Tank cleaning and fuel

[Stevieg]

Hi all

Picked up my winter project at the weekend. Couple of questions. What's the best thing to clean the rust out of the inside of the tank, I've read that some treatments don't like the new fuels. Secondly do you us an additive in the unleaded, if so which ones ?

Thanks

Steve

[AdrianS]

Are you going to paint the tank after cleaning? If so you can use Spirits of Salt to clean it out.
This is basically hydrochloric acid solution which  is pretty effective but it will damage paint. If the tank is very rusty I would shake a job lot of nuts/bolts/screws etc inside the tank for a good while to loosen any looses rust and then wash it out with a soapy solution. Let it dry and then treat it to the Spirits of Salt to remove the fixed rust.


If you want to leave the existing paint on the tank, you can just keep shaking screws/nuts bolts etc to remove as much as you can.

Coke ( the drinking variety) works for a small amount of rust - buy the cheapest non-diet cola you can get and soak the tank for a few days. You will be surprised how much rust that will shift.

[AdrianS]

ps. I don't use any additives apart from a thimble or so of 2 stroke oil in the petrol to hopefully reduce further rust forming in the tank!

[Bess]

Hi,
     Try this:

https://www.wwgoa.com/article/removing-rust-with-electrolysis/

I use the super unleaded without additives.

Best wishes..

[BeenyBoy]

I tried various stuff on my Bantam tank- coke... white vinegar...etc but the best I found was phosphoric acid

get it here.... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Phosphoric-Acid-Descaler-Rust-Remover-45-Safe-On-Metal-Surfaces-5L-/122394715228?hash=item1c7f4b245c

[Bees]

Electrolysis worked a treat for me. Got some carbonate of soda for about £5. It was enough for 2 goes.

Hooked up the battery charger. Left it on continously for a week. Tank went from a thick coating of flakey rust to like new fresh metal. The transformation was amazing.

[berniej]

Hi Steve,

If you need to seal the tank after removing all the rust then I've had good results using POR15 https://www.frost.co.uk/por15-car-bike-motorcyle-fuel-tank-repair-sealer.html

So far it hasn't show any signs of being degraded by modern UK fuel.

You don't say what bike you have but I only use an 'octane-booster' in high compression engines that were designed for 4 or 5 star petrol as it helps prevent pinking by slowing the burn. If you have a low compression thumper I doubt you will need it.

Cheers,
Bernie

[rimotu66]

Sorry to high jack, I have a similar job needing doing on my M33 tank, I have had it cleaned and after reading a few posts on different forums I am unsure if I actually need to seal my tank if it does not leak.

[Dean Southall]

Sorry to high jack, I have a similar job needing doing on my M33 tank, I have had it cleaned and after reading a few posts on different forums I am unsure if I actually need to seal my tank if it does not leak.

If its clean then you may as well line it. If you didn't and pin hole opened up later, you'd curse having to prep it all over again. Given the propensity for modern fuels to rust the inside of tanks its well worth it. I did the M20 tank during the rebuild even thoigh it didn't leak.

[Dean Southall]

Electrolysis worked a treat for me. Got some carbonate of soda for about £5. It was enough for 2 goes.

Hooked up the battery charger. Left it on continously for a week. Tank went from a thick coating of flakey rust to like new fresh metal. The transformation was amazing.

This method worked great for me when I discovered rust had developed over winter. A few years earlier I had spent a fortune getting the tank replated and professionally painted and oin striped. The reverse electrolysis method was the least likely damage the paintwork,