Topic: Rust Removal

[mcinturff]

I did this with my gas tank, but no reason it wouldn't work elsewhere.

I started de-rusting my tank the "vinegar route", but still had rust inside even after a month of sitting.  Needless to say, the tank was pretty rough inside.  I went down to the hardware store and picked up Naval Jelly, Locktite makes it.  I poured a 16 oz. bottle inside and shook the tank around to let it coat the inside.  This stuff is pretty viscous, and will stick wherever it lands, so you don't have to put a whole lot of effort into getting the inside coated.  After an hour my tank looked great on the inside.  Try for yourself and see.

I would suggest doing the vinegar solution first, and doing this to account for the inevitable flash rusting that will occur afterwards.  The Naval Jelly will leave a coating that will not rust.

[links56]

Ive used that stuff before. I just use muratic acid now. Just pour in and let soak on each side for 15 minutes or so and the rust is usually gone.

[calj737]

Mc- not sure what you did, but a few things about the vinegar route. You need to drain and rinse it periodically. If you leave it long enough, it may eat through the metal unless it's diluted or so heavily contaminated by rust.

The Works toilet bowl cleaner works extremely quickly, but you need to be careful with it too. Flash rusting occurs with most de-rusting treatments as you've removed the protective coating on the metal during chemical treatment. A quick rinse with baking soda/water to neutralize the acid wash and go forward from there is all that's really needed unless the metal is damaged/thinned/fatigued and requires a liner.

[Muckinfuss]

When removing rust, consider......any method that uses acid is also removing good metal at the same time as it removes rust....acid doesn't discriminate.  The expensive products that target only rust....only remove or reform the rust and don't change the unrusted metal.  Electrolysis replaces rust with new metal molecules that are taken from the donor anode....without changing the unrusted metal. 
This is very much a picking your poison process.  I've tested a couple of the iron/steel corrosion inhibitors and they both worked well. I only needed them to work for six months in gas tanks.  Poured them in, did the swishing around thing and that was that.  No flash. Loctite and Rustoleum.  I would expect the Evaporust and others to be as good.

[BollarNPS]

Hello all,

I also did the vinegar treatment and im on my last tank of vinegar before removing completely. I feel the bike is going to need alot of tuning so it wont be riden quite yet. What should i do once i remove the vinegar to prevent rusting. If i use the naval jelly can the tank just sit for a month or so until im ready to put gas in it. Or should i just put gas in it and swish it around to cover the inside of the tank. Any suggestions?

[calj737]

Fog it with 2-stroke oil, PB Blaster, or gas with some Marvel Mystery Oil. Swish it around and drain the gas. Evaporating gas leaves water behind and that is what causes the rusting. You can keep it dry and warm and it will be fine too.