Rust spots in tank

[Skyboy8950]

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.

[rapidray]

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.

[Nessism]

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.

[BassCliff]

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

[SqDancerLynn1]

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.

[Larry D]

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.

[Skyboy8950]

Good advice. I will take it under consideration!

[Dave8338]

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...

[Nessism]

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...

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.

[bwringer]

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.

[gearman]

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/

[BassCliff]

Doh!

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

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

[Nessism]

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

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

I agree about the Evapo Rust. Great stuff. You are right Cliff, it should have been mentioned as first option.

[biker_guy]

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.

[gearman]

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.

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.