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Yikes, problems with rusty tank!

JHawkins said:
As far as the Cabot Trail ride, you have two weeks man, you will have her ship shape by then! If I guess right you won't sleep well at night until she's fully repaired!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I have one night at home between right now and the Cabot Trail ride. Not looking good as of right now, and this is my big trip for the year. Getting phosporic acid tonight...
 
Jethro said:
Unfortunately I have one night at home between right now and the Cabot Trail ride. Not looking good as of right now, and this is my big trip for the year. Getting phosporic acid tonight...
Click to expand...

Well, lets keep our fingers crossed! - I could bring in a por-15 kit and we can do it up at the airport if you trailer up! Wouldn't be the first last minute repair I have done. It's only a tank, at least its not something that requires rocket science to diagnose!
 
Jethro, send that tank to illinois,they'll clean treat it and you will never deal with it again!!!!!!!!! You won't even need a repaint!




bmac
 
Hey Billy, did you use a mix of water and the phosporic acid? Lord says 1:4 (acid:water). And did you use something to neutalize the acid after? Again Lord says baking soda/water. Just wanna make sure it comes out good.

I got some stuff Leo recommeded, Behr Concrete Etcher and Rust Inhibitor, that's the phospho acid, right Leo?
 
Jethro said:
Hey Billy, did you use a mix of water and the phosporic acid? Lord says 1:4 (acid:water). And did you use something to neutalize the acid after? Again Lord says baking soda/water. Just wanna make sure it comes out good.

I got some stuff Leo recommeded, Behr Concrete Etcher and Rust Inhibitor, that's the phospho acid, right Leo?
Click to expand...
I just got the phosphoric acid at Home Depot out of the paint department and used it full strength. I didn't neutralize, just rinsed it out with a hose to get all the crap out that the acid removed. Then I repeated the process and used paper towels to get as much water out as I could through the float hole. After that I used a blow drier to finish drying out the tank. Since the bike will be sitting a while I used a solution of naptha and motor oil to leave the tank coated with oil while it sits.
 
Jethro said:
Hey Billy, did you use a mix of water and the phosporic acid? Lord says 1:4 (acid:water). And did you use something to neutalize the acid after? Again Lord says baking soda/water. Just wanna make sure it comes out good.

I got some stuff Leo recommeded, Behr Concrete Etcher and Rust Inhibitor, that's the phospho acid, right Leo?
Click to expand...

thats the stuff....my rules of mixing come from when I played with moped tanks...these tanks were WAAAAAY more rusty than yours...
 
Jethro,


Money spent: $ 50.00
Money saved: $150.00
Bood,sweat and inhaliants: to be determined later????
equals end result.............


A tank that doesn't leak and does not need to be repainted,






PRICELESSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I,m pulling for you. I hope it went well for you. bmac
 
I did a first flush last night, pretty much just put in a 50/50 mix of phos acid and water, about 2 1/2 gallons of the mix, 2 handfulls of 1/4" nuts, swished it around and let it sit for an hour while I smoked ciggs (away from the tank) and shaked it around every 10 minutes. What came out was a lot of little rust flakes, and the mix was real dirty. No real huge rust flakes came out, so that makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I flushed with water and dried like Billy, with paper towels through the sending unit hole and a heat gun set to low (and put outside for safety). After that the spots that were red and rust caked were no longer red, but still eveident. I'm gonna flush again tonight, after working a 16 hour day and see where I am at. I guess the real test will be how it all looks after sitting around all next week with a full tank of gas in it. I'll be away from the bike, so hopefully all will go well.

I have decided that no matter what it takes, I'll be going on the Cabot Trail run. Worst case scenario is that I have to micky mouse my 81 tank up to the 83 for the run. I don't care if I have to hook IV bottles full of gas up to the friggin' tank for the weekend. But based on last night's progress, I think I'll be fine. Let's just pray that no pin holes open up on me in the process. If they do, I have a Kreme kit that I am doing everything in my power to avoid using. My older 81 tank came that way and it was a huge, huge mess.
 
Jethro said:
Looks like I have a date with Mr. POR-15.

Draining the tank into a funnel with a cheesecloth paint filter brought forth about 1/16th of a lb of rust. Nasty. Float bowls were FILLED with rust, it's a wonder I made it home. Anyone who has done the POR-15 job have some tips? Can it be done in a single evening? I have the tank drained and off the bike, sprayed some fogging oil in there for the time being.

If I can't get it done in a night, I'm out of the Cabot Trail run. I have no time between here and there...
Click to expand...

When I prep my rusty tanks, I add clean, rinsed small rocks and stones with the acid. Then work the tank like your dipping pork chops in a shake-n-bake bag! This will help to dislodge stubborn rust you can't see. Rust ALWAYS is at it's worst down low in the seams (water is heavier than gas, and will always rot the very bottom of your fuel tank). Don't do my "pebble-prep" trick if you have a severely rusted tank, as it will most likely generate pinhole leaks where the rust has seriously devoured the tank.
 
I used two boxes of 1/4" nuts in place of the rocks you mention. The tank is very solid, I think all the rust I am encountering is surface only.
 
2nd treatment under way... let's hope she holds gas tonight!
 
Well things look good. The inside of the tank really looks nice, no more rust at all. Thanks to Leo and Billy, I think the tank will be fine. I filled the tank with gas and not a single leak. The tank is defintely solid, it had just developed surface rust that was making quite a dust. You should have seen when I first shook around the loose nuts and bolts, then used the shop vac as a blower. Like red smoke for about 3 minutes pouring out of the filler!

That acid is nasty stuff BTW. Got some on my hands and OUCH! In about 2 seconds my hangnails were on FIRE. I hope the paint isn't gonna peel, I did get some of the water/acid solution on there, but I flushed it hard with water, then dried it perfectly and put wax on the tank. looks like it will be ok.

Glad I didn't have to use that Kreem!
 
I was happy with the results I got. Once I get things back together I'll probably do one more treatment to be on the safe side. If the tank had any old wax on it you should be fine as far as the paint goes. I got a little on mine and it didn't seem to hurt it.
 
Now you know what your smoking problem was !!! You were burning steel dust:-D:-D:-D
 
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