STANDARD issue…. a resurrection begins….

[willis]

So, I should also share a bit of progress. The battery box has been soaking in vinegar for almost a week. Before…


3days later


6 days


After a coat of paint


I never would have thought just white vinegar would work so well. I did need to do a small amount of scrubbing with a bristle brush on some of the crusty spots. It’s not perfect, but so much better than it was. Now that worked so well, I just filled up the gas tank with fresh vinegar. I hope it turns out near as well.

 

[willis]

Man! That was a lot of hoops to jump through!

not really. I imagined it would be a lot worse. Everyone I’ve dealt with so far has been extremely accommodating. When it’s all said and done it will have cost $110 to get a title issued. Well worth it to me. The title company I was considering wanted about $325 to do it.

 

[Mailman]

That battery box came out great!
This would make a good avatar!

 

[willis]

That was just all the loose rust that I shook out of the tank. Fingers crossed I don’t develop any leaks. That’s a great idea Bob.

 

[willis]

More of the same today. Piece by piece I am inching forward. Getting the rusted out mufflers off proved a mighty task. For the life of me I could not get the left muffler nut off. Lots and lots of penetrant fluid. Big hammer, big chisel, big frigging pipe wrench… nada. Since I dont have torches to try hitting with heat, I ended up just cutting it off with a grinding wheel. Also could not get the crossover pipe to release. Mr saws-all made quick work of that. I know, flame away, but those mufflers were beyond saving. Also just cut the chain off since it was shit too. I have high hopes for cleaning up the headers though. I did a spot test on one and was surprised how well it took to de-rusting.

With the exhaust off I was able to pull the whole swing arm and wheel off. The swingarm got a thorough cleaning, sanding, and a coat of paint. Will let it cure a few days before I move forward with reinstalling. Sorry, no pics today, was in a rush for daylight with this and all my yard work. But you all know what this looks like anyhow. Cool weather is coming so I’m trying to get as much painting done now while it’s still above 70.

Ive also been working on cleaning out the gas tank via white vinegar soak. 3 days soaking brought it a long way. Made a hell of a mess in the garage though as the petcocks developed several leaks. The tank is 95% clean now. I just want to do another round to remove the last residuals in there, but I want some fresh vinegar as the rest was crazy dirty/contaminated. Overall I’m very happy with the vinegar results though. So far to date, I’ve only invested about $40 in this bike. It’s already come a long way. Will spend some money in the upcoming weeks. I just need to secure some spending cash first.

 

[jetmechmarty]

Overall I’m very happy with the vinegar results though.

I'm curious about flash rust and acetic acid.

 

[willis]

I cannot comment on that too much. After I drained the vinegar and did several hot water rinses, I could see there was still some slight "film" in there in a few areas. Deciding to give it another fresh vinegar bath, I just gave it a good spray of penetrating fluid until I could get some fresh vinegar for the next round. I'll refill it tonight and let it sit a day or two. The plan for afterwards is to dry it and immediately and use a mildly diluted 2-stroke oil & gas mixture and give it a good coating to prevent flash. I had not planned on using a liner, as I don't think it needs one. My main objective was to get the rust out and see if I have any leaks.

 

[willis]

Round two of the vinegar tank soak. Made great progress, but Marty has me concerned over the flash rust. Some rust converter or metal rescue would be ideal, but I don’t have any on hand. So I drained the vinegar out, did a quick hot water rinse, followed by a baking soda base mixture in hopes of neutralizing any remaining acid. A couple more hot water rinses and then followed up with some 2 stroke oils and a little gas to thin it. Will see how this holds off the rust for now. It will be a while before the tank is used.

Since I have an abundance of vinegar, I decided to give my rusty hardware an overnight soak to see what is salvageable.

it did the trick, but again I need to stave off the flash. You can already see some on the cleaned hardware. I just sprayed some WD40 in there and gave it a good tumble to coat and threw the lid back on. I see some rust converter in my future.

 

[Jim]

I see some rust converter in my future.

Yes. I've been using Evapo-Rust as an "after de-rusting" treatment. I've had excellent results at stopping and/or reducing the after flash.

 

[jetmechmarty]

Phosphoric acid seems to reduce flash rust as well. It's also cheap. While Metal Rescue and Evapo Rust are great options, I don't think they qualify as cheap.

 

[Jim]

Phosphoric acid seems to reduce flash rust as well. It's also cheap. While Metal Rescue and Evapo Rust are great options, I don't think they qualify as cheap.

I ran out of phosphoric acid Marty.... and yes, works great. Where are you getting yours from?

 

[RustiePyles]

Round two of the vinegar tank soak. Made great progress, but Marty has me concerned over the flash rust. Some rust converter or metal rescue would be ideal, but I don’t have any on hand. So I drained the vinegar out, did a quick hot water rinse, followed by a baking soda base mixture in hopes of neutralizing any remaining acid. A couple more hot water rinses and then followed up with some 2 stroke oils and a little gas to thin it. Will see how this holds off the rust for now. It will be a while before the tank is used.

