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Rust in Gas Tank

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dower

dower

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Location
Kingwood Texas
First Name
Will
Just recently purchased a 98 GS500 for the wifey. Runs great, but I have noticed rust in the gas tank. I want to get this taken care of before it becomes a real problem. Are there any over the counter chemicals available for rust removal? Or any recommended companies in the Houston area that do this type of work?

Thanks in advance.


:chug:
 
I'd look for a used tank on e-bay. The only other solution I am aware of is called Kreem available at dealers or online. It is a coating put inside of your tank, but delamination of the coating and gunked up carbs have been reported. I think it probably stems from improper application, but have no personal experience.



http://www.casporttouring.com/thestore/prods/22182.html
 
I've heard of that tank treatment too. Good preparation seems to be the key to having success with it. An old biker that I used to work with told me that he put 3 or 4 handfulls of small nuts and bolts in his tank and strapped it down to a printer's electric paper jogger (think of a large vibratiing sander mounted upside down with an 18" square platform on top) and let it run for an hour or so to dislodge the rust and make a surface on the inside of the tank that the Kreem would adhere to. You could also shake it around by hand if you were feeling especially energetic. ;-)

To help prevent rust in a steel gas tank, try to keep it topped up with gas when you park it for any length of time. That's supposed to reduce the amount of condensation that can form inside the tank.

Edit: Got to thinking this morning that I might have left out something here and decided to try and contact the guy who told me about it. Turns out he’s semi-retired, but still working part-time as a letterpress operator doing the odd die-cutting and numbering job for the same printer we both worked for 15+ years ago. He must be 70-something by now, and said he traded in his old AMF Electra-Glide a few years back for an early 80’s BMW R 100 T. Calls it his “modern” bike. :-)

Anyway, it turns out there’s another step in the process he tried. After letting the nuts and bolts do their thing to remove the rust, he emptied out the tank and put in a couple of handfuls of nickel-size crushed granite pebbles and let that agitate for another 15 or 20 minutes. He says that the rocks bounced around, scratching the inside of the tank more than the nuts and bolts did (since granite is considerably harder than the mild steel the tank is made out of) providing a rough surface the Kreem could adhere to better. Of course, this is all second-hand information, and YMMV, so I’ll yield to the guys here who have actually worked with the stuff themselves.
 
Rust in Tank

I've used Kreem and had it come apart in a few years. Not once a few times. My brother recently used a chemical that actually neutralizes the rust and reverses the process. I will find out the name. It seems to have done the trick. He used it in my nephew's Ninja 250. He got it at Houston Motosports on 1960.

Finding a tank on Ebay is a good solution too. There is a guy named Paul Miller that specializes in older Suzukis. My brother got a brand new in the box gas tank for a 77 GS 750 from him. Again I'll get his info if you're interested.

You can also contact Joe's Bikes and Boards which there is a post on this website. I believe he does tank work too.

Years ago I had a company called Renewzit (sp) that put a lifetime warranty coating in my '74 GT 750. There also is a place called something like Elizbeth Raditors up north that will do it.

Let me know if you want any info above and I will do a little looking to get it for you.
 
Hey, I ran across this on the Max-Zuk site and thought of you:
ok i decided to document the process of using the por15 rust treatment on a gas tank (the tank is for a 96 katana 600 but the process can be applied to different makes/models aka bandit) i got a kit off of ebay for 18.50 shipped which included

1)8oz marine clean
2)8oz metal ready
3)4oz por15 paint(I beleive 8oz of por15 will do a 7 gallon tank)
4)gloves


4oz may not be enough to do the whole tank but it was enough to do the complete bottom of the tank and from what i can tell most of the sides and top (sorry guys i won't be cutting my tank in half for this experiment)


-you should be able to see rust in the tank (usually starts forming on the bottom) but another good test is to completly drain the tank and start tapping on the sides and top if you hear a crinkling noise thats the sound of rust deposits falling off the top and hitting the bottom of the tank


- first step is to remove all the instruments that connect to the gas tank in my case it was the fuel tap (2 hex bolts), lid(4 allen bolts) and the fuel float(4 screws and just pull the float straight up its a tight fit but possible)

- next was to rinse out the tank with water to get all the loose peices of rust out

- after that i blocked up the holes on the bottom by using aluminum foil and duct tape (some people complained that tape alone would just fall off and even with the aluminum foil some of the marine clean and metal ready products managed to leak out.)

- next came the marine clean (8oz) just put it in and start swishing for 5 minutes or so. I advise using gloves when using these products i got some of that stuff on my skin and it stung worse than a vanerial diesease. The marine clean is a degreaser, very soapy it can be diluted with water with a 1:1 ratio but i didn't mix it. i think both marine clean & metal ready can be used multiple and them alone do a good job of getting out rust deposits, so i managed to salvaged them after they did their job.

- rinse out with hot water to get out all the rust particles, visually at this point you should still be able to see some rust in the tank but you should not be seeing any gunk (black film left behind from dirty gas)

- next its time for the metal ready (8oz) you guessed it just put it in and start swishing it around, only this time its advised to have the metal ready making contact with the surfaces to be painted for about 30 minutes, i just changed the position of the gas tank every 10 minutes and watched the game, go heat!

