Draggett
Member
Last year I picked up a 78 GL1000 which had been put away wet (full gas tank) 25 years prior. I have been putting off cleaning the tank for some time expecting it to be difficult, time consuming, expensive, and possibly not effective. I had done a lot of Internet research on how best to do this and seen a lot of speculation, anecdotes, opinions and mis-information. Despite this I decided to give what seemed to be the most likely protocol, a try.
I went to Lowe's (although I'm sure they don't have a monopoly on these products) and picked up an 80 oz bottle of "Home Remedy Plus Gel Clog Remover" from the home cleaning products section and a 1qt jug of "Jasco Prep & Primer for Rusted and New Metal" from the paint section.
To clean the tank, I removed the fuel level sender unit, blocked the hole with some gasket material and several layers of card stock, all held in with the stock retaining ring, removed the fuel petcock, put a small piece of gasket material over the two fuel line holes in the tank and refitted the petcock, dumped the entire jug of clog remover through the fuel filler opening and filled the remainder of the tank with tap water. The main ingredient in the clog remover is sodium hydroxide. It also has sodium hypochlorite and sodium silicate. I don't think the last two ingredients contributed to the process. If you can't find this exact product, anything with sodium hydroxide as the principle ingredient should do.
After 1 hour, I siphoned off the entire contents into a bucket, and flushed it several times. In addition to the water there was also a lot of loose rust etc.
Next, I dumped in the full container of prep and primer, and again topped the tank up with tap water. The principle ingredient in this stuff is phosphoric acid. After one hour I siphoned off the mixture into another bucket, along with more rust etc. I then flushed the tank a half dozen times with fresh water, siphoning off as I went along. After the last flush, I stuck the nozzle of my Shop Vac down the opening for the fuel level sender and vacuumed out all remaining water and rusty residue. I then removed the petcock and scrap of gasket material, stuck a flexible wire down through the two fuel holes (careful to not push the wire through the wire mesh filters on the bottom of the tank) to make sure they were clear. Then I stuck the exhaust of my ShopVac into the fuel tank inlet for 10 minutes to dry out all remainig water, and voila, one beautifully clean oldwing gas tank, at least on the inside. I couldn't have more pleased with the outcome.
The waste sodium hydroxide solution and phosphoric acid solution, I took to the hazardous waste station at the local landfill.
I went to Lowe's (although I'm sure they don't have a monopoly on these products) and picked up an 80 oz bottle of "Home Remedy Plus Gel Clog Remover" from the home cleaning products section and a 1qt jug of "Jasco Prep & Primer for Rusted and New Metal" from the paint section.
To clean the tank, I removed the fuel level sender unit, blocked the hole with some gasket material and several layers of card stock, all held in with the stock retaining ring, removed the fuel petcock, put a small piece of gasket material over the two fuel line holes in the tank and refitted the petcock, dumped the entire jug of clog remover through the fuel filler opening and filled the remainder of the tank with tap water. The main ingredient in the clog remover is sodium hydroxide. It also has sodium hypochlorite and sodium silicate. I don't think the last two ingredients contributed to the process. If you can't find this exact product, anything with sodium hydroxide as the principle ingredient should do.
After 1 hour, I siphoned off the entire contents into a bucket, and flushed it several times. In addition to the water there was also a lot of loose rust etc.
Next, I dumped in the full container of prep and primer, and again topped the tank up with tap water. The principle ingredient in this stuff is phosphoric acid. After one hour I siphoned off the mixture into another bucket, along with more rust etc. I then flushed the tank a half dozen times with fresh water, siphoning off as I went along. After the last flush, I stuck the nozzle of my Shop Vac down the opening for the fuel level sender and vacuumed out all remaining water and rusty residue. I then removed the petcock and scrap of gasket material, stuck a flexible wire down through the two fuel holes (careful to not push the wire through the wire mesh filters on the bottom of the tank) to make sure they were clear. Then I stuck the exhaust of my ShopVac into the fuel tank inlet for 10 minutes to dry out all remainig water, and voila, one beautifully clean oldwing gas tank, at least on the inside. I couldn't have more pleased with the outcome.
The waste sodium hydroxide solution and phosphoric acid solution, I took to the hazardous waste station at the local landfill.
