Cleaning rusty tank and removing an old liner....

[250sxman]

I have been in the process of restoring my SX tank. Outside, it is damn near perfect, inside, well, that's a different story.

The tank sat for 5 years, filled almost to the top with gas. I tried the nut, bolt, and BB trick, that got some of it out. I then tried using Coca Cola, filling the tank almost completely and letting it sit overnight. This worked VERY well, better than I thought it would.

Now that I have most of the rust out, I need to get the remnants of the old liner out (it's a KREEM liner I believe) because it's bubbling and peeling. I have sprayed some food grade paint remover inside (it's what I had laying around - worked very well on the spots I could spray).

I want to use paint thinner/acetone to try and get the rest of the liner broke loose and out of the tank, but I was wondering if I had to neutralize it after using it and rinsing it out. Chemistry was not a strong subject for me LOL

[jeswinehart]

Since it has been proven that particular sealant will not stick to its self I would be leaning towards re-coating with Redcoat, a product that has NO problem applying several layers to its self or to any other material including plastic (not recommended by makers of Redcoat but that is just their opinion ~ worked darn well on my platic Tecate tank ! )
But if you are real hell bent on getting all of what ever it is out of there the last couple of postings in this recent link may be of importance to you.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/139462-failed-por-15-tank-sealer-removal?highlight=removing+kreem+from+gas+tank

Good luck ! john

[250sxman]

I have a quart of red kote (same as to what you are referring to??) ordered. I do not plan on using KREEM. Have not heard good things about it and obviously, judging by my tank, it sucks. I don't really care to get it all out, I just want the new liner/sealer to work. I was under the assumption that the new sealer would not stick to the old stuff that's already in there.

[jeswinehart]

Yes, same stuff. I just spelled if goofy. Perhaps try a small test area like maby the gas cap ?

[250sxman]

I think I'm just going to keep trying to get as much of it out as I can, then coat it with the red kote. It can't hurt I guess, even though it is a PITA. I wish I could get my hand in there, because it's basically just peeling out!

[tri again]

Interesting.
If you can get the search key toi work, there are tons of pages
on this topic.

I feel for you on the sx tank.

I got one that was showroom NEW on the outside.
Perfect sitckers etc.
When I got it home, I could put 4 fingers through the bottom.
Actually happened when I grabbed it to pull it off the frame.

They drained the tank and put the cap on and it sat in a heated garage for
about 10 years.
The condensation killed it.

Best of luck and let us know how it works out.

I've been fascinated by that POR15 that they use on american restoration show.

Some sort of phosphoric acid that reacts with the rust and turns in into
a black glass substrate.
You don't even need to clean them perfectly because they need rust to react with.

I tested some on a rusty 55 gallon barrel and you can actually grind it back down to bare metal through the newly formed reformed 'rust'.

IDK, super interesting topic with way too many choices.

[sammiefish]

i am not familiar with the POR15 rust converter product... but I have used POR15
the stuff i got came with 3 things... a detergent like stuff that really degreases and dissolves old varnish.
then the acid stuff that charges the metal surface for good bonding of the grey thick final goop....
worked well for me... its not cheap though!!
I think you are on the right track really trying to get all that other stuff out first... keep us posted

[123-shaneomac]

Those tank liners are more trouble than they are worth. If you can get the old stuff out, i would leave it bare and just take good care of it from there. If mine is gonna set up for awhile with gas in it, ill put a whole bottle of 2 stroke oil in there and shake it real good to keep the metal lubed. Has always worked good for me. I have seen more tanks ruined by a liner than i have seen fixed by one.

[sammiefish]

i agree with you there..... as long as there are no pinholes already there...
i would guess there arent any holes in this one cause it held fuel for all that time.

[jays375]

Try some Acetone.Then re coat with a quality liner Red Kote,Por.My favorite is Caswell.Works very good on rusted tanks.

[250sxman]

I have it filled with a muriatic acid solution right now. Gonna let that sit in their for a while, then fill with baking soda/water to nuetralize the acid, about 6 times LOL

The tank itself isn't actually very rusty, just the top part where it sat with no gas, it's just mostly the old liner that's peeling off. I do have one (possibly 2 ) small small small pinholes at the bottom edge, but they don't even drip, it just kind of weeps a little from there, so I'm definitely going back with red kote to seal everything up.

[Thorpe]

MEK will strip Kreem.... Let it soak for a day or two, drain it out, stick a pressure washer wand in the tank and blast the chunks out... That's how I got the old one out of my BR.