Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

DoubleDub
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Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

01 Aug 2010 13:04 - 01 Aug 2010 13:09

I wanted to post this as a pictorial of cleaning my rusty fuel tank innards.

I more or less followed the writeup from the 2005 article on this site found here: kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_content...view&id=22&Itemid=11

All credits to Bill for the original writeup!

I was unable to locate Phosphoric Acid easily, though, so I'm skipping that step. We'll see how it turns out in the end.

Last edit: 01 Aug 2010 13:09 by DoubleDub.

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DoubleDub
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Re: Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

01 Aug 2010 13:09

#387456

First, the current status of my fuel tank:

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DoubleDub
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Re: Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

01 Aug 2010 13:10

#387457

And what I found at the petcock.

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DoubleDub
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Re: Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

01 Aug 2010 13:12

#387458

The basic process I was going to use:

1. Seal the petcock cavity with duct tape.
2. Add an abrasive material (my old head nuts in this case).
3. Add Muriatic Acid.
4. Agitate.
5. Drain.
6. Repeat steps 3 through 6 until clean enough.
7. Rinse with water.
8. Spray the inside with WD-40 or other light oil to prevent flash rusting.

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DoubleDub
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Re: Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

01 Aug 2010 13:15

#387459

The materials I used (minus the funnel, cup, duct tape, and bucket).

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DoubleDub
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Re: Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

01 Aug 2010 13:16

#387460

First, drain the fuel from the tank.

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DoubleDub
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Re: Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

01 Aug 2010 13:18

#387461

Now remove the pin holding the filler cap in place.

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DoubleDub
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Re: Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

01 Aug 2010 13:19

#387462

I leave the pin in place so that I don't have to reinstall it completely when I go to put the cap back on.

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DoubleDub
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Re: Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

01 Aug 2010 13:21

#387463

Now add the abrasive material.

The head nuts worked really well for me. I still had them in my spare parts box from the engine rebuild and wasn't going to use them anyways. They are large enough that they weren't too difficult to remove, but have enough edges to be an effective abrasive.

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DoubleDub
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Re: Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

01 Aug 2010 13:24

#387464

Seal the petcock cavity with duct tape.

I used 3M Scotch Duct Tape that worked well until it got damp and then I couldn't get it to reseal.

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DoubleDub
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Re: Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

01 Aug 2010 13:27

#387465

Add the muriatic acid and seal the filler cavity with duct tape. I used about 20-24 oz. each time (approximate).

Please be better about safety gear than I was!!!

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DoubleDub
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Re: Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

01 Aug 2010 13:28

#387467

Filler cavity sealed.

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