My tank rust removal...?

[guzziworksman]

My left tank side is far and away the worst piece on my bike. Hardly any chrome left, not too much paint. But I'd like to save what little there is, while getting rid of the rust. My go-to is Evapo-Rust...but not in this case. The paint and chrome is hanging on for dear life - and anything that can creep under the chrome/paint is going to lift that, too. So my idea is to brass brush off as much of the rust as i can, then very very carefully apply a rust removing gel to get down to bare metal. Then, either clear coat (doubtful) or wax over it. Anybody have any experience/ideas/criticism on this method? I've searched previous threads as best I could - and I don't see how employing any of the methods suggested would be safe on retaining the flimsy paint/chrome I have. I have a lifelong hate of rust. Thanks!

 

[56 Vette]

That tank is a little father gone, as far as chrome, than mine was. Mine had the candy paint over the chrome, where yours looks like solid colors. Mine was a little crunchy, I used 0000 steel wool and WD-40 on mine followed with mother's metal polish where no paint was present, and Meguirs scratch x followed by turtle wax on what paint remained. Not sure if this would work on your tank, but maybe worth a shot. Mine X-53 cleaned up pretty good, and rides like a Cadillac, but is by no means a show winner, but wears it's patina proudly. Best of luck, Joe

 

[guzziworksman]

Thanks! I'll give your method a try. Their paint-it-over-chrome idea made for a pretty unsturdy paint job. I'm sure I'll lose bits and pieces of the paint as I go along - but hopefully I'll get the rust down to something with more shine.

 

[guzziworksman]

So I've experimented a little, this morning. Anything more aggressive than a Polish (and even then, with only a light touch) can't be used on the paint. It'll wipe the paint right off that chrome base. On the rust - still fiddling with it. Seems like an initial hit with a Dremel flap sanding wheel gets the thickness of the rust down to where a chemical might have a helpful effect. Or, a Dremel wire wheel. It does a decent job of polishing the metal, not too big on eating away at the rust. Doesn't last tooling, though. And a Dremel brass wheel? Lasts approx. 20 seconds. So I'm narrowing down my choices. If I could just buy a big heap of patience...

 

[guzziworksman]

So, my progress so far. I really wish I was staring at paint and chrome. But I do hate rust. Only thing that worked, was a flap sanding wheel on my Dremel. It's 80 grit so far. I'll work my way up to 600 grit (I suppose) sanding by hand, to put as much of a shine on it, as I can. So. A Before/After...

 

[guzziworksman]

Ok. Just need to rest the headlight, and done as I can make it.

 

[56 Vette]

Looking very nice!! Great job cleaning up the tank! The copper and black looks really good!