How to clean the inside of a rusty tank??

[Cuztom Racing]

The outside of my 200x tank is in great shape but i cant say the same for the inside. Due to sitting up for quite a long time there is a fair amount of rust in the tank. What is the best way you guys have found to clean the inside and get that rust out??

[Mrs.Mosh]

Put some nuts and bolts in the tank and gently shake and turn it. You will also want to get a tank liner kit.

[harryredtrike]

you can also use muratic acid from a pool supply or hardware place.after cleaning make sure you run a fuel filter

[JayBone]

I used 2 gals of distilled vinigar (WALMART) and about ounce of salt. The next day I hosed it out well and once you get most of the water out i soaked the inside with Wd40.

[Fungo Wizard]

Did you line the tank after the vinegar treatment?

[harryredtrike]

did you line the tank after the vinegar treatment?

you really should use a tank liner after treatment,the tank will flash rust again with very fine particulates and clog the carb and float pin .also the hotter the acid the better it works.

[Mosh]

I just did a tank reseal on my Motorcycle tank a few months ago.

Go to your cycle shop and buy a Kreem kit.

It has the cleaner, flasher and reliner all in one kit.
Follow the instructions, and you cant go wrong..Worked like a charm for me..
And the tank was leaking badly before I treated it.

This method will remove the rust and seal the tank so it does not rust anymore.

[harryredtrike]

I just did a tank reseal on my Motorcycle tank a few months ago.

Go to your cycle shop and buy a Kreem kit.

It has the cleaner, flasher and reliner all in one kit.
Follow the instructions, and you cant go wrong..Worked like a charm for me..
And the tank was leaking badly before I treated it.

This method will remove the rust and seal the tank so it does not rust anymore.

bingo,thats the ticket right there.i think they are relatively inexpensive also

[Mosh]

bingo,thats the ticket right there.i think they are relatively inexpensive also
Kit was about 40 bucks here.


Put some nuts and bolts in the tank and gently shake and turn it. You will also want to get a tank liner kit.

That is how I did it. Filled the tank with dishsoap and water and threw in some 3/8ths nuts and bolts and carefully shook it around for a few hours, rinse and repeat..
TIP:

Count how many nuts and bolts you used so you know you got them all out. And shake easy, or the sharp edges of the nuts and bolts can dent the tank from the inside out.
Ball bearings are actually better, they wont dent the tank as easy.

[dear140]

warm up some muriatic acid and let it sit in there for 15 min. take it out and put it back into the container because its strong enough to use like 3 times. your tank will "flash rust" if yyou dont use a liner. im ns about the whole fuel filter thing.

[dksix]

I just checked ebay and found the 3 gallon tank kit for about 35 shipped. Is the 3 gallon kit enough or is over kill better?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KREEM-Harley-FUEL-GAS-TANK-SEALER-LINER-COMBO-KIT-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ330459366728QQptZMotorcycl esQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
I used Naval Jelly rust remover in my tank and it cleaned it up well. I put about a half pint of WD40 after I washed it out to prevent surfaced rust til I got a liner kit. I called a local shop and it was 54.99 plus tax there.

[Cuztom Racing]

Im going to get the one off ebay! Thanks for the help guys!

[Mosh]

Im going to get the one off ebay! Thanks for the help guys!


I just checked ebay and found the 3 gallon tank kit for about 35 shipped. Is the 3 gallon kit enough or is over kill better?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KREEM-Harley-FUEL-GAS-TANK-SEALER-LINER-COMBO-KIT-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ330459366728QQptZMotorcycl esQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

I used Naval Jelly rust remover in my tank and it cleaned it up well. I put about a half pint of WD40 after I washed it out to prevent surfaced rust til I got a liner kit. I called a local shop and it was 54.99 plus tax there.

That is the kit I used.

There was some youtube vids I watched before doing mine. They helped alot.

At the end of the process, they tell you to drain off the extra liner,and let sit overnite.

I never drained it off, and I kept rotating the tank in the sun for about 3-4 days.
My wife helped with that while I was at work, changing the tank angles through the days.

Telling you guys, My Cycle tank had a BAD leak at a weld seam, and this deal done the trick. Ironically, the tank had not that much rust in it, just a factory weld at the mounting bracket gave out on me.
I have run about 8 tanks through it since the KREEM kit and had no problems.

[daniel_250r]

all these ways are great and may work very well but if you want to do it for around 10 bones just go to the hardware store buy some evapo rust, pour it in and rotate every two hours, this stuff eats the rust off to bare metal then just drain. wash out. blow out with compressed air and fill with gas immediatly. this stuff is non corrosive and non toxic (dont ask me how)

[Cuztom Racing]

all these ways are great and may work very well but if you want to do it for around 10 bones just go to the hardware store buy some evapo rust, pour it in and rotate every two hours, this stuff eats the rust off to bare metal then just drain. wash out. blow out with compressed air and fill with gas immediatly. this stuff is non corrosive and non toxic (dont ask me how)

Im sure you have to recoat the tank afterwards?

