Hi folks, My '85 had sat over a period of years with a partially full tank of gas. When I bought the bike and began the teardown, I discovered the inside of the tank had a coating of "varnish" or "shellac" where the fuel had decayed and left its mark. The decision was made to salvage the existing tank, and here's what I learned in the process: Gas tanks do not have any interior coating when they leave the factory. No paint, nothing. Bare metal. Muratic acid (less than $3.00 per gallon) and a handful of nuts and bolts, sloshed around inside the tank, does a fine job of removing the sludge and surface rust. 24 hours worked for me and I used 2 gallons of acid. Wear safety glasses! Don't get the acid on your hands or clothes! Tape the fuel pickup tube and the breather tube on top of the tank to prevent acid from spilling onto the paint and ruining it. Sender unit assy. Remove this and plug the holes before pouring muratic acid into your tank. The base is made of lead(?) and muratic acid will eat it up (and the acid will drain out). Nuts and bolts must be fished out of the tank with a magnetic pickup. After acid removal, flush the tank - I used the skunky gas that I originally drained out. If you still see spots of black tar inside the tank, spray liberal amounts of carb cleaner onto the spots - it dissolves the black tar. Finally, spray three-in-one oil inside the tank to coat the bare metal. I hope that this post helps at least one person. My tank looks great, except for a few spots where the acid ate off the paint (fuel drain bolt, and sender assy mount). Now, does anyone on the list have an extra sender unit assy. they'll sell cheap?! Regards, Kevin '85 Pandora's Box ............................................. To unsubscribe go to http://www.sayegh.org/unsubscribe.htm .............................................
