Will, don't mind if I add a two or three cents. About the deep socket, I own a 1978 CB550K. I threw a metric ruler over the spark plug wrench and it looked like 18mm. Those "cheesy" tool kit wrenches work fine in my book, especially since they have thin walls. I've experienced putting a socket in on a ratchet and the socket is too thick to fit between the plug and the walls of the spark plug well. Your mileage my vary. If I were you, I'd take a plug down to Ace HW and find a socket that fit my plug. It still may or may not get deep enough in to surround the plug, though.
About derusting the tank, I've copy/pasted some useful things I've gleaned off the web and saved for myself. There are four "recipes" here but two active agents, The Works and Etch & Prep. I've used both methods. I can't tell you which is better, but I can tell you which is cheaper. A bottle of "The Works" at Walmart is about $1.59. One word of caution: Don't use too strong or for too long. I've got a tank out in my garage with no bonks at all, but I left the Works in it too long (overnight) and caused pinhole leaks in it. So much for that. Better repeated times weak that one time strong, IMHO. Here's what I've got: _________________________________________________________________ You need: 2 bottles of “the Works” toilet cleaner baking soda and water ISO heet (O-Reilly?) hair dryer ATF and Marvel oil use the Works full strength for about 45 mins, then dump flush with baking soda and water to neutralize the acid shake out as much water as possible use Iso-heet Use a blow drier on "low" to blow some warm air through the tank so it won't have condensation problems --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1: drain the gas, as much as possible. 2: pour in 1 gallon full strength phosphoric prep+etch (home depot $15) 3: gave it a couple good shakes, let sit, shake more, let sit, repeat. 4: drained the prep+etch. Rust was gone as far as I could tell. 5: rinsed 2x with baking soda+water 6: rinsed 2x with just water 7: poured in a bottle of heet, sloshed that around for a few minutes 8: added 2 gallons of gas No flash rust. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Dump in *Klean**-Strip "Prep & Etch"* phosphoric acid 2. neutralized the solution (you mix it with some water) with baking soda and water 3. rinse it out with naphtha and alcohol solvents to remove any residual water (iso-heet) 4. coat the inside of the tank with ATF and some Marvel oil to prevent rust until you use it next. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Plug the bottom with some nitrile gloves and hose clamp 2. Dump in two bottles of “the Works”, slosh it around, and let it sit for about two hours 3. About 5 hours later, dilute the mixture to the top with water. 4. About a week later I can see metal but has the appearance of light-moderate surface rust. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Google any of these sentences and you'll probably find the original right away. You'll want to run the bike off a supply can of gas until you get your tank clean. The last thing you want to do is get the carbs clean just to have rust come loose from the tank and plug a jet. Remove the petcock when you derust and be sure to have a fuel filter between the tank and the carbs even after derusting when you get it ready for the road. I kind of envy you. I've had the 1983 version of my bike on my bucket list for some time now. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
