I have a laundry list of tasks to do on the old airhead, but I figure I'll start with the nastiest job first. That's dealing with the gas tank. It is a nightmare inside there.
This is why you should always add some fuel stabilizer to your gas tank if your car/motorcycle/lawn mower/etc is going to sit for more than a month or so. I use a fuel stabilizer on the Buddy scooter and the Triumph motorbike. They always start easily after winter storage.
Muriatic acid. It's cheap and easy to get. It will aggressively attack the rust and strip it from the metal. That did the trick! All clean now, so I can put it back on the bike. After installing the new, super cheap gas cap I'm ready for the carburetor rebuild...
Not sure if you have ever smelled really old gasoline, but it's bad. Really bad. And the smell sticks in your nose for a long time.
I pulled off the fuel line going to the carbs, directed it into an old gas can, and opened up the petcock valve and let it drain into the can. Glurp, glurp, and a stink, stink!
This is why you should always add some fuel stabilizer to your gas tank if your car/motorcycle/lawn mower/etc is going to sit for more than a month or so. I use a fuel stabilizer on the Buddy scooter and the Triumph motorbike. They always start easily after winter storage.
I should have used it a few years ago on the ALFA Romeo, but I screwed up and forgot. Now I have to rebuild the carbs on it - which is a tricky job, and I'm not looking forward to it.
Back in the 1900s it wasn't such a big problem to leave gas for a while, but the newer ethanol blends and additives just don't do well over time. They get gummy and nasty, and start to leave varnish and residue very quickly. Sure way for your bike to run like shit.
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| Rebuilt petcock |
Draining the old gas out started to pull some big ole rust flakes with it, which jammed up the filter on the petcock valve. A replacement filter is only a few dollars on eBay. It was a simple rebuild and it's like new again.
Now I'll need to get all the loose rust flakes out of the tank and give the inside an acid wash to remove the rest of the rust. My first try at this was with apple cider vinegar, which is acidic, but not too harsh. I gave it 24 hours in there and drained it back into the container. That seemed to have pulled off all the varnish and the rest of the loose flakes. But there's more work to be done in there. I'll have to get serious on it now...
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| Super cheap gas cap |
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| Kind of ugly, but fully functional |
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