Heya peeps,
Ive finally got my arse into some sort of gear and started work on the DT50 restoration, the tank that came with the bike was in good condition but had some dents and chips in it, aswell as rust on the inside although it doesnt seem to be too bad, i was planning to chemically treat the inside but its expensive, non-original and i dont think the tank is that bad that it requires it to hold liquid.
I read an article sometime ago where a guy used vinegar to clean the inside of his fireblade tank, and also how i used to clean model aircraft engines back in my yoof, so for £4 i bought 8 bottles of distilled vinegar from tescos (each just under 600ml) and put these into the tank along with some random nuts and bolts i had laying around after blocking off the petcock and breather and shaking it like f*ck for about 5 minutes in various orientations.
So far the vinegar has changed to a browny colour from its normal clear and there is visibly less rust on the tank neck, it is also fizzing slightly and has a vapour coming off the surface indicating that there is some sort of reaction tanking place, Will give it another good shake tomorrow morning and leave it for a few hours, if there is noticeable improvement i may well strain the mixture off and use it on the XJ turbo tank and see how that comes up,
when i have the inside of the tank back to a reasonable condition i can then start rubbing down and painting the outside once i know it isnt full of holes
Tank before treating:
Well post a pic tomorrow and compare the two , may be a good ref for someone who is considering removing rust from their tank too
I have some filler left over from my other mini aswell as some Mercedes paint which is a better match to the original DT fenders than the original sky blue paint, if this experiment works i should have it sprayed up and good as new in no time