B44 50 year old sludge

gjr

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The crud in the bottom of the oil tank has the consistency of roofing tar on a 40 degree (F) day. Picking out with the tip of a screw driver seems laborious at best and not totally effective. What can I use to soften it up without risking burning down my shop or worse ?

Thanks

Greg
 
go to a self serve car wash. put the tank in something that will keep it from rolling/flying away milk crates work well. put on some old clothes you no longer want and some eye protection. get your quarters out and stick the wand in the tank and watch out!!
 
gjr said:
The crud in the bottom of the oil tank has the consistency of roofing tar on a 40 degree (F) day. Picking out with the tip of a screw driver seems laborious at best and not totally effective. What can I use to soften it up without risking burning down my shop or worse ? Thanks Greg
Click to expand...


Use acetone cleaning fluid or nail vanish remover, (same thing) with a long wire brush -yes they are available. You can get Acetone in 1 litre or bigger from fibre glass supplies. Any you have left over, your girlfriend/wife/mother will love you!

If you think cleaning a oil tank is bad, wait till you see the bottom of your fork legs!!!!
 
Just put new stanchions & seals in my forks...nasty stuff hiding in the very bottom where nasty stuff hides. Anyway however you diddle your dog you'll enjoy knowing it's clean.
 
If you plan on repainting the tank a radiator repair shop will clean it back to bare metal inside and out.
 
If you want to preserve the original paint I suggest soaking/sloshing diesel fuel after warming the tank with hot water.
Nail (fingernail) polish remover is really diluted (10%?) acetone with perfume.
Not really good for this job.
Straight acetone from the paint store will clean it but the fumes can be extremely dangerous.

I agree on cleaning the old fork sliders, very satisfying job to get them clean.
 
Take the tank off and clean it with Stoddard solvent, cleaning solvent. Kerosene works well too and won't damage the paint.
 
gjr said:
The crud in the bottom of the oil tank has the consistency of roofing tar on a 40 degree (F) day. Picking out with the tip of a screw driver seems laborious at best and not totally effective. What can I use to soften it up without risking burning down my shop or worse ?

Thanks

Greg
Click to expand...

get a big hand full of nuts the hexagonal
type of course ,put them inside of tank with some kerosene and shake vigourously it works good
you can count the nuts before and after if your a bit paranoid
 
I know this thread is a bit old, but I like to throw this out. my 74 commando's tank had some bottom sludge and needed a clean out. I took a dish washer tablet, crushed it up into powder and poured it in the tank with about 1/2 full of hot water and shook the hell out of it. the dish washer soap cuts through the sludge, but doesn't foam up as you shake the tank. followed up with a four (4) ounce flush of solvent - three (3) times. I just used a low cost prep solvent. finished up with a compressed air dry. the inside of my tank looked absolutely brand new when I was finished. hope this helps....

BTW, the reason i'm over here on the BSA site is i'm starting the search for my all time fantasy dream bike - 67 or 68 BSA spitfire - :cool:
 
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