Topic: new member with fuel tank ?'s

[d_benet]

I'm a new '77 CB550F owner and about 2 months into getting her up and running. 2nd real ride ended with fuel drippage and stalling. I'm pretty sure I've sucked some gunk up into the float needles. The bike sat for years with the PO and I had flushed out the tank and cleaned the petcock before riding it, but I think more involved measures must be taken. I read up a bunch about other folks success/woes with POR-15 and I bought the 3 part kit in addition to parts for carb rebuilds. I have a couple quick questions: 1) I found no in-fuel-tank filter when I removed the petcock; should this model have one? perhaps the PO removed it? it does have an inline filter, but would it be good to install an in-tank filter as well? 2) what is the best way to ensure I don't plug up the bung hole with POR-15? I'm worried about how to drain the excess out of the tank and/or not impinge on the diameter needed for the fuel filter if I install one. 3) I've seen some folks using random hardware to help tumble the tank interior, but this model's tank seems like it would be very difficult to remove stuff from given restricted access through the fill cap. anyone done this before with this model? This forum is awesome. Thanks - DB

[Duke McDukiedook]

Yes, the parts fische shows a set screen for your petcock- about $20.
The inline filter should be unnecessary if you have a clean tank snd the screen in place.
When you get the tank cleaned up you need to look at your carburetors and clean your jets and float valves.
Possible carb rebuild might be in your future if the gaskets are shot.

[d_benet]

did the POR-15 treatment and it came out great. after step 1 there was still a bunch of varnish in the corners and seams and I was little disappointed. but the 2nd step cleaned a bunch of that out. I ran a hairdryer through it for a couple hours and it dried up real nice. there was a bit of flash rust but the sealant instructions say not too worry about flash and to make sure its totally bone dry before step 3. the sealant step worked great, but had to resort to a turkey baster to suck up the excess. a quick swab of the bung hole and its been drying for 2 days. inspection light shows a beautiful and hard metallic coating the entire interior of the tank. only bummer is the carb kits I ordered do not fit the 069A carbs for F bikes. real bummer since I have the time and thought I had the parts to do carbs this week. I ordered new kits from Honda this time round; ouch at $16 per carb for some rubber. oh well, at least they'll be the right size.