pleasant.

The paint on the tank is in excellent condition so I'd like to use a method that will clean out and seal the inside of the tank without damaging the exterior paint.

Thanks for any help!
 
Greetings and Salutations!!

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. (Ms.?) Tamara,

You'll find more tank cleaning information on my little website. Evapo-rust will not damage the paint. Neither will electrolysis. Vinegar has also been used but takes much longer. Hit my website and read up. Here's your "mega-welcome". :)

If you are here you probably have a 30 year old motorcycle that needs about 20 years worth of maintenance. You'll find all kinds of helpful tips, procedures, manuals, diagrams, "how-to" guides, etc, in the links below. Let's get started.

Let me dump a TON of information on you and share some GS lovin'. :D

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.
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If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....
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Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Cleanup Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. This is what NOT to do: Top 10 Newbie Mistakes. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...

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Please Click Here For Your Mega-Welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike! :D

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
Thank you for the welcome!! I'm a Ms :) and I'm going to read the tips and pages you referred me to.

I'm actually the original owner of the bike. I've never been able to bring myself to part with it and buy something more "modern". Up until the last few years, I've ridden it regularly but work and life commitments meant parking it until I could give it the pampering it deserves.
 
Tamara said:
I'm actually the original owner of the bike. I've never been able to bring myself to part with it and buy something more "modern". Up until the last few years, I've ridden it regularly but work and life commitments meant parking it until I could give it the pampering it deserves.
Click to expand...
If the tank's interior is lightly rust stained (from sitting idle)- you might get lucky with some oil in gas swishing and sloshing. Both my tanks (30 plus old) show rust staining, but it doesn't worsen .
 
Hi Tamara and welcome!

I'm not the original owner of my 450 but I can certainly understand why you haven't parted with yours! I love mine, it's such a fun little bike to ride. Even when I get my dream Katana I will still hang onto my 450 for the commute to work etc.

As for the rust, I can highly recommend the POR 15 motorcycle tank repair kit.

If you're very careful when doing it, you should be able to retain the external paintwork safely, just make sure to plug the filler hole and fuel tap holes very well so none of the chemicals leak out onto your paintwork.

If you do go this path, read the instructions carefully and follow them to the letter.
 
Hi Tamara,

Welcome! I used white vinagear on a tank that had been sitting for 15 years. There was quite a bit of rust in it.

I belieive I went through six gallons of the stuff, it's very inexpensice. The tank came out awesome.

As long as you keep it filled with fuel, it should stay relatively rust free.

I do understand the benefits of a coating, I have not done it.

Good luck.
 
Vmass said:
Hi Tamara,

Welcome! I used white vinagear on a tank that had been sitting for 15 years. There was quite a bit of rust in it.

I belieive I went through six gallons of the stuff, it's very inexpensice. The tank came out awesome.

As long as you keep it filled with fuel, it should stay relatively rust free.

I do understand the benefits of a coating, I have not done it.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Likewise, I've used vinegar with good results. Just remember, immediately after you rinse the vinegar with water, use a generous dose of WD-40, or it will flash rust before your eyes.
 
Tamara,

I used Evaporust on the tank on my G and had great results, it's completely safe to use around the paint and is biodegradable also.

Welcome to the asylum...
 
Vmass said:
Hi Tamara,

Welcome! I used white vinagear on a tank that had been sitting for 15 years. There was quite a bit of rust in it.

I belieive I went through six gallons of the stuff, it's very inexpensice. The tank came out awesome.

As long as you keep it filled with fuel, it should stay relatively rust free.

I do understand the benefits of a coating, I have not done it.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

When you used the vinegar, did you dilute it or did you just fill the tank up and let it soak?
 
Tams...check out my thread in OTHER PROJECTS entitled pretty nice barn find. I did that tank with regular white vinegar and a 3 day soak to be well sure it had ample effectiveness. Youll see how to wrap the tank should you decide on a liner kit.

Once it had soaked, I drained the vinegar. Then i got a shovel full of pea gravel from the driveway and shook the crap out of that inside the tank and that knocked even more stuff loose. I rinsed it out and repeated till the gravel did not loosen anything else and removed the gravel by shaking it out the petcock hole.

