Removing rust from painted surface?

[LL]

Hey, I'm new...just started in on tearing down a 74 cb200 and have zero experience doing this sort of thing. I'd like to keep the paint on my tank as original as possible but its pretty rusty in the nooks and crannies, has some scratches that have rusted, etc. I searched old threads and someone mentioned Evaporust....checked it out and it seems like maybe I could just dip the whole tank in the stuff and clean the inside and outside all at once. Then maybe shoot some cheap clear over the outside to prevent future rust? Anyone have any experience with something like this? Or just want to tell me its a waste of time and should just repaint it?

 

[Ease]

Hmm... Not sure that you can save the original paint with the rust...

Best thing I can think of is if you could very carefully grind down the rust that's on there now with some sand paper and put something like rust converter of POR15 on it... but that'll look probably just as bad as the surface rust on there now.

Do you have a pic of the problem areas?

 

[duncan]

evaporust is excellent. the rust just dissolves w/o affecting the paint. but it can be expensive cause you have to buy enough to submerge (or fill) the tank. or do a bit at a time. it helps to have an assortment of rubbermaid tubs. the rust is gone in a day or two. you can use the stuff over and over until the chemical reaction wears out. it removes red rust very easy, but not the black rust on the headers.

rustbeater is a bit cheaper but less convenient to use:
www.rustbeeter.com





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[LL]

You're right, by the time I spend the money on the rust remover I probably could have just bought another tank. But keeping the original tank is appealing to me. i may just try to clean up what I can and ride as is. Here's some fairly bad cell phone pics because I'm lazy, but you get the idea. I haven't touched the tank at all at this point.

 

[marsupialwoe]

Elbow grease and progressively finer rubbing compounds, wax and polish.

 

[killerdwarf]

I'm waiting for someone to come up with a simple solution...........
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CLR!!!!! Use CLR, and a brush. Should clear up most of it for you.
I use on the tailgate of my white truck, and it works great!!!!!!!!

 

[kneedragger]

Here's a suggestion; pour the Evapo-Rust into a leakproof container large enough to hold the gas tank. Then flip the tank upside down, and put it into the Evapo-Rust so the top can soak in the Evapo-Rust. You'll probably lose some of the paint under the rust, but it seems to be the simplest way to soak the rusty areas clean.

Don't forget, you can still use the Evapo-Rust; I like to strain it through a paint filter (available at any place that sells automotive paint and supplies) before I pour it back into the bottle. Doing that removes the larger rust particles from the Evapo-Rust, and it is ready for use the next time I need it.

Let us know how this turns out; some "after" photos would be nice, if you can provide any.

 

[LL]

After messing around w/ ZEP on some other parts, I'm going to just try ZEP with a stiff plastic brush. As long as the ZEP isn't left on for very long, I'm not worried about it harming the paint, although ZEP does tend to discolor bare metal if not rinsed off quickly. I'll post pics when I get to it, will probably be a while.