How to clean the inside of a rusty tank??

[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-LIN.../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

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