Keep us posted on what your solution and results are.
 
Evapo-rust is the way to go, especially if its not too bad. Fill it, let it sit a couple days, drain and flush it, refill with gas, done. Easy as that. I would NEVER use ANY kind of liner kit on a gas tank. I have seen them fail WAY to many times. Now granted, most of them fail because they were not prepped and installed correctly, but still, to me, it's just a band-aid on a bigger problem. If you have a wart on your hand, you can either remove it or put a band-aid over it and hope it never rears it's ugly head again? Which do you prefer? I have used Evapo-rust on dozens of tanks with great results. It's not cheap (about 25 bucks a gallon), but it is reusable, I've done multiple tanks on the same 5 gallon bucket. The liners, if they fail, will clog up your fuel system and carbs and lead to more headaches, I just absolutely will not use them. If a tank is so bad that Evapo-rust won't cure it, I find a new tank!!!!!
 
The advantage of Evaporust is the speed it does the job at and its like 10 bucks for the small jug. So buying 4 or 5 gallons of it will be really expensive. AND not everyone has the time to be around every 2 or 3 hrs to slosh a little bit around so the complete tank stays wet inside.

Vinegar soak is like 1.25 a gallon tops...slower to do the job but much much more economical and it can be rinsed right down the sink as well.


If time isnt an issue, i will go with the vinegar every time.

As for liners.I hear everyone bad mouthing Kreem. I have used Kreem and the liners are in the tanks still to this day without so much as 1 issue. Been in there at least 5 or 6 years now. The issue with Kreem is the same issue as with any other liner kit...IMPATIENCE!!! I dont care what kit you use..if you dont let it CURE very well ( and I give it at least a week in a warm environment or in direct sunlight ) and you add fuel then your asking for the liners integrity to be compromised.

Since being exposed to the Caswell 2 part epoxy system, I will use that exclusively because of a few better features. First is that it is cheaper than the Kreem kits as far as I have found comparing prices.

Second...If the tank is literally rotted thru with holes, the Caswell kit will patch the holes FROM THE INSIDE and all you need to do after it has cured is to apply a little body filler and repaint the tank. Read their instructions on this issue. You duct tape over the holes, apply the liner and let it cure for about an hr and remove the tape. Then let it finish cure, filler, sand and paint. Youve saved what you would otherwise consider a trashed tank.
 
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I want to thank everyone for the great input! One last question, what is the easiest way to plug the petcock (the one on my tank is oval)? Will duct tape do the job?
 
Duct tape will woprk..but try whatever soaking solution your considering on a piece of the adhesive first to check that it wont dissolve the glue..otherwise it will leak.

Another solution is to use a junk petcock and put it in there.

Or if you kinda handy with drill and some metal snips, you can make a plate that will cover the hole and use some rubber sheeting as a gasket. Just use your regular bolts from the petcock to secure the home made cover plate.
 
chuck hahn said:
Duct tape will woprk..but try whatever soaking solution your considering on a piece of the adhesive first to check that it wont dissolve the glue..otherwise it will leak.

Another solution is to use a junk petcock and put it in there.

Or if you kinda handy with drill and some metal snips, you can make a plate that will cover the hole and use some rubber sheeting as a gasket. Just use your regular bolts from the petcock to secure the home made cover plate.
Click to expand...

Hubby is handier with the power tools :). I'll see if I can sweet talk him into cutting something down and drilling it.
 
Tell him I made one out of a electical box cover plate. Just drill the holes at the proper spacing and then use the snips to trim off the outside metal until it fits against the oval hole nicely. Some stick on screen door weather stripping will last long enough to act as a gasket too. Place it around the perimater of the petcock hole and then put the cover on. It will peel off once your done.
 
TAM...IF the bike has a fuel sending unit, tell him to use the rubber gasket as a template for making a plate to cover that also.
 
take the gasket and use a Sharpy thru the holes to mark their locations, draw around the perimeter and your in like Flynn.
 
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