Well thank you gentlemen for your input on that. I don’t intend to try and restart the bike for a while yet. I intend to do all the pre requisite inspections first ( as Skull noted ) and a lot of clean up under the covers. It sounds like the best way to proceed then will just be some frequent oil changes at first and with some lighter oil as 5Twins suggested. Plus new filters and gaskets all around.
I’ve been bogged down with this gas tank.
The guy I bought it from , remember, ran a wrecking yard and had access to a steam cleaner. When he was trying to get the bike going he dumped a bottle of CLR, shook the tank and the proceeded to spray the steam cleaner inside. He really did not do me any favors. He didn’t put a dent in the rust. All he did was leave rust streaks running down the side of the gas tank, he gave no thought to preserving the paint. He put new petcocks on it, but they must’ve leaked, so he used what looks like permatex gasket cement around the petcock bolts and then must’ve had permatex stuck to his fingers because there were black fingerprints stuck all over the tank. It’s been a lot to clean up and I’m not finished.
Removing the rust:
First I thought I’d try something easy, I could always do something more aggressive if this fails. I made a bucket of hot soapy water poured some in and then dropped 3 feet of heavy chain. And shook shook shook.
FAIL FAIL FAIL!
so then I went to the hardware store and bought some miracle juice Metal Rescue.
But I failed to realize two things. It was $23 for a gallon jug, that I thought you add water to.
Wrong. I would’ve needed four of those jugs.
Second I went on their website to read usage instructions and found one little caveat. Usually it’s safe on paint. They said it works by attacking iron oxide and some old paint jobs, especially orange and reds use iron oxides for color. So it goes back
Next up, white vinegar, four gallons worth. Very inexpensive.
Filled er up and let it sit out in the sun. Left it there for 24 hours. Now here’s where some guys get it wrong. I’ve watched YouTube videos where a guy will do this and when he pours out the vinegar, nothing happens. All it does is soften the rust up and loosen it from the metal. I poured out the vinegar and sure enough it looked pretty much like when I poured it into the tank. I then filled it about halfway up with water and I dumped about 2 pounds of drywall screws and nails in there and then shook that tank until my arms fell off.
About the first five times I did this the bottom of the bucket had a bunch of what looked like black sand. Here is about the fifteenth time I did this and you can see how much stuff is still coming out.
I proceeded to do this at least another fifteen times until the water came out clear.
And you want to hear something fun. Something else came out , two marbles, Haha!
I pictured some kid dropping those in his dads or granddads tank forty years ago and it just made me laugh. And you know what? I’m going to put them back in when it’s roadworthy! They’ll be my good luck charm!
After drying out the tank I took it into the shop for a look over. Here you can see one of the rust stains the owner left with his steam cleaner.
I think I can probably work that out. Underneath though is going to require more effort. There were rust spots and it looks like the first owner took silver paint ( silver?!) on a paint brush and just slopped it on.
I took all that off so I could also remove the underlying rust.
The inside of the tunnel also has a lot of rust running pretty much from front to back all along the bottom edge. I also removed all of that. I will clean and sand the whole inside of the tunnel and probably just shoot it with some rustoleum paint. The white and red that show from the outside are going to require a more careful approach, I’m looking for some good touch up paint.
One more thing, I also broke down those new petcocks. Yeah, almost completely plugged with rust. They got a good cleaning and are awaiting re assembly.
So that’s where I’m at right now. I’m preparing to order new gaskets, filters, spark plugs, the usual first step stuff. Hopefully I’ll get to some meatier projects soon.
Now for the love of God, can I please stop shaking that gas tank!?
), despite the criticism of others, but I believe I have saved myself from multiple charley horses doing it this way. 
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