'84 GPZ550 - and intro

Nice work, you are getting there.

Great progress! You'll be riding with an ear-to-ear grinning in no time!

This the good news post:
She LIVES!!! finally fired it up after total carb rebuild new plugs, wires, cleaned and replaced airbox, installed fresh rubber (Avons, as recommended here)
Once we used an 'IV' for fuel and it fired right up! very exciting. a little adjustment to the idle/mixture know and it sounds and revs fantastic!

Also got the seat installed, new sprockets, chain. Picture;


I think it looks amazing already!

Still to do, finish front caliper rebuild, Install SS front brake lines, install headlight, install taillight. then... figure out what to do with the tail section.

then... there is the tank..

Bad news post:
So the stinking tank and petcock, and fuel line is killing me.
We have been trying to remove the old Kreem coating and rust (just read the newest posts about this) What a PIA!!!
I have used several chemicals to do this with varying success. So far Kleen and Strip from Home Depot is my favorite.
however, most of these seem to actually eat metal and at somepoint I have ruined my petcock. In addition to that I want to run an inline fuel filter because I still think it is impossible to get all the old KREEM out of there.
Also. seems to take many, many, many, many rinses to the crap out. I am sure some of it is dissolved metal, and that worries me a bit.
There is almost NO room between the and carbs where the petcock attaches. So it is crazy hard to find a way to not kink the fuel line
I would like to find a different petcock (not concerned about keeping the vacuum functionality.) that will give me just a little more room.

so, in short - I am looking for recommendations on smaller/shorter petcocks or some magical fuel line routing trick.

Thanks!!

I can't help regarding a different petcock, but take a look at the info in the link below. You may want to use a stainless elbow as I did. The link gives details on that, the fuel filter, clamps, and fuel line. Ed

www.kzrider.com/forum/3-carburetor/60653...dles-terribly#767480

Yup, we just bought a low mileage Gpz which looked great, but the tank was coated. We think the petcock and carbs are now gunked up with kreme coat of some type. Good luck removing it. I'm interested to see if anything really gets rid of all of it. What a headache! I wish the stuff was never invented. I've sealed leaking tanks with solder... no mess and has worked great.

MEK is the best stuff to dissolve KREEM. That and some fine but sharp granular particles like uncoated aquarium rocks. Before attempting such work some solid plugs need to be fashioned for the various tank openings. Heavy duty paint stripper also will work but it's really nasty stuff so be careful. Acetone is another product that softens KREEM. Any way you slice it getting that stuff out of the tank is a pain though.

Kleen Strip Etch and Prep (phosphoric acid) is a great product to derust, but it won't remove KREEM.

Ness is correct, MEK will soften the epoxy coating, but you may need some help getting it off the walls of the tank.

I bought 2 pounds of drywall screws and dumped them into the tank along with the MEK, the solvent would soften the coating the screws would scrap it off the walls has I tumbled and shook the tank.

It did clean up the tank, but it took hours of shaking and tumbling and rinsing with more MEK. The job really sucks, but if you can't find another gas tank you don't have a choice.

Would a power washer aid the cause after the MEK?