Cleaning Petcock Screens in Fuel Tank

[kjmarti2]

Hey Guys,

Got the fuel tank out of my '76 GL1000 over the long holiday weekend because it was absolutely FULL of rust. Took it to a radiator shop yesterday to have them de-rust and seal after which I plan to repaint it. Another look at the pictures I took inside the rusty tank shows the reserve petcock screen is pretty cruddy (I imagine the main is as well but I didn't get eyes on it). Is there anything special I need to do to clean the screens and whatever flowpath exists to the petcock, or will it be taken care of by the de-rusting process? I want to make sure once the tank gets reinstalled that the fuel has a clean unobstructed path to the carbs.

Thanks!
-Kyle

[Fred Camper]

My 1976 has the reserve plugged so watching the thread with interest.

[rcmatt007]

de-rusting should clean the screen.... now it is gunk in the tube that is hard to clean out

[tomk1960]

My reserve screen (or the tube itself) appears to be plugged. The tank wasn't that rusty, but there was a small rust hole under the reserve screen area that I had welded and repaired. Perhaps the welding process plugged it up? I wonder if there is any type of flexible drill bit that could be snaked down to clear it out? That's preferable to the alternative, which is swapping out the tank for another one.

[rcmatt007]

I tried a speedometer cable... others claimed it worked... I think I finally used a syringe to put acid down the whole and a semi- rigged wire

[kjmarti2]

I'm guessing the only access to those tubes is through the 2 holes at the petcock flange, and I don't think I was able to see the primary screen from either the gas cap hole or the sending unit hole. That makes me a bit nervous about sticking something through there, just gotta be careful I guess. I'm a little apprehensive about acid as well because I'm not sure if it'll eat away at the seal that the radiator shop will have put in to stop future rust from building up.

Anybody been successful getting tons of gunk out through the petcock holes? No idea what I'm dealing with in mine but I'm expecting the worst.

[pjlogue]

If you got an old spedo cable and cut ~2-2.5" off the end and used a variable speed drill you could auger the tubes out carefully. I would alternate using the cable and then flush any gunk out with a thin tube you could stick down the hole and flush with carb cleaner. I would also make sure the end of the cable does not have a sharp edge so you don't chew a hole through the fuel tubes.

-P.

[pidjones]

For viewing, buy a cheap ebay USB endoscope camera and tape it to a coat hanger wire.

[chewy999]

When I cleaned my tubes out, with the reserve blocked, I used a length of cable in a drill set to anticlockwise to prevent the cable unravelling. Then on a slow speed I worked the cable into the tube, gently pushing the cable in and out to get through the blockage. Once I broke through, I set the drill to clockwise and repeated the process. This causes the strands on the cable to separate, so the strands then clean the inner surface of the tube. When I was happy, I then flushed the tubes with white vinegar, which is what I used to clean the inside of the tank. Worked for me!

[Shadowjack]

I used a piece of old speedo cable in a drill like Chewy999 as well. Works fine. The screens were so rusty they just broke out, though.

[gltriker]

Filtering screens?

See my post, #62.

It shows the Inside of trike's newly cleaned and coated fuel tank through the filler neck, and the fuel level sender unit opening, too.
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[kjmarti2]

Wow Cliff, your tank is very alien-esque. Mine is covered in a thick white pasty seal. Talked to the radiator guys when I picked it up today and they used compressed air as well to minimize the amount of seal that dried on the screens. Seems like they used a combination of heat, acid down the tubes before applying the seal, and compressed air. Will post before/after pics later this evening.

-Kyle

[gltriker]

Wow Cliff, your tank is very alien-esque. Mine is covered in a thick white pasty seal. Talked to the radiator guys when I picked it up today and they used compressed air as well to minimize the amount of seal that dried on the screens. Seems like they used a combination of heat, acid down the tubes before applying the seal, and compressed air. Will post before/after pics later this evening.

-Kyle

Is the >thick white pasty seal< called Kreeme?

[rcmatt007]

sure sounds like kreeme…. wonder if the did not get it cleaned out of the screens. Good luck getting kreeme out

[pidjones]

Kreeme comes out easy. It is soluble in acetone - even when cured! I removed it from the screens on one of mine by inverting the tank in a clamp and positoning a medicine bottle of acetone over the screen with a coat hanger wire guided by watching on my USB endoscope. Duct taped it all in place and two days later the screen was fully cleared. Then I noticed the crappy coating job in the top of the tank and coating already peeling off. Ended up rolling the tank around with two gallons of acetone in it to fully remove the Kreeme.