Gas Tank

[jkorn]

Since I’m in the middle of overhauling my fuel delivery system, replacing carb fuel and vacuum T’s and rebuilding the gas tank peacocks, I’m wondering if I should address the gas tank. My looks pretty good looking inside. I’ve seem to remember that some have “treated” the inside to prevent further rust.

looking for pros and cons from others on this topic.

thanks jeff

[DiverRay]

If you have NO rust in the tank, do nothing to it. If you do have the start of rust, then yes, treat it.

[DEEBS11]

If treatment is needed, this is a good read:

https://xs11.club/forum/idle-talk-fo...-special/page3

[jetmechmarty]

If it has just a little rust, remove it with Evaporust or Metal Rescue. Then, just keep it full of fuel when you’re not riding it or coat it with fogging oil when parked for the winter.
For bad rust, I use a phosphoric acid solution to clean the tank. I have two tanks lined with Caswell epoxy.
I’ve come across several failed liners (not Caswell) and I think if you can avoid lining the tank, that’s my recommendation.

FWIW, MR and Evaporust won’t harm the treatment the metal got from the factory. Some acid choices will give you instant flash rust after treatment.

[DEEBS11]

No NOT use the product Kreem. It shatters like glass after a few years. Almost ruined my 47 Indian tanks. Had to use stripper to get out the junk. Used POR15 after that in 2007. Been good ever since.

[OldGreyBeast]

Cheesus crust that's a beautiful bike!

[bikerphil]

My suggestion is no coating unless absolutely necessary.

[cajun31]

Ditto on what Phil and others have said. Do not coat the tank unless you have pinholes in it caused by rust. If all you are seeing is light or moderate rust just fill it with apple cider vinegar and let sit for about a day. Followed by a good flushing with water. Dry it with a hair drier or heat gun on low and immediately coat the inside with oil. I use marvel mystery oil or a oil fogger.

[DEEBS11]

I have done both lining and just cleaning and they both give good results. If you just clean with vinegar which is an acid you must first flush with water and then flush with a base (baking soda & water mix) to neutralize the acid. Very important step.

[DEEBS11]

Cheesus crust that's a beautiful bike!

Thank you OGB. I restored it from a basket case in 1992. Many happy years together. When someone new comes to me for bike work I refer to the Indian as "My Resume".

[jkorn]

Still waiting for carb parts. Think I’ll try the vinegar flush. Can’t hurt. Good advice on the baking soda rinse. Jeff

[oldyam80sg]

Kreem gets a bad rap. I did a new tank back in the early 90's on my 80 SG and no signs of it peeling off. I also did 2 other tanks-one for a Honda and one for a Kawasaki. Owners never had an issue.I think the issue is with prep. Kreem wants you to use MEK which at the time they provided. I don't know if it is still around (Kreem) but I'm sure MEK has been made more enviromentally friendly since earlier versions. POR 15 and other manufacturers are available but have not tried them.

[Ccitis]

My XS tank was in bad shape internally. Multi day vinegar soak, followed by a ton of baking soda and a lot of rinsing had it looking fantastic from what I saw.

[Larrym]

I had a situation where I had to come back from a "soft lay-up" of my 79 Special 8 months after walking away from it.

The ethanol gas had evaporated/condensed (leakey fuel cap gasket...) into a GOO much resembling roofing tar.

(Note: This GOO had also managed to corrode/eat through the aluminum aftermarket petcock "Plate Adapters" to leak out the tank, onto everything underneath, and leave a puddle of TAR under the bike...)

SOooo, had to get that goo outta the tank- Quart of carb dip mixed with BB's (yes...Thanks Crosman 760 Pumpmaster!) along with SS Pachinko Balls and a lot of shake-n-bake in every orientation with all holes covered with custom metal plates.

Drained and flushed with water multiple times. Afterwards, hooked my Shop Vac (output...) to the tank fill (padding round the hose) to force dry desert air and thoroughly dried like it was a lil old lady under the hairdrier at an old school beauty shop for 1/2 an hour.

Then? Saw the "limited" rust inside. My choice was to use "Ospho" a phosphoric acid that I've used many times before on other similar projects.

Did a fine job of converting the iron oxide (brown/rust) into iron phosphate (white/powder) and after a secondand third water/rinse and blow dry with the shop vac? Nuthin' left but the shiny metal plus the black areas (under the iron phosphate) where the rust process had been "arrested."

(Note: I prob'ly should made video's of this as I didn't just trust my Mark 0/0 Eyeballs. Used a borescope/camera to peek/poke all around the inside.)

Only negative side-effect? I had everything removed EXCEPT the Special Fuel level sensor plus the plate holding it in. After reassembly (plus 3 weeks...) fuel started leaking out from around the wire passing through that plate.

Fixed(?) by removing the plate and the sensor wire, blocking off the wire passage thru the plate, and re-installing the plate with a new gasket. ( Now without the factory "low fuel" indicator system.)


Might have avoided this if I had removed the plate/fuel level system at the beginning... ¯\_ʘᗜʘ_/¯

Take-a-way? (´._.`)

Ospho (phosphoric acid) worked fairly well and the fuel sensor leak/loss is MY bad for not removing it.
(º～º)

[jkorn]

Larry. Thanks for the insite.

Got me to thinking. I should replace the gasket for the fuel level sensor while I’m at it. But I don’t remember seeing a new one available on the web. Did you find a resource for one.

once again. What a great community, where ideas and experiences are shared. Jeff