Rust Never Sleeps
A few years ago, I got a $21.50 GPz tank on eBay. It was in terrible shape, all rusty inside, tons of Bondo on the outside. I stripped it down to the bare metal so I could see what I had to work with, cleaned it out with muriatic acid, then neutralized the acid with water & baking soda, braze welded a couple pinholes along the bottom seam, then pushed about a quart of fresh Bondo into the dents and painted it. I would have Kreemed it or used some POR-15 tank sealer, but I was broke at that stage of the process, so I didn't. I should have, but I didn't.
Fast forward to actually using the tank. I put a couple hundred miles on it without incident, but last weekend I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go ride around Lake Stanley Draper.
On the way up there, the bike started cutting out like it was running out of gas... I downshifted and gave it some throttle, putting it on the main jets, and it cleared up. I shifted back into 5th and it ran fine. I made it to the lake and went around the twisty road once just fine, but on the second time it started cutting out and it just got worse and worse until the bike seemed to be running on only one cylinder... then it ground to a halt.
Yard sale.
Oh, the shame!
The culprit:
After a thorough douching of the carbs, I proceeded to derust the tank... again. After some googling I found out that vinegar is good for removing rust, and it's even better if it's combined with heat and salt. I had a couple jugs of old vinegar, and since vinegar gets stronger with age, this was ideal. I dumped about a cup of salt into the tank and ran the vinegar through the coffee maker (it was time to do that, anyway), then poured the boiling vinegar into the tank.
I drained all the vinegar and washed out the salt, rinsed the tank with hot water and about half a box of baking soda, then more clean water, then set the tank on top of a heater with a hair drier in the filler hole for a couple hours:
I went back to check on the tank later, and it was bone dry... but when I picked up the tank I heard this "sssshhhhhh" as huge amounts of rust moved around inside. :x
Time to get mechanical on it's ass.
I dumped several partial boxes of drywall screws in the tank, then spent about an hour rocking it back and forth.
I was able to get a vacuum hose inside and suck out most of the rust, then repeated the rinse and dry procedure. The tank now has the "normal" amount of rust you'd expect inside a gas tank.
Looking around inside, I found where the tank was leaking behind where one of the logo badges used to mount, which has caused a blister to form on the outside of the tank.
Gotta love that JB Weld!
Cleaned up the petcock:
Since rust was obviously getting through the fuel filter, and I'm a broke joke and cheap to boot, I dug around in Ye Olde Junke Pile and found another filter.
Belt + suspenders, right?
I rode the bike maybe 75 miles yesterday and it did just fine! No hesitation whatsoever, revs even easier than it did before the breakdown, sounds suuuuuuper sweet in full song!
This winter, when it's too cold to ride, I'll fix the paint on the right side where it leaked and blistered, plus I'll apply some tank sealer.
A few years ago, I got a $21.50 GPz tank on eBay. It was in terrible shape, all rusty inside, tons of Bondo on the outside. I stripped it down to the bare metal so I could see what I had to work with, cleaned it out with muriatic acid, then neutralized the acid with water & baking soda, braze welded a couple pinholes along the bottom seam, then pushed about a quart of fresh Bondo into the dents and painted it. I would have Kreemed it or used some POR-15 tank sealer, but I was broke at that stage of the process, so I didn't. I should have, but I didn't.
Fast forward to actually using the tank. I put a couple hundred miles on it without incident, but last weekend I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go ride around Lake Stanley Draper.
On the way up there, the bike started cutting out like it was running out of gas... I downshifted and gave it some throttle, putting it on the main jets, and it cleared up. I shifted back into 5th and it ran fine. I made it to the lake and went around the twisty road once just fine, but on the second time it started cutting out and it just got worse and worse until the bike seemed to be running on only one cylinder... then it ground to a halt.
Yard sale.
Oh, the shame!
The culprit:
After a thorough douching of the carbs, I proceeded to derust the tank... again. After some googling I found out that vinegar is good for removing rust, and it's even better if it's combined with heat and salt. I had a couple jugs of old vinegar, and since vinegar gets stronger with age, this was ideal. I dumped about a cup of salt into the tank and ran the vinegar through the coffee maker (it was time to do that, anyway), then poured the boiling vinegar into the tank.
I drained all the vinegar and washed out the salt, rinsed the tank with hot water and about half a box of baking soda, then more clean water, then set the tank on top of a heater with a hair drier in the filler hole for a couple hours:
I went back to check on the tank later, and it was bone dry... but when I picked up the tank I heard this "sssshhhhhh" as huge amounts of rust moved around inside. :x
Time to get mechanical on it's ass.
I dumped several partial boxes of drywall screws in the tank, then spent about an hour rocking it back and forth.
I was able to get a vacuum hose inside and suck out most of the rust, then repeated the rinse and dry procedure. The tank now has the "normal" amount of rust you'd expect inside a gas tank.
Looking around inside, I found where the tank was leaking behind where one of the logo badges used to mount, which has caused a blister to form on the outside of the tank.
Gotta love that JB Weld!
Cleaned up the petcock:
Since rust was obviously getting through the fuel filter, and I'm a broke joke and cheap to boot, I dug around in Ye Olde Junke Pile and found another filter.
Belt + suspenders, right?
I rode the bike maybe 75 miles yesterday and it did just fine! No hesitation whatsoever, revs even easier than it did before the breakdown, sounds suuuuuuper sweet in full song!
This winter, when it's too cold to ride, I'll fix the paint on the right side where it leaked and blistered, plus I'll apply some tank sealer.
VIEW 11 of 11 COMMENTS
jimmybackfire:
Time will tell. at least congress is not filibuster proof All i know is when he said this "We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there." First of all he's got 4 guaranteed years and second of all, where the fuck are we going? That guy can read a fucking telephone book and the crowd goes nuts. Oh well., i'll just continue sticking to my conservative values and principles and take comfort in knowing that i'm not a fucking sheep. And how have you been?
jimmybackfire:
Whoa! Dude, when did I say you were a fucking sheep? That statement was not aimed at you. I was just saying that if nothing else, I can be happy with myself for sticking to my convictions and belief system,etc and not be swayed by flowery speeches and elocution. I wasn't overly thrilled when McCAIN got the GOP nomination. I didn't even vote for him in the primary. As for the white supremacists, I would just assume lock them away along with the likes of Louis Farrakhan and Jeremiah "USKKKA" Wright and the black panther party..I Mean really. They're all the same to me.