A safer way to get the rust out
By Roger Smith
Since 1964, I have been hooked on
motorcycles. One question surfaces repeatedly when it comes to the proper way to
restore one of the most challenging parts
of a bike. How do we clean the rust out of
a motorcycle gas tank, especially one that
has been in storage for decades?
This question really hit home for me
this year when I brought home a nice 1973
Honda CL450K5. The problem? A light
coat of rust on the inside of the tank, with
some pitting on the inside of the gas cap.
We've all heard that "old motorcycles
never die, they just rust away." But if your
gas tank rusts through, it's no laughing matter.
So, how do you get the rust Ol!t- safely?
Don't try this at home
Here are just a few "miracle cures" that
have been put forward over the years.
"I bought an unlined tank on eBay and
had to use the old 6' dog chain and martini shaker technique to clean the rust out
ofthis one. After a half an hour shaking the
tank, my arms were done. Rinsed it with
gas, then I put an inline filter in and I've
had no problems since."
"I use a local radiator shop to boil out
and seal my tanks ... of course this only
works on a tank you are going to repaint ...
this process removes the paint!"
"I have heard of guys using a can of
Coke to do the rust removal thing. Use only
Diet Coke for sure, because a dose of sugar
in your tank won't help anything unless
you're into sabotaging your own bike even
if you do a super rinsing."
"I put a bottle of CLR in my tank and
let it sit for a few days, mixing it around
whenever I walked by and felt like it. It
didn't work fast, but all the rust is gone. It
didn't hurt the paint either. Then rinse it out
with water and gas and run it."
Don't try this - ever
This particular idea is not to be used
by anyone and it is printed as a warning for
our members of what not to do!
"I put small nuts and bolts into the tank
after dumping the gas into my car. Then I
wrap towels around the tank and pack the
wife's dryer with towels around the tank.
I turned the dryer on for a half hour and it
came really clean."
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The pictures above, and on the facing page show the kind of work RUSTECO does on a vintage bike's gas tank and gas cap.
Paul Bond, a firefighter from the Chicago area, described this as a "hand grenade" in
the family dryer. If you value your gas tank,
your clothes dryer, your marriage, or your
house, you'll want to avoid this method.
Safe, effective rust treatment
So, there are several cleaning ideas
that range from the strange and ridiculous
to the dangerous and deadly.
After hearing about the product for
years, I settled on RUSTECO, for use on
our latest Honda tank.
I called RUSTECO's technical manag-
Oct./Nov. 2008
er, Michael Nahm, to talk about how their
product works.
Q. How did the RUSTECO product/
formula come about?
A. I was working with a container
shipping line in the mid-'SOs and traveled
extensively to Europe and Asia. Hazardous
goods were always a concern for shipping
people and during a chance meeting with a
chemist in the Far East, he and I got some
ideas that 10 years later had developed into
the RUSTECO concept.
In layman's terms, RUSTECO starves
the metal of oxygen, loosening up the rust
and it can be easily removed with a minimum
of brushing or pressure washing. It is an organic product, not a chemical formulation
and manufactured from renewable sources.
Q. When did you begin using the
formula to clean motorcycle gas tanks?
A. The first RUSTECO Service Center started operating north of Los Angeles
in March 1993 and shortly after that I contacted a motorcycle dealer, Kolbe Cycle Inc.
in Woodland Hills, Calif They are still there
and a customer, and the then service manager
asked me ifRUSTECO could be used to clean
a motorcycle tank. I had no clue, but of course
I said "Yes," and the rest is history. More than
10,000 motorcycle tanks later, it still works as
good as the first time we tried it.
Q. Are there any times that RUSTECO should not be used in a motorcycle
gas tank?
A. The short answer is no. RUSTECO
is completely benign, does not etch the
metal, is safe on all ferrous and non-ferrous
metals, does not harm paint, petcocks, sensors, floats or your skin.
Q. You now sell an "at-home" package, that comes in a concentrate. Why?
And after the cycle owner cleans his
tank, what can he do to prevent rust
from returning?
A. Our customer base for tank cleaning are mostly individuals and a lot of them
own several bikes, so it made sense to offer
a cleaning kit that would do the job safely
at home. With the much increased transport
charges, even ground shipping is not a bargain anymore. This was a logical development and customers get substantial savings
from this recently developed kit, called the
RUSTECO Tank Cleaner, made specifical-
Iy for motorcycle tank cleaning. It is safe,
cost effective and requires very little labor.
A great tool for an individual, yet we still
offer the cleaning services for those customers who would rather let us do it. Many
motorcycle dealers around the country use
the service. They don't want to deal with
"chemical" issues in their shops.
The step-by-step instructions come
with each product purchase, the procedure
is very simple and after the required soaking time there is a simple wash out, with a
pressure washer, garden hose pressure or a
car wash cleaning wand. The tank will not
rust again once it has been washed and it is
ready to be filled with gas.
Q. After cleaning with your product,
what is your opinion of products that are
used to coat the inside of the clean tank
and leave a layer of material over the
metal?
A. Once you have treated the tank with
the RUSTECO product, you do not need to
coat the inside of the tank, unless you discover pin holes after the rust removal, in
which case you can use a sealer.
The good thing is that after the RUSTECO treatment you only need to use part B
of tank sealers, which is the sealing compound. Part A is the etching compound,
that's the highly acidic part which can ruin
your paint as well as your skin!
Since RUSTECO preps the surface
during cleaning, you will get an excellent
adhesion for the sealing compound.
Put to the test
After speaking with Michael and reviewing the RUSTECO website, I was sold.
I placed an order for the at-home product
that would treat up to five-gallon tanks.
Their new technology has simplified motorcycle tank cleaning while at the same time
reducing product and shipping costs.
Four days later, a bottle of their pink
chemical arrived and it was time to treat
the tank. The gas was drained, but because
RUSTECO does not harm gaskets, I left the
petcock in place.
Per instructions, the at-home bottle of
chemical will treat five-gallon tanks. That
was plenty for the Honda 450 tank. The entire bottle was poured into the empty tank,
then water was added until the tank was
filled to the top, with no air gaps. Because
the gas cap had rust and corrosion, I made
sure the RUSTECO mix came right up to
the top so when I closed the gas cap, the
rusted part sat in the treatment too.
The filled tank was placed in the comer
of the garage, where the temperature was
around 70 degrees, and left alone for three
days. This was an easy treatment to do, and
the little bit that got on my hands had no ill
effects.
I took the tank to a local spray car wash,
drained the used RUSTECO (that had turned
from bright pink to deep burgundy) and
used a high-pressure rinse on the inside of
the tank for five minutes. Then it was back
home to dry the tank and remove any water
that might be left inside.
After removing the petcock and opening the gas cap, I placed the nozzle of my
high pressure motorcycle dryer in the tank
and let the high-pressure warm air flow inside for 30 minutes.
The RUSTECO treatment cleared the
tank of rust and the newly cleaned surface
reminded me of a new dime. The cap that
was pitted with corrosion is now rust-free
with only the pits to show where the rust had
been eating at the metal.
RUSTECO is safe, easy to use, and now
the job can be easily accomplished at home.
For more information, go to www.
rusteco.com.
Oct./Nov. 2008
www.vjmc.org
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