Cleaning Rusty Fuel Tank

Now shake. Make sure you rotate the tank so that you are shaking the abrasive along all surfaces of the tank.

I found that the tank builds up pressure during this process. I wasn't sure if it would be enough to cause the duct tape to rupture, so to be safe I would periodically relieve the pressure.





After the first rinse, most of the rust was gone.

After 5 to 10 minutes of this, drain the acid into something you care little about and repeat.

After the acid appears to have cleaned most of the rust out, turn the tank over and shake out your abrasive material. Again, the head nuts were relatively easy to remove.

Rinse the tank thoroughly with water and let dry.

I sprayed WD40 and Liquid Wrench (ran out of WD-40) into the tank immediately after draining the water to try to prevent flash rusting.

Some shots of the results.

Another shot.

Just another statement about safety - I was pretty lax about it and looking back that was stupid. This stuff is nasty. I was in Indiana a couple of months ago and a plumber had died in a well using Muriatic Acid which caused him to pass out. I had a fan running the entire time and still caught big whiffs of this stuff. IT'S NASTY! :S

So please, be careful. But I just wanted to show that anybody could do this, thanks to the article that Bill wrote up.

Thanks!

Time to quit smoking.... :blink:

Keep them images comin....

Nice write-up.

I heat the tank up by filling it with scalding hot water and letting it sit for 15mins, then drain.
Add a good length of heavy chain, then cover the holes.
Wrap the tank in a bunch of comforters and then stuff the whole bundle in the clothes dryer! :laugh:
45 mins on cool tumble and your tanks insides are as good as new :laugh:

Then same as you, rinse repetedly till no more rust remnants, then spray geberously with a light oil product.

Cheers!

DoubleDub wrote:

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.

Hey DoubleDub,

Phosphoric Acid concoctions can be had readily at any Home Despot or Lowes as Tile haze remover. Tell em you're just finishing up a tile job and need to get the residue of the grout off of the tile. That way they won't get worried that you're cooking meth.

Bill

Thanks, Bill. Explains why I couldn't find it - I usually avoid talking to people in the big box stores. I find it just makes things easier...

DoubleDub wrote:

Thanks, Bill. Explains why I couldn't find it - I usually avoid talking to people in the big box stores. I find it just makes things easier...

Been there, Done that!

I sorely miss the old independent hardware store where they at least knew something/anything!

Not that the old independent stores invested more heavily in training, but the folks working there had longer term career goals.

I was recently in one of the big hardware stores asking about solid fuel chimney parts and had to listen to two fools tell me to go the local specialty store when, had they had the ambition, they could have just ordered the parts. I know this because I insisted that they source the parts and after much brouhaha they produced someone with enough training to place a "SPO" (special parts order).

Bill

I found this very effictive in removing rust, but probably not good on paint. I have used it on chrome and doesn't hurt the chrome. I will be using it to clean my tank when the time comes, but my tank needs a repaint. Very little clean up to remove the remaining rust after this process.

( antique-engines.com/electrol.asp )

Nice job on the write-up DoubleDub!

I cleaned out a small amount of rust in my tank using mineral spirits an about 15" of a medium duty chain. I use cap plugs to seal off the two openings. Apply a few layers of painters tape to prevent damage to your paint while removing and installing the gas cap.

I used muriatic acid before on aluminum boat hulls. You really need to wear eye protection and nitrile gloves. That stuff will melt your fingernails.