Finally Success on attempt #6!
Hi everyone, I am now able to claim success in de-rusting my tank without flash rust. I have been proven wrong! Thank you all for the help and input. I adjusted my operation based on your suggestions and finally have a successfully cleaned tank with zero flash rust. I appreciate being proven wrong in this case.
Attempt #6: First of all I had to get rid of the black crud and residue left over from attempt#5.. To do this I added a couple handfulls of small rocks, water and dawn detergent and shook like mad. This was able to get rid of all the black crud, contaminants and oil remaining in the tank.
Final procedure:
1) I added about 3/4 gallon of Klean Strip Metal Prep (≈ 40% Phosphoric Acid). I kept the solution in for two hours. I set my phone timer and rotated the tank to different sides every ten minutes. Then I drained out through the petcock until almost all the Klean Strip was removed.
2) Next I had to rinse the tank well. Rinsing was the point where the flash rust was forming in previous attempts so knew I need to perform this as quickly as possible. The slow draining of the tank was the culprit. So I rigged a 1" hose on my shop vac so I could suck out the water quickly. I added 1 gallon of
Distilled Water, shook like mad and then sucked out the rinse water with the shop vac in a couple of seconds. Did a second rinse with a gallon of
Distilled Water and sucked out with my shop vac.
3) Next I immediately added 1 quart of 91% Isopropyl Alcohol (absorbs water). Shook violently for a short time. Sucked that out with the shop vac.
4) Next step was to add a quart of WD40 (absorbs water), shake like mad and drain out through the petcock. (I didn't really want to use the shop vac to drain the WD.) Repeat with a second quart of WD.
5) Checked the tank and it looked Great! No rust..Yoohooo. I drained out the 2nd quart of WD and used a couple of rags to get all the standing WD out of the tank. Finally I added a quart of Marvels Mystery Oil that I have had in my cabinet for a couple of years. Shake and rotate, Drain, Done.
Notes. The shop vac was the key as the rinse draining was too slow and is the point where that darn flash rust was happening. In addition I was not keeping the Phosphoric acid in the tank long enough. I had all the rinsing supplies, 2 gallons distilled water, alcohol, and 2 quarts WD40 staged so there was no down time during the rinsing a water removal. I set up my workstation in the backyard in the shade to prevent the tank heating up. Also I was being too anal about the flash rust in the beginning as it was minimal, too much perfectionism is a disease;-)
The project:
Next step is to assemble, bench synch, and install carbs. Then time to fire it up! I have gone through everything from the taillight forward to the tank. I am going to fire it up and ride her for a while then I will completely disassemble clean and repair as necessary the front end from the steering head forward.
Thanks again for everyone input and help. Sorry about the dissension that happened.