- i gave it one more rinse with hot water to remove any loosened rust particles, and then used a vaccum cleaner to dry out the inside of the tank. by this point you should see very little rust if any in the tank it should look more like an ashtray do to the zinc that the metal ready leaves behind, if there still is a little of rust thats ok because the por15 paint bonds better to rusted/prepared surfaces than it does to smooth surfaces.


- ok now its time for the paint its very liquidly so it will move/bond more than a thick kind of paint, i only blocked the bottom openings for the paint because my tank had a lip on the top hole which would stop liquid from freely moving out(keep in mind we may have different tanks) then just put it in and shake it around until all sides of the inside have had the oppertunity to get painted. keep in mind this stuff cures more rapidly when its humid and its permenate so if you drop some on the tank wipe it off before you screw up your paint job. let it dry, congrats with any luck you won't have to open up the carbs 40 times to clean the pilots that have been clogged by bits and peices of rust


i was unable to post pictures but you may be able to see them if you check out this site:

http://www.bikepics.com/members/icekillah/96gsx600/


if you have any questions or better techniques don't hesistate to either post or email me at 50centgunit@bellsouth.net
Click to expand...
 
I'll second that POR15 is good stuff. My '94 GS500 tank had quite a bit of rust in it when I bought it. Bought some POR15 for ~$30 on eBay and seems to have worked really well. Take your time and do it right, make sure the tank is REALLY dry before doing the sealer. All in all it'll take you a day or so to treat it and then you need to let it sit for ~4 days before you put gas back into it.

trey
 
My brother recently used a chemical that actually neutralizes the rust and reverses the process. I will find out the name.
Click to expand...

I can't think of the name of it either. I used it on the tank of my 79. It seems to have stopped it dead in its tracks. Its pretty powerful stuff. Almost like a mild acid. You have to clean it out with soap and water first and then let it dry and then put this stuff in. It coats the tank and dries. I got it at Orielly Auto Parts I remember.
 
Need Help Getting Rid of Gas Tank Rust

Here is the write up I copied from the List for getting rid of rust using
electrolysis:
I forgot who the "Real Author" is; but it ain't me ;-)
From: "Shelby L. Owens" <slowens@cebridge.net>
Subject: Getting rid of Gas Tank Rust

This is an interesting article on "How to Get Rid of Gas Tank Rust". It should work on anything with a rusty gas tank. So FYI; enjoy.

Subject: gas tank rust removal

Well, after considering the various opinions of the list, I tried out that electrolytic rust removal technique today. I figured the gas gauge sender is 12v and hasn't blown up a tank full of gas yet, so what risk is there when the tank is full of saline? Mind you, I did it in the driveway, not the garage, just in case... ;-)

I was amazed at the results. Where there was heavy rusting, clean shiny metal magically appeared. I used a piece of cad-plated ready-rod for the electrode, and it turned black. The saline turned a weird shade of green, with chunks of rust floating around. I was concerned that the left half of the tank wouldn't get equal treatment, and I made a point of draining off some water and sloshing it around to evenly distribute the salt, and an examination through the fuel gauge hole confirms it worked on that side too.

None the less, I think next time I would start off with a saline solution instead of plain water, now that I know how much salt to use (just about 1 box to get 9.4 amps). I also blew a fuse in my ammeter when I inadvertently touched the rod against the hump in the middle of the tank trying to stir the salt with the electrode. I guess with a motorcycle tank, not only the bottom of the rod should be insulated with electrical tape, but part way up where it might contact the hump as well.

I flushed everything out thoroughly with water after, followed with methyl hydrate. Even so, I could see a faint patina of rust starting to form again within 15 minutes. I quickly coated the inside with oil, and that took care of that.

To recap the procedure:

Prep the tank by removing the petcock and gauge sender, clean the paint work around the holes well, and cover the holes with duct tape. Fill with water (again, here I would use pre-mix the saline electrolyte using 1 box of table salt to 5 gallons of water). Tape up the end of a steel rod (I was told re-bar, but used all-thread ready rod which worked just fine) so it cannot short out against the tank bottom. Connect the negative lead of a 10 amp battery charger to bare metal on the tank (I used the gas cap mounting screw so as not to damage any paint). Place a wide-mouth plastic (non-conducting)

funnel in the fill hole and put the rod in the tank through the funnel.
Connect the positive lead to the electrode. It's best to use a charger with an ammeter. Mine just has a silly voltmeter gauge, so I connected the positive lead through a separate ammeter. Add salt as required to bring the current up to 10 amps. (The best I got was 9.4 amps, more salt didn't help after that). Check every 2 minutes, and stop when the rust is gone. (It got so murky, I couldn't see the hump after a while unless I sloshed out some of the water and tipped the tank. I don't know how they do this with a marine tank and still check it ;-)

Total time for me on this tank was about 10 minutes.

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