Since I have an abundance of vinegar, I decided to give my rusty hardware an overnight soak to see what is salvageable.
View attachment 199808 View attachment 199809
it did the trick, but again I need to stave off the flash. You can already see some on the cleaned hardware. I just sprayed some WD40 in there and gave it a good tumble to coat and threw the lid back on. I see some rust converter in my future.

FYI sams club has 2x1 gallon vinegars for dirt cheap. I use Marvel Mystery Oil for a good oil coat after stuff comes out. I haven't had much problems with plated, parkerized, oxide, or cad plated parts flash rusting though.

 

[5twins]

A good source for replacement hardware is eBay. Search "Yamaha XS650 misc" and lots of nut-bolt assortments will come up that can usually be had for between $20 and $30. In particular, look for seller "mistermonkeeclaw". As you're probably aware, the acorn nuts are specially sized. I think they may be J.I.S. type. Most are still available from Yamaha but cost like $3 to $5 each. So, when looking at one of these assortments, the first thing I do is count the acorn nuts, lol. If there's like 10 or 12 of them, that pretty much covers the cost of the purchase. There are also several special fasteners and little parts I watch for, things like the large fender washer for the rear tank mount, headpipe rear mounting bolts with the built-in washer, centerstand bolts, dome head lower rear shock bolts, the aluminum plastic coated harness to frame ties, the plastic harness ties for the handlebars, and the sidestand spring post bracket and lock tab. Here's an example ......

https://www.ebay.com/itm/351517982392?hash=item51d81abeb8:g:opwAAOSwHjNV8FJ~

 

[Jim]

RE using oils: that's an excellent option to stop flash rusting but.... from my perspective, most of the de-rusting I've done is for paint. Oils are a terrible option then. The phosphoric acid has been the best solution I've used in cases of painting the parts. Evapo-Rust comes in a close second.
For the hardware Rob cleaned up, I think Evapo/phos acid and then a liberal coating of your favorite oil would be the best solution.

 

[jetmechmarty]

I ran out of phosphoric acid Marty.... and yes, works great. Where are you getting yours from?

I get it at Lowe's or True Value. I have a gallon of Clean Strip on hand. I painted it on my exhaust full strength last winter before installation. I rinsed it off with the garden hose. It looks just great today.

 

[650Skull]

Used vinegar and a quick wash in Baking-soda water-mix. Then while it is still wet WD40, to dissipate the water, and wipe with a rag that has some WD40 sprayed on it. Not soaked.

Did an old set of badly rusted gears in Molasses water mix. Wasn't a very strong mix, (should be about 10% molasses to water, and it was winter over/up here. Took 3 weeks and the mix smelled a bit like rotting eggs, (when breaking the surface), and fermenting real well with a froth on top, they come out black. The bearing was still stuck and the gears didn't slide. Gave them a real good spray with WD 40 and a bit of wriggling around and a rubber mallet things loosened up so the bearing and gears worked smooth.

Done this about 3 years ago........The gears them selves were past being reused but one shaft is usable. Just had a look at them and they have been out in the air on the bench this whole time and there is a small coating of surface rust, the gears slide and spin on the shaft and the shaft looks moist and they run smooth, no grit.

In a controlled environment with a 10-12% mix the molasses mixture will take a couple of weeks but there is no flash rust. In a tank. A shake with some media wouldn't hurt then a rinse with a petrol/2 stroke oil mix, deisel, or WD40 is all that is needed.

 

[jetmechmarty]

This is what I use. I use Metal Rescue for more delicate projects.

 

[jetmechmarty]

For the record, this is what phosphoric acid does to rust. I dilute it, 2 cups to 4 gallons of water in this instance.

 

[willis]

Tonight it hit the wall… my workshop is in total disarray and I am tripping over stuff every time I’m out there. I now have parts from this bike strewn across two areas and my organization is starting to fall wayward and am feeling a bit overwhelmed. The bike is stripped down to just frame, motor, carbs, forks, wiring and front wheel. With colder weather coming soon, I need to get a grip on this mess. Right now I don’t even have access to a workbench, so this weekend a new one will be built so I can start getting things properly put away. This will also enable me to start parking my truck in the garage. Something I have never done in the two and a half years that we have lived here.

This week I have been trying to finish up painting things that I can with enamel spray cans. We are still in the 70s here but forecast is calling to start dropping to 50-60’s soon. Once I get the workshop put in order, I will start dragging out stashed parts and get everything lined up that will be going on this bike. I’m still not 100% what I’m doing with it but I’ve got a few options.

On a side note, we had very heavy fog here this morning. Just a mile from my house a fellow biker was killed around 5am. Some jackass tried to pass a semi on the two lane state highway in the fog. As soon as he pulled out of his lane to pass he hit the biker head on. Killed instantly. Drugs/alcohol are suspected by the jackass SUV driver. So be careful out there guys!!! Idiots are among us.

 

[Mailman]

Plastic storage tubs for the big items, food storage containers for the smaller parts. Gallon and quart sized storage bags are great for miscellaneous hardware. All can be had pretty cheap and it allows you to just stack stuff up somewhere out of the way.
I’m sorry to hear about the rider who was killed near you.