• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Rust spots in tank

  • Thread starter Thread starter Skyboy8950
  • Start date Start date
S

Skyboy8950

Guest
Hey guys,

I'm getting my gas tank from the "Painter" on Tuesday. When I took it off and took everything out of it, I noticed there were a few rust spots on the inside. Nothing major, just a spot here and there. Is this something I should be concerned with? Should I do something about it? Can I do it with the tanked finished? How much is it?

Thanks.
 
Not to worry. Just tape off the openings to the tank as soon as you remove everything to keep moisture in the air OUT of the tank to keep it from rusting worse. Ray.
 
In my view, rust inside the tank IS a problem. Order yourself a kit from Por-15 and seal the inside before the rust gets any worse. If you can't do this kind of work yourself, many radiator shops will do it for a reasonable fee.
 
Hi Mr. Skyboy8950,

While not critical at the moment, rust must be dealt with eventually. Feel free to check the information I've collected:

Tank Cleaning

I see Ray's point, he wouldn't steer you wrong. If it's just a few really small spots and you always have them covered with gas so that no air or moisture gets to them, you can probably ride a long time without worry. But I think it's a problem just waiting to get worse. Do you want to take care of it now, while it's a small problem? Or do you want to wait until it's a bigger problem?

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
You can still coat the tank, would have been easier before the painting. Just use caution in handeling it. Por15 kit from Eastwood should do the job.
 
Lynn is right......Don't get the por-15 on your new paint. It will not come off. I have some on my tank from when I lined it, but, I haven't painted it yet.:)
 
If it is just a "few" small spots and it is not pitted...buy yourself a sleeve of BB's and a pint of penetrating oil. Dump the BB's in add the oil, put the fuel cap on and shake it like you stole it. Dump out the mixture, rinse the tank with fuel, dump that out and ride it...:cool:
 
Dave8338 said:
If it is just a "few" small spots and it is not pitted...buy yourself a sleeve of BB's and a pint of penetrating oil. Dump the BB's in add the oil, put the fuel cap on and shake it like you stole it. Dump out the mixture, rinse the tank with fuel, dump that out and ride it...:cool:
Click to expand...

Sorry if this sounds like I'm going against you Dave, but I don't think this is a good idea. The BB's are smooth and will roll over the rust instead of scrubbing it off. Regarding the oil, this won't remove the rust. Some aquarium rocks and phosphoric acid would help remove the rust much better. If the rust has taken hold and bit into the metal, going the next step with Por-15 would is recommended.
 
Last edited:
Just to throw another entirely unrelated opinion into the mix...

... I've heard tell of excellent results from a soak in Evapo-Rust. You can get it in most auto and hardware stores -- about $20 for a gallon -- and it won't harm paint, plastic, or rubber, it won't take off too much metal, it doesn't stink or give off obnoxious vapors, it's non-toxic, and it won't hurt your skin.

It does do a great job of removing rust. Outstanding stuff. I've used it on some other parts -- even some very heavily rusted parts came out clean after an overnight soak.

I'd dump in a gallon or two, then position the tank so the rust is covered by the solution for several hours. You can keep moving the tank around to get all the spots. You can leave it for a week if you like -- Evapo-Rust won't hurt the metal.

Dump out the solution (if it's still yellow, save it so you can keep using it for other stuff) rinse with water, rinse out the water (denatured alcohol works pretty well), then add a bit of light oil, fogging oil, or WD-40 and slosh it around to coat the inside of the tank until you get some gas in it.
 
If it's light rust, Evapo-Rust will remove it easily without any chance of paint damage. Just keep your tank full if it's gonna be sitting for any length of time and you'll avoid future problems.

http://www.evaporust.com/
 
Doh!

Doh!

