What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank?

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

chasbmw

Joined
Aug 30, 2011
Messages
419
Country flag
It had a fiberglass tank, but the ethanol eat it.

I now have a new bare steel tank from India for not much money and on first glance it looks pretty good, I will pat some pictures soon

The inside has got some rust and I'm looking for the best method of dealing with this.

I don't want to use a sealant, the tank is fuel tight and made of heavy steel, but I want to get rid of the rust and paint it so that the rust does not come back.

Has anyone used this method of baking soda electrolysis to deal with rust?

http://1bad6t.com/rust_removal.html

Any advice on paint to use on the inside. A zinc primer comes to mind.
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

Hi Chas,
What I have used with complete success on four steel tanks is Treble X concrete cleaner to dissolve rust & POR 15 tank sealer. This is a silver metallic paint like substance & if the instuctions are followed carefully you will have no problems with it. Your local Autosmart dealer for the Treble X & Frost for the POR 15.
I did my Triumph twin tank ten years ago & it is still good.
Hope this helps.
Martyn.
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

Evaporust will neutralize the bits of rust, then rinse out and coat inside of tank with some kind of light oil...
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

Phosphoric acid [metal prep] from your local paint store will remove the scale. Beyond that a light patina of surface rust is just right and will not cause the problems seen with coatings and gasahol. Jim
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

comnoz said:
Phosphoric acid [metal prep] from your local paint store will remove the scale. Beyond that a light patina of surface rust is just right and will not cause the problems seen with coatings and gasahol. Jim
Click to expand...

+1

Get the rust cleaned out using your favorite method. After that, fill it up when done riding for the day. I personally like to keep a bronze sintered, cleanable fuel filter on the bike to keep some of the fine rust particles from getting to the carbs. I had a nasty tank that sat for 20 years with gas in it. Gave it a good cleaning with white vinegar and I just keep gas in it. There is a bit of surface rust but that is it.
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

Chas

I have just got an Indian tank too (see recent thread). My painter has tested it for leaks by part filling it with paint thinner after it has been primed. He has found at least one leak which we are getting welded.

Apparently testing with paint thinner ensures that the tank does not have to be flushed out prior to welding. Testing after priming on a dry tank makes the leak more obvious; the primer shows a damp patch.

Hopefully yours will be leak free, but it might be worth testing it before painting.
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

Recently did several tanks by the electrolysis method. It does work and it is
fairly easy to prevent paint damage on the exterior. However, it is slowish.
Also did one using phosphoric acid.
Id go with the phosphoric acid (of one sort or another) as it is quicker
and leaves a coating helping to slow further rust.
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

+1 on the Por15. I treated a steel tank with it 10 years ago and it has had ethanol gas in it everyday since. No deterioration at all. Follow the instructions to the letter. Let cure as long as you can, mine was a month before putting gas in.
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

caswell is NOT good in a steel tank and IMHO will fail in a fiberglass tank over time. also not fond of ANY coating in a steel tank. I have even seen harley's grey coating fail also so what makes you think the rest will not fail with this trash we now call gasoline. IMHO there is more to the troubles than just the ethanol and none of the fuel suppliers will tell you what all is in there witches brew.
also +1 on the phosphoric acid

B.Tal said:
Caswell, very forgiving, can DIY and impervious to ethanol
http://www.caswellplating.com/
Click to expand...
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

Electroless nickel plating may be the best protection, but at a price. Talk to a professional plater....not just the guy running some tanks in his garage.
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

I used nuts & bolts shaking to get the worst of the rust scale off and then did the electrolysis. Use good, solid iron - I used threaded rod. I split some fuel line and mounted on the bottom of the rod and around the rod where it would hit the filler neck. Worked like a charm. Heed warnings on performing this outdoors or in a garage with door open. After I finished this I sent it out for painting, I believe paint vendor used a final evaporust process before coating with light oil.
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

comnoz said:
Phosphoric acid [metal prep] from your local paint store will remove the scale. Beyond that a light patina of surface rust is just right and will not cause the problems seen with coatings and gasahol. Jim
Click to expand...

This is the guy who knows what he is talking about. For a while you may just have to clean your fuel filter out once or twice a year, after a while the vibration of use along with the gasoline cleans the tank.

