Boxerworks.com

I have a Norton commando

It had a fiberglass tank, but the ethanol eat it.

I now have a new bare steel tank from India for not much money and on first glance it looks pretty good.

The inside is fairly rusty and I'm looking for the best method of dealing with this.

I don't want to use a sealant, the tank is fuel tight and made of heavy steel, but I want to get rid of the rust and paint it so that the rust does not come back.

Has anyone used this method of baking soda electrolysis to deal with rust?

http://1bad6t.com/rust_removal.html

Any advice on paint to use on the inside. A zinc primer comes to mind.

That cleaning system works far better with "washing soda." I've done it, and it rocks. For the inside of a tank, you can even just use the tank itself as your cleaning "tank." You just won't be able to get a very big anode inside, so it won't go as fast as it would with a larger surface area anode.

No paint is designed to be in constant contact with gasoline and alcohol for years. If you don't want a sealer, leave it bare. If you're going to coat it, use something made for it.

Edit: I see the article also specifies "washing soda." It is not the same as what you said: 'baking soda." Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. Washing soda is Sodium Carbonate.

Red kote does not seem to have reached the UK

What did BMW use? It has lasted on both my tanks

chasbmw wrote:What did BMW use? It has lasted on both my tanks

I heard it was red lead paint which is no longer available at least in retail quantities.

I use the POR-15 gas tank kit, which includes a cleaner, metal prep (zinc phosphate and phosphoric acid) and their sealer. It leaves a white liner in the tank. I've used this on 3 tanks (Yamaha, Triumph and BSA) and have been very happy with each.

I've also used the POR metal prep, and then lined a BMW tank with Red-Kote. This has also worked well.

I used this product 10 years ago on my R100-still in great shape.
http://www.hirschauto.com/prodinfo.asp?number=CRK-01

The advantage is its supposed to be easily removable with the use of MEK as a solvent.
The PO used POR 15, didn't drain the excess properly after coating and the POR15 ponded around the petcock sump. Since it was thicker there the stuff cracked, and led to rusting in the sumps and an in my fuel supply.

I've got to tell you that removing the POR15 was a royal PIA. It took me the better part of a month with the rattling nuts and bolts method combined with using methylene chloride ( nasty stuff ) to get all the POR15 out along with the original BMW stuff ( PO didn't prep properly ) out of the tank.

If I had a brand new bare steel tank for any bike, I would do a proper job of sealing it before painting. If it were galvanized on the inside only then would I consider leaving it bare without a liner. Just my two cents.

Have not used this myself, but read good reviews on the Honda HawkGT website.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WuU1F2VLoI

Here is a dealer in the UK that carries the POR 15 cleaner/sealer kits for motorcycles.



http://www.frost.co.uk/automotive-tanks ... r-kit.html


gg

That metal rescue stuff is about $47 a gallon in the UK. Not affordable. There are various other Phosphoric acid based rust

I have a tank sealer product from TCM in Norfolk, but was wondering if there was a product that would prevent rust, but not creating a seal type envelope that might fail in the future.

Red lead paint would do it, but not available in the UK! I'm going to speak to local tank painter and get some advice.