Rusty/Peeling Gas Tank Advice Needed
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6th Gear
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 13
Likes: 1
From: FL
Rusty/Peeling Gas Tank Advice Needed
Hi guys and gals,
I recently bought my first HD (97 883 Hugger). I got it very inexpensively and its in very nice (but dirty from sitting for 15 years) shape with only 20k miles. Ive already been though the carb, checked the compression and changed the fluids.
The main issue with the tank. It has what Im discovering is the all too common rusty and peeling tank.
So far I have drained the tank, shaken a bunch of nuts and bolts around and flushed it with water probably 50 times until very little crap was still coming out on each flush. I also let metal rescue sit in it overnight.
As it stands I cannot see any liner from my limited views and there is a moderate amount of rust in the bottom of the tank.
Ive probably got 10 hours into this tank and honestly I'm just about done dealing with it. the petcock screen is pretty big and ill be adding an inline filter so Im thinking about just running with it.
So I'm looking for stories regarding the level of cleaning you did and the results from that cleaning.
I know I could use something like evaporust to get rid of more rust but thats just going to free more liner etcetc.
Any and all advice is appreciated.
I recently bought my first HD (97 883 Hugger). I got it very inexpensively and its in very nice (but dirty from sitting for 15 years) shape with only 20k miles. Ive already been though the carb, checked the compression and changed the fluids.
The main issue with the tank. It has what Im discovering is the all too common rusty and peeling tank.
So far I have drained the tank, shaken a bunch of nuts and bolts around and flushed it with water probably 50 times until very little crap was still coming out on each flush. I also let metal rescue sit in it overnight.
As it stands I cannot see any liner from my limited views and there is a moderate amount of rust in the bottom of the tank.
Ive probably got 10 hours into this tank and honestly I'm just about done dealing with it. the petcock screen is pretty big and ill be adding an inline filter so Im thinking about just running with it.
So I'm looking for stories regarding the level of cleaning you did and the results from that cleaning.
I know I could use something like evaporust to get rid of more rust but thats just going to free more liner etcetc.
Any and all advice is appreciated.
Road Captain
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 533
Likes: 43
From: Fresno, TX
What ever you use to seal the tank don't use Kreem. It will Flake off when it starts getting older. I worked on a Big dog about three years ago and had the inner linner coming apart. I cleaned the tank like you did and installed this two part clear tank sealer. It sealed the old tank liner and rust in the Epoxy sealer. I used Caswell gas tank sealer kit. Worked great and will not flake off like Kreem will do. Hope this helps
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6th Gear
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 13
Likes: 1
From: FL
Hey. Thanks for the info. Honestly I don't think this situation is a good candidate for any of the coating options. Without being able to verify that I got rid of all the old lining I can't guarantee the new lining would go in uninterrpted. This pretty much guarantees a failure. I have experience with kreem, red kote and por 15. In my experience they can all fail if the prep work isn't done to an exacting standard. That can be hard to acheive when you can't even see what you're working on.
I decided to seal off the petcock and ospho the rust on the inside the best I can then just go with it.
I'd still like to hear from others who have dealt with this issue and how their solutions worked out.
I decided to seal off the petcock and ospho the rust on the inside the best I can then just go with it.
I'd still like to hear from others who have dealt with this issue and how their solutions worked out.
Advanced
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 63
Likes: 14
From: Northern Ct
Thread Starter
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6th Gear
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 13
Likes: 1
From: FL
I could do that but honestly the thought of trying to poke around in there going after every last flake of this crap make me want to fill the damn thing with tannerite and fix it for good.
I think I've resigned myself to accepting that there's going to be a bit of the old liner floating around in there. The ospho is taking care of most of the rust so that's good at least.
I think I've resigned myself to accepting that there's going to be a bit of the old liner floating around in there. The ospho is taking care of most of the rust so that's good at least.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,727
Likes: 3,072
From: Brighton, MI
I think your good with what you have done so far. I am in the same boat but no rust issue. The gray liner just failed after all the years (mine is a 1994). I cleaned out the loose liner as best as possible and cleaned the in tank screen, then installed an inline filter for good measure.
It is a good idea to carry a piece of fuel line just in case the inline filter gets clogged you can do a roadside bypass of that inline filter. I doubt the in tank screen will get completely clogged, just not sure about the inline filter. Checking the in the tank filter once a season is a good idea.
During long tern storage (like winter), toss in some marvel mystery oil or even some 2 stroke oil in the fuel to slow down or prevent any new rust. YD
It is a good idea to carry a piece of fuel line just in case the inline filter gets clogged you can do a roadside bypass of that inline filter. I doubt the in tank screen will get completely clogged, just not sure about the inline filter. Checking the in the tank filter once a season is a good idea.
During long tern storage (like winter), toss in some marvel mystery oil or even some 2 stroke oil in the fuel to slow down or prevent any new rust. YD
Thread Starter
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6th Gear
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 13
Likes: 1
From: FL
Tank is back on the bike and I went for the maiden voyage. Everything seems pretty good though I think the mixture is still a bit lean (already check for and corrected vacuum leaks).
I'll probably pull the petcock and carb apart in a while to see how things look. The carb is so easy to remove on this bike. It's a nice change from the past few bikes where carb removal was an hour long process.
I'll probably pull the petcock and carb apart in a while to see how things look. The carb is so easy to remove on this bike. It's a nice change from the past few bikes where carb removal was an hour long process.
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