Coating the inside of metal tanks is for the ignorant, if you get a hole in a metal tank then cut or grind the area out and weld it up.
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

Coating the inside of metal tanks is for the ignorant, if you get a hole in a metal tank then cut or grind the area out and weld it up.
Click to expand...
So I and a thousand others are ignorant according to you. What makes you so special Bing, Beng whoever you are?????????
IME tanks carry on rusting unless they are kept full of fuel all the time or emptied and dried. POR 15 worked well in mine (8 years now) also and I don't have to clean out the filters every month or so.
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

Keith1069 said:
Coating the inside of metal tanks is for the ignorant, if you get a hole in a metal tank then cut or grind the area out and weld it up.
Click to expand...
So I and a thousand others are ignorant according to you. What makes you so special Bing, Beng whoever you are?????????
IME tanks carry on rusting unless they are kept full of fuel all the time or emptied and dried. POR 15 worked well in mine (8 years now) also and I don't have to clean out the filters every month or so.
Click to expand...


I read and enjoy this site because of the turn over of information. Keith, i basically agree with your comments and am aware that others have not investigated the vast pool of information that has been discussed previously and dissappeared to the archives. Taking into account also, there are some people that have no hands on experience with nuts bolts and wheels but are will to take on a Norton and all that follows..
IMO a tank full of salt water will hold tight for an eternity, (its the o2/oxygen that does the Oxidisation) or at least the lifetime of the/our babyboomer generation.. Besides, If and when a leak appears weld it up or go buy another new one .. Its not as though your preserving a biblical artifact ...
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

don't know what you lads have for fuel across the pond but over here there is NO sealer that will truly last. like I stated even the grey coating inside harley tanks are failing. this stuff has even caused problems for ducati and a few auto co's with plastic tanks. I am with beng sealers are for the ignorant or lazy.

Keith1069 said:
So I and a thousand others are ignorant according to you. What makes you so special Bing, Beng whoever you are?????????
IME tanks carry on rusting unless they are kept full of fuel all the time or emptied and dried. POR 15 worked well in mine (8 years now) also and I don't have to clean out the filters every month or so.
Click to expand...
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

on't know what you lads have for fuel across the pond but over here there is NO sealer that will truly last. like I stated even the grey coating inside harley tanks are failing. this stuff has even caused problems for ducati and a few auto co's with plastic tanks. I am with beng sealers are for the ignorant or lazy.
Click to expand...
Well I guess we are lucky with only 5% ethanol, though it will be increasing in the near future we are told. I think to properly solve my past issues of rust particles continuously entering the fuel system I would have to open my tank and rebuild. No I am not relying on sealer to hold the tank and rust together, merely to extend the tank's life a little. It had been extensively welded and brazed - both :shock: (Roadster tank - lower seam) when I got the bike 15 years ago. I was never that successful at eradicating all the rust and other crap nestling in the internal seam. Yes, lazy of me.
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

Put me in the happy idiot class too. Like I mentioned, Por15 for 10 years with 10% ethanol in every day and still going strong. I follow a lot of the other brit bike brand boards and problems with the replacement steel tanks leaking is a common problem. I have one and its getting the treatment before I install it.
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

Cure but not a solution!!.. Has anybody has experience with the addition of "Metholated Spirits" in the fuel tank to evaporate water/condensation. .. I have done this to several cars in the past as a precautionary measure, but cant verify whether it actually works... Clearly there is a simple chemical reaction that takes place to dissolve water within the tank, with the combination of petrol/metho and water... Is there anybody out there that has an understanding (chemical engineer would be nice) of the theroretical process that takes place. Metho has been one of those quick fix "legends" here in OZ for decades to rid water from fuel. Is it true???
 
Re: What's the best way to internally finish a new bare tank

Metholated Spirits or gasahol works very well to absorb water from the fuel in a tank. [including the storage tanks]

Unfortunately it may already be saturated with water when you buy it from the gas station and can separate in your tank -leaving a highly corrosive mixture.

The addition of fuel dryer [Metholated Spirits] to non alcohol fuel will definitely pick up any small quantities of water from the tank and allow it to burn along with the gasoline. It used to be available at any gas station but you don't find it much anymore since the coming of alcohol laden fuels.

The best thing I have used so far when storing a bike is a couple small desiccant packs hung from a wire inside a drained fuel tank. It soaks up the humidity and keeps the inside of the tank shiny like new. Just make sure all the fuel is drained first or the small amount of fuel left in the bottom will go bad and turn to gum in about 6 months. Jim
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

G
  • Locked
what's the best way to make this motor a bit prettiier?
2
Replies
31
Views
1,900
black cat
black cat
W
  • Locked
What is the best way to polish Crank case and Primary covers
Replies
18
Views
5,066
aceaceca
aceaceca
Y
  • Locked
What is the best way to get all of the old oil out?
Replies
3
Views
718
79x100
7
Back
Top