[longdistancerider]

Member Tuxo from Brazil found this list of different rust removal techniques
Removing rust from a gas tank - MopedWiki

 

[gof_ia2]

I found that industrial toilet bowl cleaner inside the tank for about 15 minutes worked good for me. I also dumped nails inside and shook around.

 

[ametzker]

Muratic acid water solution gets it out quick followed by a vinager and dawn dish soap mix followed by diesel overnight and done.

 

[barnbiketom]

Trust me. 10 minutes and you are good to go in most cases....
SNO BOWL toilet cleaner or any CHEEP equivalent. NOT THE WORKS.. the works is different and not as good for this purpose, but "SNO BOWL" or Dollar General CHEEP toilet bowl cleaner is hands down the best thing I have found in 50 years . CHEEP/QUICK/LASTS .
Get TWO bottles .
put one bottle in with some drywall screws. shake for 5 minutes.
drain and do again.

 

[jd50i]

I tried muriatic acid but I had better results with evaporust. The muriatic acid wasn't filled to the brim and it enhanced rust where it wasn't covering. You can filter evaporust with a coffee filter or shop rag and reuse it also. My original paint was not bothered by the evaporust but one forum member reported it taking the paint off of his items after he soaked them overnight in it. It did get on my paint and wiped right off but I did not soak a painted item in it. I took a week to clean my tank since I wanted to make sure it was out.

 

[djfob]

Soaked my entire gas tank with evaporust. Rust was cleaned out from the inside and paint stayed intact.

 

[Quixote]

Let me explain something... Evap-o-rust is a near perfect solution for removing rust from the inside of the fuel tank... it will not harm the external tank paint "IF" spilled on and wiped off in a "reasonable" amount of time.

I had placed some original Honda painted black brackets and steering stem tree into a bucket of evap-o-rust and let it sit for more than a week... when I removed the parts; the original black paint slid right off... it was not "overnight" or a "spill".

I can't speak to its effects on "your" original colored paint if you soaked the ENTIRE tank. I can only repeat what I've observed

Cheers

 

[djfob]

Mine was left for 24 hour and paint held up fine

 

[Knucklebuster]

Gotta give Evaporust a thumbs up, used it on two tanks and it was the easiest and most effective.

 

[ScramblerCurtis]

Jack/Buster - did you have to fill the entire tank with the evaporust or did you just put it in and swish it around? Did you put in screws and shake the tank as well? Just looking for what works.


Thanks

 

[jd50i]

I don't know about Jack but I did not fill my tank up, I rolled it around for a week letting it sit on a side for a day or two. My cap had a clogged vent and was being replaced so I didn't worry about leakage. I did not put anything in the tank, my rust was, in my judgement, medium and not heavy.

 

[ScramblerCurtis]

Did the flakes of rust come off by themselves without any agitation? I believe that my tank is medium rusty as well. Was contemplating putting some nuts and bolts in there to help loosen the larger deposits if any.

 

[Knucklebuster]

Curtis, Lots of flakes came off when I just filled it to the top and let it sit for about 3-4 hours. They say heavily rusted could take as much as 8 hours. Mine weren't too bad and I just made sure to rinse it out with water and blow the tank out with an air compressor. (Of course gaskets/petcock were removed prior)

 

[Quixote]

Jack/Buster - did you have to fill the entire tank with the evaporust or did you just put it in and swish it around? Did you put in screws and shake the tank as well? Just looking for what works.


Thanks

What I did was "not conventional" due to the extreme rust/holes my tank had; required repairs then sealing.. but yes, (short answer) I had the tank completely full of evap-o-rust and let it sit for 5 days before I completed the sealing...

http://www.hondatwins.net/forums/3-...ork-been-w-caswell-tank-liner.html#post306548

Cheers

 

[jd50i]

What flakes there were came off and got filtered out with a shop rag. I rinsed with water and then with alcohol to get the water out and then with marvel mystery oil to keep from flash rusting.

 

[Bill H]

I use Arm and Hammer super washing soda. Mix 1/2 cup to 5 gal of water. I dont mix it this way I just throw some together. You can also use Oxy-Clean or common household salt. These products are safe for children and pets. After filling the tank hook up a battery charger ground wire to the tank. Place a sacrifical anode inside the tank making sure it does not touch the tank. I use rebar but any mild steel will work. Attach the positve wire from the charger to the anode and turn on the charger. If you use salt try not to mix so strong as to pull more than 5 amps. You can use this to clean rusty tools, toys or other rusty metel. Place the object in a plastic container attach a ground on it. then take an old piece of wood, attach the anode and let hang in the water.
connect the charger and turn it on. If the objet is realy rust you may have to clean the anode several times.


Good luck, Bill

 

[83XLX]

I don't know about Jack but I did not fill my tank up, I rolled it around for a week letting it sit on a side for a day or two. My cap had a clogged vent and was being replaced so I didn't worry about leakage. I did not put anything in the tank, my rust was, in my judgement, medium and not heavy.

This is exactly what I did with my tank, except I used Metal Rescue, which I believe is about the same thing as Evaporust. I bought one gallon of it and positioned the tank differently every few days to get all the interior surfaces treated. I spilled some on the paint and it didn't hurt it, but I cleaned it off fairly quickly.

I submerged my rear shocks in it, too, after I had drained it from my tank and strained it. I left them in there for about 5 days and in addition to removing the rust, it removed every bit of black paint on the upper part of the shock. I had to repaint them. You can see the tops of the shocks in this pic...

 

[Toxic]

What do you guys do after the tank is clean to prevent flash rusting? You have bare unprotected metal. Do you coat the inside with motor oil?

Gary

 

[jd50i]

Motor oil would work but it is thick.

Like I previously posted;

I rinsed with water and then with alcohol to get the water out and then with marvel mystery oil to keep from flash rusting.

 

[Vanmor]

Trust me. 10 minutes and you are good to go in most cases....
SNO BOWL toilet cleaner or any CHEEP equivalent. NOT THE WORKS.. the works is different and not as good for this purpose, but "SNO BOWL" or Dollar General CHEEP toilet bowl cleaner is hands down the best thing I have found in 50 years . CHEEP/QUICK/LASTS .
Get TWO bottles .
put one bottle in with some drywall screws. shake for 5 minutes.
drain and do again.

Hmmm, I've had good results with "The Works".

I've also done the washing soda/anode thing with a battery charger. Good results with that too.

I never have that much trouble cleaning out a tank. Most of the tanks I've done had bad paint on them anyway, so that wasn't an issue. It's the tank sealers that have given me problems.