[jm1977sc]

Does anyone know how to remove the screen set from inside a 1985 honda 250es Big Red. I bouth a por 15 kit to clean and reline the tank, but should i remove the screen set??? Help!

[JayBone]

Fungo Wizard

To answer your question i had a can WD40 to spray the inside as soon as i rinsed it out. I wasn't going to use the tank that moment so my thought was to used the WD40 because it seemed to work well with water & rust. Back in the day when i had an old truck with a cap & rotor and when it rained or damp out the truck wouldn't start & WD40 solved that problem.

[tri again]

Does anyone know how to remove the screen set from inside a 1985 honda 250es Big Red. I bouth a por 15 kit to clean and reline the tank, but should i remove the screen set??? Help!

if you mean the delicate looking plastic filter straw that sticks up inside the tank?
I've used a regular wood screw type lag bolt screwed in CAREfully from the outside successfully at least 10 times.

Just be careful and it will wiggle out.
There may be a tiny 'o' ring to lose too.

Mystery oil or some lube will help

If you mean the screen inside the fuel valve itself? it IS pretty delicate but will almost fall out if its clean so I'd soak it in something that won't mess up your rubber
rings.

Don't get too aggressive trying to dig it out unless you can find a replacement cheap.

[tundrawillie]

Naval Jelly kills rust.

[HoldOnTrike84]

Here's the kit I've used on mine:

http://www.amazon.com/KREEM-TANK-LINER-KIT-1210/dp/B001J0DHZK

[jays375]

Kreem doesn't hold up well and breaks down.Then it becomes a gooey mess that clogs up everything.I use a 50/50 mix of Muratic acid and water if the tank is really rusty. After a good cleaning with Simple Green or Super Clean.Then I take baking soda and dry it out with a heat gun and seal it quick.If the tank isn't that bad and has nice paint I use Evapo Rust.The tank sealer I use is Caswell,great stuff.I know alot of guys use Por and have had good results.I also have a old clothes dryer rigged up to tumble tanks.There is a shelf inside tanks are straped to.Just wired it up for 110 and did away with heating element.In the past few months did about 6 tanks this way.Don't know how many in the past.

[HoldOnTrike84]

So far the Kreem has held up for 5+ years in my tank, but with my luck it will prolly gum everything up on me after I finish typing this...I'll keep a close eye on it for now and if it becomes a problem i'll try some of these good suggestions.

[JustEnough]

I have heard that after you get the rust out with your initial acid solution wash, vinegar or muriatic acid for example, you can rinse with water a few times and then use a phosphoric acid solution for a second treatment, it apparently converts any remaining rust to a hard black material, like a phosphate finish and it prevents flash rusting. I bought a gallon of the phosphoric acid cleaner in the paint section of Home Depot for $15, here is a link:

Klean-Strip 1-Gallon Phosphoric Prep and Etch (http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?jspStoreDir=hdus&catalogId=10053&productId=100406369&navFlow=3&keyword=Kleen+Strip+phosphoric&langId=-1&searchRedirect=Kleen+Strip+phosphoric&storeId=10051&endecaDataBean=com.homedepot.sa.el.wc.integration. endeca.EndecaDataBean%4052d075a8&ddkey=Search)

I have not had a chance to use it yet.

[bighead]

Kreem you must be 100% spot on in your prep work. I used it 5 times and it failed 3. Por15 works much better. I used it now 4 times and it is solid. Por15 has less harsh chem.

If you want to know whats best just do a google on removing Kreem. You will get hundreds of hits. You will get only a few if any on Por15 failing.

On heavy rust tanks use some of the above methods with nut and bolts to clean first. Do not use large bolts and nuts for they can dent the tank while shaking. Sheet rock screws works well. They are really sharp and get the corners really good.

IMO Por15 is far better than Kreem. The trick to workig so well is the Por15 Metal Ready. It will coat the inside of your tank wiht a zink lining. The Por15 liner sticks to this zinc coating very good. So even if you did not get all the rust the Por15 does no care. it turns the rust into zink and just makes the por15 stick better. The Kreem does not do so this it just etches if I remember right.


Back in the day you could redcoat at any radiator shop. This works well but most my shops in my area stoped using redcoat for some reason. You may want to try a shop in your area. This was cheap as well.

I have done many tanks in my days. I now strap the tank to the side of my roto tiller and let it idle slow for a 30 min. with sheet rock screws. This is total redneck but it works. It sure beats shaking for 30 min.

Also when using kreem do not smoke around the Mek chemical. Also Mek takes failing kreem off pretty good. You can pick it up at most hardware stores for pretty cheap.

If you have nice paint still and do not want to riun it try this. Cover you whole tank in vasileen. Then wrape in shrink wrape. Then tape over that. this will keep you paint protected while you work with harsh chems