Tank Cleaning Question

Hello everyone,

Well after taking almost 2 weeks cleaning and re building my carbs I got them done and back on my 650. Still have some tuning to do, but she is running and running STRONG!

For now I am using an aux tank, but before I get it on the road I want to clean out my gas tank. Inside it looks like it has had a liner like Kreem, but it is definitely peeling. I got myself some acetone and I am ready to go to town on this tank, but before I do I have some questions.

1) I removed the petcock. Do I need to remove the cap as well? Will the acetone hurt it if I don't?

2) What can I plug the petcock hole with? I did a vinegar soak a few days ago (which did nothing obviously), and I plugged the petcock hole with duct tape. The duct tape leaked like crazy, plus I'm sure the acetone wi munch that stuff making a mess.

3) Any other advice after the acetone?

Thanks for replies and recommendations. Happy riding!

 

You might try using some old wine corks cut to fit the holes...never tried it, the idea just came to me...

After the acetone, if there's rust, try this stuff...
http://evaporust.com/

At first it sounded too good to be true, but after a good soakin, my tank is clean!

 

I don't think acetone will do anything to the cap. But why not remove it anyhow?

To plug the fuel tap opening get a piece of flat metal (steel or aluminum) and make a block off plate. Get some gasket material at the auto parts store to make a gasket for it.

One I did last year that looked like Kreem the acetone had no effect. I ended up getting the crap to soften with a long soak (many days) in lacquer thinner. I suggest you dig a loose piece out and try various chemicals before you buy a bunch of something that won't work.

 

That was a good idea MiCarl. I did just that this morning. The acetone started withering and dissolving the liner fairly quickly. I went ahead and dumped about half a quart in before heading out.

 

+1.

I was going to use muriatic acid but then did some research and found evaporust which shouldn't flash rust as quickly since its not as harsh as muriatic acid. the newly acquired 550 of mine needs a good cleaning, as well as my brother's seca 600

 

The stuff works wonders, has a long shelf life, is reusable, and protects against flash rust for like a week or two after treatment. If you order it from their website, you can get a deal on ordering more than one gallon...

If I had had the money, i would have completely filled the tank with it... here was my process..
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=3 ... rt=15.html

After i drained off the remaining evaporust, i gave the tank a good gas/oil/seafoam swirl

 

I used Phosphoric acid; twice now on mildly rusted tanks and both turned out fine.

Evaporust looks intriguing although it's more expensive.

 

Fitz I use Evaporust on everything I need to get rust off of. The thing I like it only works on rusted metal. Will NOT damage chrome, but will take rust off of it. Will not damage anything period and works like a dream! its reusable until it turns black then you dump it. And it is so eviromentaly safe that it can be poured down the drain.

 

I have been using the electro method the past few days on a tank, and on some small stuff, too. Here's some things I have learned:

1. the inside of the tank cleaned up quite nicely, from a rusty ugly inside, to a nice metal inside that I washed with phosph. acid and then gave a Kroil/PBBlaster bath

2. the small stuff cleans up really nice, too. From a rusty sending unit cover, to a rust-free sending unit cover.

3. IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!! do NOT under ANY circumstance connect the charger wires backwards. Gee.....how did I find that on out??!?!?!?! I have the rest of the sending unit about half cleaned, figured I'd change the water and let it go over night. Well, I hooked the wires up backwards, not thinking clearly that late at night, I guess. When I went out today, the almost clean sending unit now has more rust on it that it had when I started! It looks AWFUL. So, I'm starting all over again. We'll see what happens..................

Dave F