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Tank cleaning

alke46

alke46

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I have found at least two radiator shops here in Omaha, Ne. that will do the fuel tank cleaning for me. I have only talked to one of the shops in person but he told me they do this all the time. Should be quite experienced at it. More so than I would be.
The process is to dip the tank and boil it out then put an acid wash in it to etch the metal and finally the coating. Cost is $65 which I did not think was too bad since they have done a lot of these and should be able to produce a "professional" finished product.
Only bad thing is the fact that they do not guarantee the paint on the tank. He said some tanks are not fazed by the dip tank and others will remove the paint. I guess maybe a fair trade off for having a rusty tank looking like new again.

What kind of questions should I ask the shop before taking my tank into them? I have seen some posting on here from some of the GS owners who are dead set against "Kreem".
So should I ask what type of coating the shop will put in the tank and be quite concerned if it is indeed Kreem?
What kind of "look" should this cleaning and re-coating produce inside the tank. I guess it should be a very smooth finish, right?

Thanks for any input you can give me and oh by the way, I want to take this opportunity to wish all you GS owners out there a very Happy Thanksgiving.
P.S......this is a great forum. Thanks for being here for all of us.

Larry
 
There are a number of products to coat gas tanks besides Kreme.
They are designed for the do it yourselfer. Kit includes rust remover and a coating product. I was afraid to do it myself (acids), so on my last bike I let a cycle shop do it for me. The kits run around $50-$60 and the shop charged me about $100 for labor. The kit on my bike left a dark finish inside.
Doing it this way preserves your paint.
I'm sure others will come along with their suggestions.
Good luck.
 
A lot of people here don't like Kreem. Probably from buying bikes with bad coating jobs.

My 78 was Kreemed back in the early 80's (by me). Like any coating job, prep is all important. It's held up for 15 years with no problems.
 
I like the "do not gaurantee the paint" part. There wont be any paint on it at all to gaurantee, Ive had them done iin the past. I used 2 gallons of Greased Lightning mixxed with water on mine , stirred it every day for 2 weeks then rinsed it until crap stopped coming out, a long time. The tank had set 9 years with gas in it and it came out looking like new with no paint damage. I did grease the outside of the tank just to be sure. Messy job, but it worked. I dont like tank sealers , Ill just keep it full. Wear gloves and eye protection, its some strong stuff.
 
I've heard that there isn't too huge of a difference if the coating on the inside is done correctly. Many people say with the proper prep their Kreem job is holding up for as long as the bike is. POR 15 is more popular.. just see if the shop will warranty the coating and guarantee they remove the rust, then you don't have to worry. Get it done right, then worry about repainting if you need to.
 
carey said:
Most radiator shops will use "red kote" to seal the tank.

Carey
Click to expand...

My sons CL360 tank was done with redkote 12 years ago and it looks like the day they applied it. Evapo-Rust works good, but you'll need a gallon to do the job well. Just keep rotating the tank and let it set for a day or more each rotation. Doesn't harm paint as near as I can tell and you can reuse it.
 
woodman said:
I like the "do not gaurantee the paint" part. There wont be any paint on it at all to gaurantee, Ive had them done iin the past. I used 2 gallons of Greased Lightning mixxed with water on mine , stirred it every day for 2 weeks then rinsed it until crap stopped coming out, a long time. The tank had set 9 years with gas in it and it came out looking like new with no paint damage. I did grease the outside of the tank just to be sure. Messy job, but it worked. I dont like tank sealers , Ill just keep it full. Wear gloves and eye protection, its some strong stuff.
Click to expand...

Where do I get the Greased Lightning?
I also have a coating in the tank now from the PO. Guess I will have to remove that some way.
 
