Kreem removal part 2

[Nessism]

New project bike has a rusty mess of a fuel tank with a failed Kreem sealer job inside. Went though this before and managed to get it out using paint stripper but this time a good portion came out with the first application but after that, the Kreem crap is holding tough; it's soft and rubbery but hard to break free from the tank walls. Did a web search and read some good stuff about using MEK so off to Lowe's for a couple of gallons (not cheap by the way). Dumped in about half a gallon along with a scoop of pea gravel and that the coating is softening, but I don't think it's quite as aggressive as the dedicated stripper stuff. I've invented all kinds of shaking techniques intended to throw the stones at the various tank surfaces so as to scrub the sealer off. Quite the work out but a labor of love.

[chef1366]

Yeah you shoul've seen me with nuts, bolts and evaporust and shaka shaka shaka
My neighbors thought I was insane.

[504-Ranger]

what do you guys use to seal up the gas cap hole, its hard for me to get the rust off the hump cause it keeps leaking through the cap

[salty_monk]

I used part of a rubber glove cable tied on and then tape over that.

Make sure the rubber stands up to what you're putting in the tank first!!

[Nessism]

Took some photos of my tank plugs. There are various ways to plug the openings but just make sure they can hold up to some vigorous shaking if you are going to derust or strip a failed sealer attempt.

Speaking of shaking, after shaking so much my arms were pumped and going limp I realized I had on my mechanical wind watch. This thing swings a weight around to wind the main spring. They claim it can handle shock but I just proved it. Thank goodness it's still working.

[kparkfan]

Atleast I know now what I can use if I screw up when I try sealing my tank. Thanks Nessism.

[chuck hahn]

rubber replacemanet freeze plugs for car engine blocks work well too

[hikermikem]

I'm confused Ed, do I need a fancy watch before I clean out a rusty fuel tank ??

Glad you found a chemical solution!

[first timer]

if you need to remove por 15 coating or the harder core coatings, try to find the highest concentrated Methylene chloride stripper you can find. I used some heavy duty stuff from homedepot. It takes a lot of time letting it sit for say 48hours rise then soak again. It will eventually come off. Rocks and nuts help too.

[Nessism]

The tank has soaked now with both paint stripper and then with MEK inside and the liner is about 75% out. The coating softens from the chemicals but without physical abrasion it’s hard to make it release from the metal. I’m going to switch from pea gravel to aquarium rocks in the hope that the sharper edges will help scrub the coating off. The outside surface of the tank is pretty clean but it’s the U-channel that fits over the frame backbone that’s the challenge since it’s hard to get the stones to flow over these areas.

After getting the coating off this tank is going to need some serious derusting before sealing. I can’t decide whether to use Evapo Rust or phosphoric acid. The tank sending unit is in Evapo Rust right now so guess I’ll see how it turns out. I’ve used phosphoric acid for tank derusting before, and it works well but leaves a chalky coating on the inside if you leave it for days at a time, which is how long it takes to neutralize all the rust. More scrubbing is necessary to get off the chalky coating before sealing, which doesn’t exactly inspire good thoughts right about now.

[chef1366]

The EvapoRust is ok. You'll have to soak for a few days to loosen the rust. I got most of the rust out with carb screws and bits and pieces.