Plugging that Big Petcock Hole

[MisterCinders]

No, get your mind out of the gutter.

Actually, I want to de-rust and clean my tank. It has a little bit of rust, but nothing too horrible.

I went through the process spelled out in other threads, but one detail escapes me.

The hole for the petcock on my bike is oblong (like a jellybean shape). How can I plug that up so I can seal the tank and fill it with vinegar or other de-rusting solvents?

I thought about wedging a bit of spare fuel line tubing in there and covering with duct tape. What else might work to keep that part sealed up?

[JEEPRUSTY]

Tuck construction sealing tape works alike a charm.
It is so sticky that it will peel off paint though.

I have only tried it with evapo-rust not with gasoline or other chemicals.

[Adler]

I've seen someone bolt a piece of metal to the hole (using the existing bolt holes) with a piece of inner tube as a gasket.

I just used some good duct tape.

[MisterCinders]

Tuck construction sealing tape works alike a charm.
It is so sticky that it will peel off paint though.

I have only tried it with evapo-rust not with gasoline or other chemicals.

I need to re-paint the tank anyway, so that could work for me.

[Smokinapankake]

I used a small piece of wood and an old inner tube as a gasket.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Make sure to put the bolts in regardless of what you use

[Bustedknuckles]

i de-rusted and relined two gas tanks, both times i just used a big ol' patch of duct tape pressed on real hard and it worked fine. the first time i even forgot to cover the bolt holes when it was being re-lined!

No worries though, the "red-Kote" i used was soft enough for me to use a pick to clear out the threads to where i could put the bolt in. i learned my lesson for the second tank though, found some random junk bolts that fit.

[sschering]

I just used the petcock but it needed a rebuild anyway..
Vinegar didn't do anything to it..

Can't say how it would stand up to evaporust.

[Nessism]

[MisterCinders]

Ed's pictures = thousands of words.

Where'd you get that flat piece of rubber for the rectangular piece? I don't have a fuel gauge to plug, and I have a crappy spare gas cap for sealing the top. That bracket and rubber set up for the petcock would be perfect.

[850GT_Rider]

Ed's pictures = thousands of words.

Where'd you get that flat piece of rubber for the rectangular piece? I don't have a fuel gauge to plug, and I have a crappy spare gas cap for sealing the top. That bracket and rubber set up for the petcock would be perfect.

A gas cap is NOT a tight seal - it's got a vent hole.

[Nessism]

Where'd you get that flat piece of rubber for the rectangular piece?

Any strip of rubber will work. I used a sectioned piece of old heater hose that was laying around.

[Notz]

I first tried duct tape on the petcock opening, and after about 4 hours the 5 gallons of warm vinegar solution started leaking. Emptied all that out, then tried cork and duct tape with the Marine clean in the POR15 kit, which worked pretty well, but still a bit of seepage. Then I cut a piece of inner tube and drilled some holes through a thick paint stick and used a couple of replacement bolts and washers and that did the trick. No leakage at all. Then did the acid etch and sealant steps. 4 days later I had a rust free tank!

I found a $2.79 fill neck plug w/wingnut at a local hardware store that I would highly recommend. Pic attached.

[Lulu7404]

I used an $.89 1.5" rubber stopper from ace hardware and used a hacksaw to cut two sides down to fit the oblong shape. no leaks and its been derusting for 5 hours now. used the wing nut pipe sealers like "on some guys website" for the fuel gauge and filler neck.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

For what it's worth: Tank Cleaning: with Evapo-Rust











The rubber stopper leaked a little, but it was only Evapo-rust and didn't hurt anything.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff