How To Remove Rust From Motorcycle Gas Tank – Here’s how to easily clean your rusty fuel tank with electrolysis. The key ingredient to this recipe is time to let the battery and solution work on that rust.
So you just found a great project bike! The good news is that the tank isn’t exactly a rusty nightmare full of holes, dents and shoddy patches, but the bad news is that there is rust inside. This is a bike that has been sitting for a while, so as much as you wish you hadn’t, you’re not exactly surprised by what you find. What are you doing?
How To Remove Rust From Motorcycle Gas Tank
This is exactly the kind of situation YouTube channel Brick House Builds covers with this very handy how-to video. In it, BJ from BHB walks us through the process of using electrolysis to safely remove rust from the inside of a Honda CB750 fuel tank.
How To Clean Rust Out Of A Motorcycle Gas Tank
The list of required spare parts is simple. He uses a bicycle battery (a car battery will also work), clamps, a piece of round steel bar as a sacrificial anode, a modified plastic paint cap to hold the anode in place without letting it touch the metal of the tank. , a little warm water and a little sodium carbonate. However, the most important part is simply the timing. (You’ll probably also need a charger to keep your chosen battery charged throughout the process.)
Electrolysis is effective, but you won’t start seeing big results for at least 24 hours, maybe even longer. Above all, you have to be patient. Since the amount of rust depends on the individual part, you should also be aware that you may need to use more than one part of the sodium carbonate solution to safely remove all the rust from the steel part.
Fortunately, as BJ mentions, sodium carbonate, which is sold as a “pH booster” for pools, is fairly inexpensive. You’ll also only need a cup of sodium carbonate for every five gallon bucket of hot water if you follow BJ’s recipe. If you already have a spare bike or car battery and some clamps, perhaps the most expensive part of this deal is your time. If you’re spending them on other things (like working on other parts of your project), that’s probably fine.
After that, you’ll just need to run a bunch of water through the tank to flush everything out. When you’re done flushing, if you don’t plan on putting fuel in the tank right away, you can use something like mist oil to prevent rust from forming quickly. All in all, it’s a pretty simple process that you’ll use a lot if you decide you want to work on project bikes. WD40 can do almost anything. Works, lubricates and cleans. Just don’t spray it inside the shortwave radio.
Lining A Fuel Tank With Kreem Tank Liner
My grandfather loved WD40. His response to everything was, “Damn it, some WD40! That will fix everything!” He once had a shortwave radio that didn’t work. What did you do to fix it? Of course, spray some WD40. Later it worked. Well, that worked after my electronics guy dad cleaned all the WD40 out of there and it solved the real problem, but that’s beside the point.
Besides [not] fixing shortwave radios, WD40 has a wide range of practical uses, as Bikes and Beards demonstrates in this video. According to them, it is useful as a fuel, lubricant, dirt and scratch remover.
Okay, maybe not as much fuel. After draining the gas tank and filling it with WD40, the engine shuts down quite quickly, despite the fact that WD40 is a flammable substance. Maybe readjusting the carburetor in a mixture of pure WD40 will help. After all, it works for E85. It also runs great once you refill the tank with good old gas.
However, as a chain lubricant, WD40 has known and proven advantages. I’ve used it myself to remove old oil as well as any rust spots (after all, dual sport riding often involves puddles). Here we see a new method of chain lubrication. Just turn the bike upside down like a bicycle and spray it by turning the rear wheel. Adding fire also seems to help, for some reason I can’t figure out, other than it looks super cool.
Motorcycle Restoration: Seat And Tank
Another great use for WD40 is to remove dirt that has stuck to your bike. They use gum – maybe 500 or more. Before they get bored, they manage to remove a lot of rubber from a motorcycle just by spraying it with WD40. This shows its ability to remove other types of dirt, such as the remnants of stickers you have removed.
Unfortunately, they can’t test WD40’s ability to remove paint scratches and scuffs because their test bike doesn’t have one—at least not until a not-so-random van comes out of nowhere and rams into the bike. Of course, this could not have been scripted or planned. The bike actually looks pretty good after being smashed by a van, but it’s hard to see any scratches from the crash.
Obviously, WD40 is a must for every garage. I just used it myself today to clean my rusty camper frame where I’m trying to mount a hitch to tow my bike. However, you can avoid some of the ways Bikes and Beards used it. Also, don’t spray it into a broken shortwave radio. ATTENTION: Is your repair covered? Compare prices to find the best deal on the motorcycle insurance cover you need.
If the classic motorcycle you are repairing has been sitting for a long time, chances are there is some rust inside the gas tank.
Electrolysis Rust Removal
But given the limited access and awkward nooks/holes in an old motorcycle’s gas tank, some are easier than others.
One of the easiest methods is electrolytic rust removal, especially for gas tank rust removal.
For automatic chargers, you will need to route the connection from the battery to the tank settings. Hand chargers can be connected directly to the tank. Click to expand.
Attach the sacrificial anode to the tank so it does not touch the walls (tennis balls are useful here).
How To Protect Your Motorcycle Tank From Scratches
After removing a significant amount of rust from your old motorcycle’s gas tank, you can seal it to prevent potential leaks and prevent further rusting.
If your motorcycle’s tank is metal (most older Japanese motorcycles are), you can seal your stainless tank with Red-Kote fuel tank gasket and liner. To seal your Red Kote tank:
With a quality fuel tank sealant, you can be sure that gas won’t start leaking out of the tiny holes that may have been there and that new rust won’t form.
If you have removed all the rust well and there are no holes in the tank, then no, you don’t really need to seal it.
Motorcycle 9l 2.4 Gallon Retro Gas Fuel Tank W/ Cap For Harley Sportster Xl 72 883 1200 42 Iron Custom Roadster Super Low 07 21
Be sure to give it a light coat of motor oil to seal it and protect it from rusting quickly.
Before you start using the upgraded gas tank, make sure the fuel tap is working. Over time, the old gasoline can dissolve and form a hard/sticky coating that will plug the holes and prevent the gasoline from flowing normally.
If your motorcycle has a vacuum valve with no off position, you will likely need to replace the vacuum diaphragm.
With a properly working tap, you can be sure that fuel will flow from your tank to the carb. When the bike is off, you can be sure that no fuel will leak into the carbs and ultimately into the cylinders. So you’ve just found a layer of nasty rust in your fuel tank? so maybe we can help!!
Gas Tank Repair
We will assemble the tank in two parts, with the tank in the normal position and then upside down. both are done exactly the same.
Do this in a well-ventilated area, preferably outdoors, as the electrolysis process produces hydrogen!!
Insulate the end of the steel electrode. I’m using a 12mm square bar that I had lying around. only mild steel will work, so no stainless or alloy.
Place the electrode in the tank through the hole and mark where it fits into the tank. insulate this part of the electrode, I used a rubber tube.
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It is important that the electrode does not touch the tank or interrupt the power source.
Turn on the power and wait. it will start hissing and gurgling. this will continue and eventually the water solution will become really dirty as the rust will come off the metal. it will stick to the electrode a lot.
If the tank is really bad, remove the electrode every 6 hours and wipe it. turn off the power first.
When you are done, rinse the tank with water and dry it thoroughly. put him near the heater to help him!!
Motorcycle Tank Restoration
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