Topic: Gas Tank Rust Removal

[GizmoDuck]

I have used EvapoRust for small parts before and love the stuff but not going to buy enough to fill my tank.  I have heard vinegar works, and shaking nails inside to loosen chunks of rust.  What do you recommend and do I leave the petcock on for it?

[flybox1]

Do you have enough rust to need to rough it up/knock it loose with metal bits? 
Might be able to skip that step.  you decide.
You can use what you have....just shake and rotate you tank a few times a day.
I filled my tank with golf balls to take up the volume...  plugged the fuel tap with a wine cork.
added 1 gal prepnetch.  filled the rest with water to top it off.  24 hours and it was like new inside.

[eshumaker]

Subscribed!

[chewbacca5000]

This is what I used last.

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/products/catalog/wood_bleach/

[Lostboy Steve]

Electrolytic rut removal.

First, fill tank with a good amount of lacquer thinner and bolts. Then shake the hell out of it. Once you get most of the rust and varnish out. Use the electrolytic method as described by me and many others on here.

[mrfish2]

I bought enough Phosphoric Acid from the local hardware (5 gallon container for like 10 bucks) store to fill my tank with, and 24 hours later it looked pretty good inside with all the rust gone. Rinsed it out with some baking soda/water mix to neutralize the acid, then rinsed with Acetone to get all the water out, and finally lined with Red Kote.

[dusterdude]

The works,good stuff

[dusterdude]

Cal,cal,cal why are poo pooing on all the good suggestions here,especially mine.lol

[ekpent]

Cal,cal,cal why are poo pooing on all the good suggestions here,especially mine.lol

He has not done as many as us---------------- Duck were you not selling that 350 cuz of a bad title ??   

[Imago]

...Rinse and treat promptly to avoid flash rusting.

What is recommended to use to "treat promptly" to avoid flash rusting? Is there a best practise?

[mcswny]

Everyones got their own opinion and method. I used Prep n Etch, pretty cheap at HD, and filled the rest up with golfballs. Then neutralized with baking soda + water, the  water bath, then acetone and heat gun and compressed air. Worked great!

[dusterdude]

You're such a sweet fella cal,lol.btw,do we still have a date tomorrow?

[Justin]

What about a tank that has some awful beige liner in it..? I think someone treated it long ago trying to coat over the rust or something but it's got a bunch of weird beige paint looking stuff inside. I don't care about the paint, there isn't any because I stripped it to bare metal to bang the dents out. I just want to know what will strip the inside liner out and possibly if there is any rust under neath the liner. Any suggestions?

[dusterdude]

Groovy

[rickmoore24]

I like The Works method as well.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2

[jonda500]

For safe removal of flakey rust I like to tip aquarium gravel into the tank, seal shut, thoroughly wrap in underfelt and tape, then stick it in the tumble dryer (cold setting) for as long as possible(at least a couple of hours), then blow out with compressed air and finally rinse out with diesel then petrol.

My tank has no loose particles just dark brown fuel residue varnish, I know seafoam would dissolve this but I am in Australia where seafoam is not available (unless you wanna pay $59.99 per bottle!!). Would acetone be a suitable alternative? (I will be repainting the outside!)

[Justin]

For safe removal of flakey rust I like to tip aquarium gravel into the tank, seal shut, thoroughly wrap in underfelt and tape, then stick it in the tumble dryer (cold setting) for as long as possible(at least a couple of hours), then blow out with compressed air and finally rinse out with diesel then petrol.

My tank has no loose particles just dark brown fuel residue varnish, I know seafoam would dissolve this but I am in Australia where seafoam is not available (unless you wanna pay $59.99 per bottle!!). Would acetone be a suitable alternative? (I will be repainting the outside!)

Want me to post you some of the magic elixir called SeaFoam? I think the customs lads would confiscate it if they opened the box, but that SeaFoam stuff is excellent. and only about $8 USD a bottle in the local hardware shop.

[Justin]

Justin - An acetone soak will remove an existing liner. Use 2-3 gallons. An overnight soak will erode the liner, then drain, and treat bare metal for flash rusting.

cheers, Cal. I'll do just that and report back as to how it went 

[mcswny]

Everyones got their own opinion and method. I used Prep n Etch, pretty cheap at HD, and filled the rest up with golfballs. Then neutralized with baking soda + water, the  water bath, then acetone and heat gun and compressed air. Worked great!

Yes it will! Only downside to this method, as I mentioned, is the risk to paint damage. I'm not advocating one method over another as "better", purely indicating risks associated with each 

\

Yeah, the paint on my bike isnt good anyways. It was powedercoated black at one point 20 years ago and is super beat up so definitely going with the "patina" look so I dont mind a little more.

[jaguar]

I use "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner.
Great stuff and cheap.

[harisuluv]

I am currently using vinegar in my rz350 tank which is pretty pristine outside but inside rusty and even had multiple pinholes.  Using vinegar cause as calj mentioned it's safest

[Big Red]

Good Evening,

I used white vinegar and let it sit for a couple of days. It worked like a charm.

Getting all of the rust and goo once clean takes some shakes with more vinegar and water.

For the time and effort, I would do it again.

G

[heyitsrama]

When i was working on mine what i ended up doing was using an electrode with some washing soda inside the tank to remove a good amount of it out. Followed with compressed air to dry out all the water inside. After that I used Evapo-Rust and did rotations to the tank inside a container with a pan on the bottom of it to collect it from any leaks. To get it all over the inside of the tank I would walk over and rotate it to its side. You can use a ziplock baggie to seal up the gas cap to get a full rotation, which will stop the leaking somewhat. But just have a pan on the bottom to collect that Evapo-Gold. Stuff is expensive. 

[GizmoDuck]

Went with Vinegar.  For $8 if it doesn't work then I can always try something else.

[AlekStooge]

It's a drag getting rocks, nuts and bolts out... never again.
I used metal rescue and that worked very well, downside is its $100 for 5 gallons. I think I'm going to try the viniger or toilet bowl cleaner method next time.