Thanks Chris, I will look into that. Some time with a liter of lacquer thinner and a box of BBs sloshing around inside started the process yesterday. Getting the rusty, slimey, stinking BBs back out with a magnet was not much fun. But it did seem to knock a fair amount of crud loose.
After looking at some crazy ways to clean a tank on YouTube - my favorite of which was the guy who put a tank full of nuts and bolts in a dryer filled with heavy blankets and who presumably didn't mind his clothes smeiling like gas for the rest of the year - I found an interesting post by a chemist. He suggests soaking the tank with lacquer thinner for a couple days to get all the varnished gas out, then using washing soda, rebar and a battery charger to remove the rust. After that he suggests soaking the inside with oxalic acid to convert any remaining rust. I have the tank soaking with a gallon of lacquer thinner today.
The bike is a 1990 Honda Hurricane CBR600F, with 2003 CBR600RR plastics and a lot of small changes like a CBR929 front master cylinder with stainless brake lines, digital display, electronic steering stabilizer, adjustable clip ons, frame and fork sliders, LED brake and turn signals, etc. A lot of the changes are due to the fact that I bought a wrecked bike. I wanted a project I could customize without "destroying a classic", and these old CBRs are pretty undervalued at the moment.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2014, 05:58:48 AM by Doc B. »
Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President For Life
Bottlehead Corp.