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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
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for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Is Ospho resistant to Gasoline?
Q. I am restoring an old motorcycle and have light surface rust inside the gas tank. I have used Ospho [adv: Ospho on eBay or Amazon [affil links] in the past, but never in conjunction with gasoline. Will it dissolve off the metal when immersed in gasoline. Is there a better alternative?
Thank you for your help.
Craig Triplettautomobile repair technician - Bryson City, North Carolina
2004
A. I recently took the gas tank out of my 1949 Ford and did just about the same thing your hoping to do to your motorcycle tank. I asked for advice from several people that would know, and settled on the one idea that sounded right to me.
toilet bowl cleaner ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] was suggested as the way to remove inner corrosion and rust and any old chemical deposits. So I taped off the hole the gas gauge goes in, and poured a quart or so in, then taped shut the filler neck hole. Then I shook it vigorously on each of the four sides and then alternated which side the liquid rested in and left it that way for about ten minutes each side. I poured out the solution, (keeping the old cleaner for future work) and then hosed it out good. Then I blew it out with my compressor, eyeballed it to see if there was any difference, and not really seeing any, did it all again.
I figured that was as good as it was going to get, so after it was dry inside, I poured in this gas tank coating fluid purchased at the local old Ford place (Little Dearborn Ford) in Minneapolis, (sorry I can't remember what it's called) and left it coating each of the four sides repeatedly as during the cleaning. I did that twice also, and when it was cured it was such a nice smooth and hard surface, that I then did the filler neck and the bottom of the gauge also to finish it all up.
I'll do the same to my own motorcycle tank next spring.
Good luck.
Carl Goulding- Minneapolis, Minnesota
2004
Using Ospho inside a gasoline tank?
Q. Is there any reason not to use Phosphoric acid (OSPHO) in a motorcycle gas tank to convert rust? (Like a reaction between iron phosphate and gasoline) Any safety tips would be appreciated.
Dan Thurman- Coos Bay Oregon USA
November 28, 2017
November 2017
A. Hi Dan. Unless I misread, Ospho tells you to scrub the white remnants of the reaction off the surface, which crud sounds problematic inside a gas tank. I don't think Ospho is the right answer. But good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
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