Tank swap advice

[johnstewart]

So my trusty 79 XS11 is running beautifully. Seems like a great time to mess it all up!

My current tank is original, black. Paint's now in pretty rough shape. I've had a red tank sitting on my shelf from a parts bike for probably 10 years. I'm thinking I'll swap it.

As far as I know, the parts bike was running fine. I don't really remember what I did to store it, but I'm pretty sure I just disassembled, drained, and hung on the wall.

Pictures of the new tank, inside and out. It's got plenty of little dings, but allover in a lot better shape than the current one (externally): http://imgur.com/a/O9Wf7

Looking inside, there looks to be some light tarnish, but no real rust:




I think I don't want to do anything extreme here. It looks like it's in good shape. I just want to give it a good cleaning, not put in a liner or anything.

- What do use to clean the inside? Looking through old posts, the top options seem to be either Evapo-Rust or Jasc Prep and Primer.

- Should I do anything to prevent flash rust after the cleaning? I think with the above options, NOT necessary.

- Petcocks - again, the new tank's petcocks are from a working bike. I think they were fine when pulled, but been sitting on a shelf for a long time. Should I disassemble and clean? What solvent? Gas (since this is what they like)?

- Should I just buy a petcock rebuild kit?

- Or I could pull the petcocks off my current tank. They seem fine, although I don't think the reserve feature has ever worked. Hate to "break" a working tank, though.

Thanks for any advice on this ill-advised project!

[Dbshea]

I'm a proponent of evaporust. It has salvaged 4 tanks for me. Once emptied and rinsed I fog the tank with wd40.

[johnstewart]

Thanks, Dbshea. I think this is the route I'm going to go.

I think the petcocks are in decent enough shape, going to give them a go.

The filler cap gasket is all cracked. I'm not finding a source online for the part. Will head to the shop and see what they can order. Does anyone have a recommendation for sourcing such parts online?

[bikerphil]

MikesXS.net has that cap rubber gasket. Part #20-0036

https://www.mikesxs.net/products-34.html#products

[Prisoner6]

The filler cap gasket is all cracked. I'm not finding a source online for the part. Will head to the shop and see what they can order. Does anyone have a recommendation for sourcing such parts online?

Another option is to go the OEM route:

2M0-24641-00-00 GASKET,CAP 1

More expensive? Yes, but a premium part that will probably last another 30 yrs.

Well worth it, IMO ...

Whichever option you choose ... while you're changing the gasket, have a look at the little filter for the gas cap vent.

After all these years, it may be crumbling/disintegrating. If that vent is blocked, your bike could suffer from fuel starvation, causing the bike to stall.

Make sure that vent is clear, then (if filter is no good) replace the filter with a small piece of Scotch-Brite. Several of us have done this ... the Scotch-Brite seems to work well.

Glad your bike is running great ... it's just cheap insurance to check the filter and the vent.

[johnstewart]

Awesome, thanks bikerphil and Prisoner6! Just ordered the OEM one (local shop didn't have it in stock anyway).

[johnstewart]

OK feeling pretty good about how this project is shaping up.

One last thing is the petcocks. I'm going to open them up and give them a good cleaning, I think. No rebuild kit, unless things look nasty.

They've been sitting dry on the shelf for 10 years. I'm guessing the rubber needs some gas to swell up and seal properly before they work reliably.

My question is - what solvent(s) to clean? Just WD-40? Or should I use gasoline (and just wear gloves, probably)? Any other recommendations?

thanks!!

[bikerphil]

You can use carb cleaner spray, just don't use it on rubber parts, it can/will make them swell up to the point you can't use them any more, brake cleaner spray is safe for rubber parts. Gas will work too but use it carefully of course.

[johnstewart]

More pics: http://imgur.com/a/1Od0R

Last night, I made petcock covers out of plexi and the fuel level sender holes and put in the Evapo-Rust (holy cow, not cheap, that stuff! $28 for a gallon... but hopefully will be useable for more future projects).

The plexi (with old gaskets) held the petcocks, but turned out to be too flexible for the fuel level sender hole. So I used the plate for the fuel sender itself (after de-soldering the unit itself... don't know how well that would hold up to the Evapo-rust).

The gas cap was another problem. My hack didn't work, so right now I am using my old cracked gasket, with some shop towels and a plastic sheet to hopefully seal better.

I'm trying to take a picture every time I move the tank, so I can make sure I'm getting all the parts of it!


I noticed last night I'm missing one of the brass nippes on one of my petcocks, dang it. Is this replaceable? Is that part unobtanium?

[Dbshea]

More pics: http://imgur.com/a/1Od0R

Last night, I made petcock covers out of plexi and the fuel level sender holes and put in the Evapo-Rust (holy cow, not cheap, that stuff! $28 for a gallon... but hopefully will be useable for more future projects).

The plexi (with old gaskets) held the petcocks, but turned out to be too flexible for the fuel level sender hole. So I used the plate for the fuel sender itself (after de-soldering the unit itself... don't know how well that would hold up to the Evapo-rust).

The gas cap was another problem. My hack didn't work, so right now I am using my old cracked gasket, with some shop towels and a plastic sheet to hopefully seal better.

I'm trying to take a picture every time I move the tank, so I can make sure I'm getting all the parts of it!


I noticed last night I'm missing one of the brass nippes on one of my petcocks, dang it. Is this replaceable? Is that part unobtanium?

I've done 4 tanks with the same batch of evaporust. Buy a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and keep it for later projects.

[Ranger_xs1100]

Here are a few ideas that worked for me:
A piece of aluminum bar from home depot plus some gasket material and a rubber sink drain stopper, also from home depot.

[johnstewart]

Awesome; drain plug FTW!

[3Phase]

A 1 1/2" freeze plug will fit the fuel tank and won't fall out when you paint, shake or invert the tank, just don't chimp out on it and expand the filler neck:



.

[johnstewart]

Got it done!

http://imgur.com/a/6zLl6

[3Phase]

That looks really good! Nice red!