Hey Mr. Nessism, now why didn't we remember about Evapo-Rust? :o

Good call there, Mr. bwringer. If its minor rust, this should fix it up fine. I even mention it in my little tank cleaning article on my website. I think it was a tip from you, Ed. Then, as Mr. gearman mentioned, don't let your tank sit around empty. That's when moisture can get in there and encourage the rusting process.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
BassCliff said:
Hey Mr. Nessism, now why didn't we remember about Evapo-Rust? :o

Good call there, Mr. bwringer. If its minor rust, this should fix it up fine. I even mention it in my little tank cleaning article on my website. I think it was a tip from you, Ed. Then, as Mr. gearman mentioned, don't let your tank sit around empty. That's when moisture can get in there and encourage the rusting process.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
Click to expand...


I agree about the Evapo Rust. Great stuff. You are right Cliff, it should have been mentioned as first option.:o
 
If you put anything in your tank to sand out the rust chose wisely. Some say put sand and other small things like sand in your tank. And sand works well for sanding. They must have a trick to getting that out and ALL of it. (if you go with sand what ever you do DON'T put the gas cap back on when you shake it! it sucks to have to take it apart to clean out the sand.) You've got to clean all the rust particles out anyway but sand kinda adds to it. I've heard of nails, screws, etc. which I did not try because that tip came after there was sand in my tank (and gas cap), but the those can be pulled out with a magnet.

My tank was rusted more towards the top so either quite a bit of Evapo-Rust or you'll have to have a tub or something so your tank can sit just how it needs to to get the Evapo-Rust on the rust. My gas cap leaked when I turned it upside down maybe I need a new one though or at least the seal (maybe it was from the sand)

But I shouldn't knock Evapo-Rust too much because I didn't really give it time to work and I was one of the few with sore arms because you really gotta shake it.
 
bwringer said:
I'd dump in a gallon or two, then position the tank so the rust is covered by the solution for several hours. You can keep moving the tank around to get all the spots. You can leave it for a week if you like -- Evapo-Rust won't hurt the metal.

Dump out the solution (if it's still yellow, save it so you can keep using it for other stuff) rinse with water, rinse out the water (denatured alcohol works pretty well), then add a bit of light oil, fogging oil, or WD-40 and slosh it around to coat the inside of the tank until you get some gas in it.
Click to expand...

This is almost exactly how I cleaned my son's GS500 tank and it came out great. A gallon should be enough for most tanks. I let it soak for 24 hrs in each position.

-A couple of bottles of 91% rubbing alcohol (supermarket or pharmacy) can be used in place of denatured. The alcohol draws the water out of the seams and absorbs it. NOTE: contact with alcohol didn't affect the oem paint at all but your results may vary.
-If you use the gas cap to seal the filler you may want to disassemble and clean/oil any latching/locking mechanism because the dried Evaporust could cause problems. The GS cap dripped a little when the tank was inverted so I laid it across a plastic tub to catch the liquid.
-I removed the petc0ck and made a plate to block off the opening. It may not harm the petc0ck but I wasn't taking a chance.
-Due to the shape, the GS500 tank was impossible to completely drain thru the outlet. I propped it up so the liquid (water, then alcohol) collected in a corner, inserted a length of 3/16" ID flexible tubing thru the filler into the liquid and blew compressed air across the end (venturi effect) to suck it out. Worked like a charm. A piece of wire can be inserted into the tubing to make it more rigid.
-I would suggest immediately installing and filling the tank to avoid new corrosion.
 
gearman said:
This is almost exactly how I cleaned my son's GS500 tank and it came out great. A gallon should be enough for most tanks. I let it soak for 24 hrs in each position.

-A couple of bottles of 91% rubbing alcohol (supermarket or pharmacy) can be used in place of denatured. The alcohol draws the water out of the seams and absorbs it. NOTE: contact with alcohol didn't affect the oem paint at all but your results may vary.
-If you use the gas cap to seal the filler you may want to disassemble and clean/oil any latching/locking mechanism because the dried Evaporust could cause problems. The GS cap dripped a little when the tank was inverted so I laid it across a plastic tub to catch the liquid.
-I removed the petc0ck and made a plate to block off the opening. It may not harm the petc0ck but I wasn't taking a chance.
-Due to the shape, the GS500 tank was impossible to completely drain thru the outlet. I propped it up so the liquid (water, then alcohol) collected in a corner, inserted a length of 3/16" ID flexible tubing thru the filler into the liquid and blew compressed air across the end (venturi effect) to suck it out. Worked like a charm. A piece of wire can be inserted into the tubing to make it more rigid.
-I would suggest immediately installing and filling the tank to avoid new corrosion.
Click to expand...