Home Depot , Lowes or most any hardware store, its about $10 a gallon or 5 gal can for $30. I dont know if it will remove a coating though but it did remove 9 years of rust & stale gas sludge
 
I've heard that methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) can be used to remove tank coatings, but it will probably destroy any paint it comes in contact with.
 
what if its just cleaned out well with acid or whatnot and not sealed with redkote, por15, or kreem? if its clean and the tank is good, the tank shouldnt need to be sealed up, right?
 
just pasing on a shade tree repair i was told about. I DID NOT TRY IT :p
take the gas tank and put about 3 hand fulls of NUTS & BOLTS in the tank. shake it for as long as you can stand it. maybe watch war and peace :eek:. it will chip all of the rust in the tank without denting the tank. then wash out the tank. like i said i have never done this myself.
 
jed.only said:
what if its just cleaned out well with acid or whatnot and not sealed with redkote, por15, or kreem? if its clean and the tank is good, the tank shouldnt need to be sealed up, right?
Click to expand...

In my experience it's best to seal the metal after derusting the tank. The rust tends to come back quite quickly otherwise.

Regarding nuts and bolt in the tank, using some pea gravel or better yet aquarium rocks is much more effective because they have more contact surfaces with the tank; aquarium rocks are best of since they have sharp corners that really scrub the metal.
 
Last edited:
BassCliff said:
Hi,

Evapo-rust is one option. Or...

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=106016
http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=113948
http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/motorcycle/how_to/mc_tankrust.html
http://www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum/projects-how-write-ups/49040-help-rusted-gas-tank.html

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
Click to expand...

I looked at these links and noticed that in the last one, the Kawasakimotorcycle.org link, one poster mentioned that he used a Bill Hirsch product.

This is the one that I found long ago but have not tried as yet. I posted this link several times: http://www.hirschauto.com/prodinfo.asp?number=CRK-01

Bill Hirsch primarily sells items for restoring old autos, primarily Packards, and such old cars are vexed by the same tank problems as our bikes. If you read the fact sheet, he claims that his tank renewal kit (acid etch, cleaner, and liner) is the only one that is approved by the FAA for use in aircraft. This sounds very impressive to me!

I need to do this to my GS, but I really do not want to damage the nice, original paint, and I have yet to find anyone that can tell me if or how this may affect the gas gauge sending unit (do I have to remove it, fabricate a cover for the hole that this unit fills, and clean the sending unit seperately?)

Yet another project on the list to get to someday...
 
highmileage said:
I looked at these links and noticed that in the last one, the Kawasakimotorcycle.org link, one poster mentioned that he used a Bill Hirsch product.

This is the one that I found long ago but have not tried as yet. I posted this link several times: http://www.hirschauto.com/prodinfo.asp?number=CRK-01

Bill Hirsch primarily sells items for restoring old autos, primarily Packards, and such old cars are vexed by the same tank problems as our bikes. If you read the fact sheet, he claims that his tank renewal kit (acid etch, cleaner, and liner) is the only one that is approved by the FAA for use in aircraft. This sounds very impressive to me!

I need to do this to my GS, but I really do not want to damage the nice, original paint, and I have yet to find anyone that can tell me if or how this may affect the gas gauge sending unit (do I have to remove it, fabricate a cover for the hole that this unit fills, and clean the sending unit seperately?)

Yet another project on the list to get to someday...
Click to expand...

Yes, pull the sending unit and make a block off plate. I fabricated block off plates for both the petcock and sending unit using plate aluminum and sheet rubber. For the main opening I use a large rubber stopper with a hole drilled though the center for a long screw and moly - so the plug can be cranked down to seal off the tank. Having good seals is very important since it's critical to rotate the tank and leave the solution to dwell on the various surfaces of the tank for long enough to take the rust off - whole process will likely take several days to do properly. And some aquarium rocks or pea gravel really helps too so you can scour the metal surface.

That material would most likely be fine. I'm a fan of the POR-15 stuff myself.
 
i may be different, but i dont care about the paint on the outside. i plan on repainting after the tank is cleaned and good to go. i just dont like the idea of "silly putty" inside my tank. the bike came with a tank that had been "treated", and honestly couldnt if rust was in there or not, due to the color and consistancy of the "sealer". i ended up hacking the tank apart anyway, and what do you know, rust... and molasses.
 
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