Has anyone use "metal rescue"?

[tonyg-5386]

Hi Guys,

The tank on my 79 xs1100 is a little rusty inside. It has not gotten much worse in the last 10 years or so. I just replaced all my fuel lines yesterday with clear yellow tygon fuel line and there are no signs of rust traveling through the fuel system and the bike runs great. I was thinking of trying "metal rescue" and wanted to know if anyone here has used it on a rusty tank and what your opinion is. I attached a pic of the inside of my tank. I don't know if this is considered minimal, moderate or heavy rust.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb7jyf7A4WE

 

[donnelly317]

Yes I tried it for the first time on my tank worked awesome! Then I use POR 15 tank sealer

 

[Fire-medic]

Has anyone tried electrolysis to clean their tank? The Yamaha Enduro forum I belong to has several threads about it. I haven't tried it yet, but I really don't need to as I bought a new tank this past year.

http://yamahaenduro.com/showthread.php?t=17934&highlight=Electrolysis

It looks like the answer if your tank is still structurally-sound. It's quick too! Just be sure you do not cause any sparks or other sources of ignition to occur! Explosion potential!! Why? Hydrogen gas is formed, do this only in a well-ventilated place. Otherwise, it's Hindenberg time!

 

[texas-ss-tornado]

Evapo-Rust is the BEST product I have found for de-rusting gas tanks! No sealer needed afterwards either, just use it, and then immediately refill it with gas to prevent flash rusting. I've probably done a dozen tanks with it, with GREAT results. It's a little pricey (30 bucks a gallon), but you can resuse it many times, and it's NOT toxic, will not burn your hands or eat off the paint. Any kit that involves a liner, in my opinion, is a waste of time and energy. If the prep work isn't PERFECT, it WILL flake off, get into your fuel system and cause issues down the line. Nothing like that to worry about with Evapo-Rust. Available at Harbor Freight, I found a place on eBay that sells 5 gallon buckets for around 100 shipped. Just need enough to fill the tank up half way, then turn it over, usually 24 hours on each side is good. Trust me, if you use it, you'll be glad that you did!!!

 

[naughtyG]

Has anyone tried electrolysis to clean their tank? The Yamaha Enduro forum I belong to has several threads about it. I haven't tried it yet, but I really don't need to as I bought a new tank this past year.

I tried it to try and remove rust out of a 1982 Honda Twin tank. Spent a lot of time doing it, it looked really cool as a chemical experiment but to be fair it didn't make very much of a difference. I ended up treating the tank and sealing it instead.

 

[[email protected]]

Evapo-Rust is the BEST product I have found for de-rusting gas tanks! No sealer needed afterwards either, just use it, and then immediately refill it with gas to prevent flash rusting. I've probably done a dozen tanks with it, with GREAT results. It's a little pricey (30 bucks a gallon), but you can resuse it many times, and it's NOT toxic, will not burn your hands or eat off the paint. Any kit that involves a liner, in my opinion, is a waste of time and energy. If the prep work isn't PERFECT, it WILL flake off, get into your fuel system and cause issues down the line. Nothing like that to worry about with Evapo-Rust. Available at Harbor Freight, I found a place on eBay that sells 5 gallon buckets for around 100 shipped. Just need enough to fill the tank up half way, then turn it over, usually 24 hours on each side is good. Trust me, if you use it, you'll be glad that you did!!!

Ive heard good things about evapo rust myself. Im considering it as there is some rust in my tank after being out of the bike for so long, cut up, and welded.

I talked to the local rad shop and they use red kote to seal tanks. Im in the same train of thought that any liner has the potential to fail and cause just as many issues as rust

 

[RaWarrior]

IME the gas tank "pour in liners" don't have a tremendous life either. I've worked on a few old (50's-60's) era small outboards with the onboard tanks. Lots of times I find them with one of those liners in the tank, and a fuel filter clogged with a gooey crap that appears to be dissolved liner. Maybe the ethanol blend fuels today slowly dissolve it?

The electrolysis thing seems kind of interesting, but also quite risky and I suspect it would take a very long time.

 

[naughtyG]

IME the gas tank "pour in liners" don't have a tremendous life either. I've worked on a few old (50's-60's) era small outboards with the onboard tanks. Lots of times I find them with one of those liners in the tank, and a fuel filter clogged with a gooey crap that appears to be dissolved liner. Maybe the ethanol blend fuels today slowly dissolve it?

I think it depends on the liner. I used Kreem which a lot of people said does exactly that - I didn't keep the bike long enough to find out.
OTOH something like POR15 hardens to almost like powder coating strength, and I don't think that breaks down easily, even over a long time.

The electrolysis thing seems kind of interesting, but also quite risky and I suspect it would take a very long time.

It was fun, but like I said I did it for quite a long time with rather poor results. Either I had too much rust or was expecting too much..