Evapo-Rust gets kinda gooey when it dries out, which can cause problems. It's a lot like the dried crusty dish soap on the bottle next to your sink. So be aware of that. It won't really hurt anything, but you have to remove it.

Also, you can seal the filler opening pretty well with Gorilla Tape duct tape. I did this back before I heard of Evapo-Rust, and it held up fine against a tank full of water and phosphoric acid. (Which didn't really work... :mad: )
 
Fill the tank with vinager, let it sit overnight. Poor out the vinager and rinse with alchohol. Good to go, no paint damage or hazardous wast to dispose of.
 
I tried the 2,000 bb metod and it looked like it worked great but what I did'nt see was that the seam on the bottom of the tank. It can't be cleaned. Rust will come back and screw up the carbs it's only a matter of time. Red-Kote is the way to go. You can do it yourself, or get a radatior shop and drop $75.00
 
rust cleaning methods

rust cleaning methods

I've tried a variety of these suggestions and most of them do work in some fashion. BB's even work, they simply take longer than something with sharp edges. I found that square nuts of any small or medium size work fantastically. They have good sharp corners to chip rust with, and they're easy to pull out with a magnet if they get wedged in a crevice. A short length (2 or 3 ft of cheap hardware tore chain, the rougher the better) works great also, easier to pull out.
Penetrating oils, Naval Jelly?, converting acids, even water works well to help slide the nuts around and helps flush the crap out of the tank. One of the best results I got with a tank de-rusting using this procedure was using the square nuts and nearly scalding hot water. The exact liquid and sharp cornered objects aren't critical, just shake it till your arms nearly fall off. Flush it till nothing else comes out. THEN DRY IT THOROUGHLY. I like to place the tank upside down on a cushioned surface, and lay or direct a high wattage light onto the tank tunnel. leave it till the heat evaporates all hint of water if any was used. Upside down, the water drains better out of the welded seams at the base of the tank. I heat the tank overnight when I do this step.
If the rust was light to begin with, spray the interior with a good protective oil after you've beaten the rust out, untill you're able to fill it with fuel. Believe it or not, these tanks leave the factory with no sealing of any sort inside them. If kept fueled, they typically don't have rust problems. If the rust was heavier to begin with, then do by all means use a sloshing compound after the crud has been flushed out. I highly recommend the POR-15. It's phenomenal stuff. It is preferred to do it before painting, but I did my own tank most recently after my tank had already been painted. I simpy was more careful with all my steps. It worked beautifully. I can vouch for the POR-15 sealing pinholes.
An additional hint... To avoid using (and maybe damaging) my fuel cap, I went to Home Depot and bought a simple rubber plumbers plug that was barely smaller than my fuel filler opening. They come in a wide variety of diameters. I inserted it in the tank, tightened the wing-nut until the rubber plug swelled and sealed the opening. Worked great. Cost about $3.00.
I took out the oval shaped plate with the fuel petcock and shutoff valve, and temporarily replaced it with a shaped piece of thick sheet metal drilled to fit the 2 screw holes and a piece of cheap gasket paper.
Knock the rust loose, rinse it thoroughly, protect it with oil, fuel or slosh it, reinstall it and ride :)
 
I take the tanks on my old bikes to a radiator shop owner, who blasts the inside, then applies a strong epoxy coating, after thorough prep.
Total cost: $60. Well worth it; he does it on "show" bikes and dirt bikes, and it's permanent. (The tank is also masked off so it won't be damaged.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top