oil tank rust

[wally]

My 1951 A10 has been in storage for 20 years & the inside of the oil tank is now rusty. What's the best way of dealing with this?

[A10Boy]

The old way always works best.

Strip all the fittings from it, plug the holes soundly, put 1/2 a pint of paraffin or white spirit in there, and two handfulls of old small nuts and bolts, or small sharp stone chippings, then shake and shake til its all loosened. A small child is often usefull here.

Better still if you got a lathe, put in in the lathe on ultra slow and rotate for a few hours with the stones inside so they slide around, -- not stuck to the sides by centrifugal force, -- thats what I did when I was a mechanic.

Be sure you clean it out thoroughly after.

[BSA_54A10]

After you have done the above ( or similar) then use a chemical rust cleaning solution.
I use a product called "marine clean" from PPP ( that is the POR 15 mob) followed by "metal ready" that will leave the surface perfectly clean.
If you go this route it is essential that as soon as you wash the solution out you put oil in the tank and slosh it around a bit to coat the inside or it will rust before your eyes.
Alternatively you can go the whole hog and do the full POR 15 treatment ( yes it is good for oil tanks as well ).
Do not use any of the lattex type tank sealants as they will soften in hot oil.
You could also paint it with almost any 2 pack paint , check with the suppliers as to suitability for use in hot oil.
Or you could use any of the rust converters that have a phosphate base.
Oil tanks usually do not rust as the oil tends to stick to the bare metal surfaces unless like yours are left for a long time empty.

Bike Beesa
trevor

[wally]

thanks all, very helpfull, Wally

[LJ.]

Great to have you with us Wal, you'll find that you'll get all the help you need here, great bunch of blokes. Now I take it that your going to get that early A10 back on the road this summer? Good luck it'll be great to have another long dormant BSA back on the road where it belongs.
Cheers!
LJ.

[MikeN]

I always begin cleaning an oil tank with petrol and a handfull of stainless nuts to loosen any black oily gloop off.Then move on to washing up detergant and water and a handful of stainless nuts and more shaking.
Keep changing the water and when you think you have got it clean,pour it out over some white paper.
    You will now see that its nowhere near clean!!
  Continue until it runs clear.It will take ages if you are really fussy .
Dry with a fan heater or similar and immediately spray with wd40 or oil it up.
Mike

[LJ.]

And poke one of those magnetic telescopic devices around inside the oil tank and see how much iron fillings you pull out!