Por 15

[chief]

I have a metal motorcycle tank that is solid but has a lot of interior rust,
Does POR 15 rust inhibitor work or should I fill the tank with BBs and kerosene
and shake it senesless to clean the interior.
Thanks in advance.

BTW, thanks for the hacksaw recommendation in a prevoius post, I bought the Lenox.

[Doc Nickel]

I don't think Por 15 is fuel-resistant. You might be better off using a chemical stripper (vinegar, nitric acid, naval jelly, etc.) then getting a tank liner kit, like the chemical system that Eastwood sells. (Which, come to think of it, might have the stripper included...)

Doc.

[Your Old Dog]

I've cleaned rust out of tanks with sharp gravel from the driveway with good luck. Pieces about the 1/4 to 3/8's worked great.

[rockrat]

I had an old tank off of a Handa CBR that was a bit rusty on the inside. I had some old chain laying around and put it into the tank to shake about a bit. Had a short scetion of string tied to one end of the chain and fixed the other to the outside so that I didnt have to fish around too much when I removed the chain.

Afterward, I used some Tank Kreme to seal it up. This stuff is some sort of epoxy mix that coats the inside and selas up all of the little rusty pin holes.


rock-

[Doozer]

Tank Kream is crap. It will NEVER completely harden. I have used Por15 on a few gas tanks and it works great. I like the silver for its aluminum content, but the black will work also. Tanks do not have to be super clean. It will stick.
When using the paint on external surfaces, be advised that there are no UV inhibitors, so the sunlight will eventually make it chalk and peel, unless top coated. Also note, that these paints are isocyanate based, so they dry from the humidity in the air. Once you open a can, it will start to harden IMMEDIATELY. Be quick and pour out the amount you need into a different container and cap the lid. Use plastc food wrap or wax paper between the lid and the can, or you will never get the lid off ever again. Also, fill the top of the can with some heavier than air inert gas to displace the humidity laden air. Use argon from your welder or propane from a torch. Then seal the lid tightly. This paint is very similar to cyanoacrylate or super glue. Treat it accordingly. DON'T get it on your hands. They will be black or silver for two weeks or more. Ask me how I know this.
A place called PM industries also sells the same paint, perhaps less expensive.
http://www.nomorerust.com/
--Doozer

[torker]

I love the old "Chain in the tank" trick. I also run a motorcycle wrecking yard.
You wouldn't believe how many people put the chain in their tank...shake it all around, then dump out the chain...and the filter screens/tubes from the petcock they forgot to remove.
POR-15 for tank sealer???
Why not just use this
http://www.por15.com/products.asp?dept=12
And careful.. sealer does not ALWAYS stick to the inside of a tank... if it's had mixed gas run in it.
Russ

[speedsport]

not being real fond of sitting around shaking a tank, I made a mount to fit my Red Devil paint shaker, went down to the local railroad tracks and picked up some of the small shape edged flint gravel thats used for the bed for the ties, put a few handfuls into the tank and strapped it to the mount, in about 1 minute that tank looked great inside, flushed it out with muriatic acid/water mix, stuck a heatgun nozzle into the filler hole to dry it out a poured 2 pints of tank kreme into it and remounted it to the paint shaker and shook for another minute, drained the kreme and did the heatgun thing again, turned out great.

[deltaenterprizes]

I derusted a tank by filling with a mixture of 1 table spoon of baking soda and water ,used a plastic cap ovet the opening put a steel rod through the plastic cap and hooked up a battery charger.I had to empty and refill it a couple of times to clean out the accumulated particles from the bottom.
Be careful the bubbles that are formed contain hydrogen and oxygen and a very small spark will makea pop like when you are lighting an O/A torch!
I can't remember the polarity.

[davidh]

i used por 15 tank sealer kit on my old farmall that had STRESS CRACKS where it was welded. that was four years ago and it still holds fuel. FWIW i will swear by it. . . . . . .

[lynnl]

I also highly recommend POR 15's fuel tank sealing sytems! I did 3 outboard motor steel 6 gal tanks (2 Mercury, 1 Evinrude), all of which had 2-cycle mixes in them, and they all came out great. ...and it's still adhering now 3 jor 4 years later. Looks almost like a porcelin coating after it cures. Their tank sealer kits consist of three components: Cleaner, etcher, and the sealant itself.

But in my experience, there's no point in trying to save any of the leftover sealer, unless you can use it in the next day or so. And like someone said, if there's any sealer bonding lid to can, they'll be ice skating in hell before you ever get the lid off!