Picked out color for my 360t rebuild. It's not factory mix but it's the color I wanted. Had to scramble to get the tank prepped as I had a window of time where my paint/body guy could do his magic. This guy has worked for some of the big fish in Cali so I'm just lucky he's come here to retire and I can use him. Anyway, had some rust in my tank that happened when I was away for a couple of years. I had tore down the bike all the way with all new electrical, tires, brakes, headlight, hoses....EVERTHING. I've only been able to work on it a bit at a time but now I see the finish line. (By the way, the front and rear bearings are a beast to get out but I know how if you need any suggestions). He called and said he had some time to fit me in. I needed to address the rust in the tank before a high quality, expensive paint job so I went at it yesterday. I blocked off the petcock hole, filled it with 3 gallons of vinegar (fill it to the rim of the cap but below the cap) and added 50 screws and 20 bolts (small but not small enough to get wedged). It's important to count how many go in..ha. Then Every hour I'd slosh around the tank and move the screws around as much as you can with a full tank. Just looking in you can see the vinegar already working. This would normally be a two day process. I worked the tank every hour till bed and started again early this morning. After 20 hours I drained half the vinegar through a shirt to reuse and then could shake the metal around really good. Sideways, endways, upside down and so on. Did this for about 15 minutes but not hard shaking. Drained and strained the remainder of vinegar and was surprised at the amount of rust I had on my shirt. I was also thrilled that I didn't see any large pieces.
Looked in the tank with my bore scope and wow. The tank was almost perfect except for a couple of places. I had intended to do this not stop for 48 hours then use red tank liner to seal but I could see I didn't need it.
Refilled the tank with the strained vinegar and did the process shaking and letting it sit until it was close to closing time at the paint dudes. I drained, neutralized with baking soda and water, removed petcock plug and ran a hose in the tank to get all the baking soda/vinegar out (BTW...the baking soda rinse will cause some pressure so remember that when you open the cap on the tank. After this, I looked all around inside the tank with the bore scope and it was perfectly cleaned. I was thrilled because I'd never used tank liner before and heard good and bad stories. I could see the tank was good so I put a head gun in the tank top and opened the plug on the petcock and let it blow very hot air through for about 20 minutes. Like an idiot I picked up the tank with my bare hands. Yep. Idiot. Let it cool and grumbled about my toasted fingers when I looked in and the tank was perfectly dry. I poured a bottle of Marvel mystery oil in and sloshed it around for a good long time to make sure it went every where in the tank (be sure and put some on the cap and replace the rubber gasket). Got a good coat then I drained it as much as possible and grabbed it, the chain guard and both side panels and raced to the paint dudes. He said the inside of the tank looked great and the oil I used was no problem. Always tell people of anything you use in a tank or anything someone is going to work on.
Forgot, I also gave him the Honda decals and badges for the tank and side panels. I repainted the badges myself. With the multiple coats of paint, resanding, decals, clear coat, resanding and more clear coat, it will be next week when they will be cured up enough for me to pickup. I'll put them in my reloading room till I'm ready to put them on. First I'll clean all the frame with degreaser and use my very powerful gas power washer to clean and rattle can paint.
This is a lot of words to just show a picture of the color I'm using. Tell you what. Wife caught me cleaning out a fence line the guy I hired didn't do right so here's a pic of that too. I'm in deep trouble.
Again, it's not factory blue. It's the blue I wanted. Here's a sample he gave me.
Looked in the tank with my bore scope and wow. The tank was almost perfect except for a couple of places. I had intended to do this not stop for 48 hours then use red tank liner to seal but I could see I didn't need it.
Refilled the tank with the strained vinegar and did the process shaking and letting it sit until it was close to closing time at the paint dudes. I drained, neutralized with baking soda and water, removed petcock plug and ran a hose in the tank to get all the baking soda/vinegar out (BTW...the baking soda rinse will cause some pressure so remember that when you open the cap on the tank. After this, I looked all around inside the tank with the bore scope and it was perfectly cleaned. I was thrilled because I'd never used tank liner before and heard good and bad stories. I could see the tank was good so I put a head gun in the tank top and opened the plug on the petcock and let it blow very hot air through for about 20 minutes. Like an idiot I picked up the tank with my bare hands. Yep. Idiot. Let it cool and grumbled about my toasted fingers when I looked in and the tank was perfectly dry. I poured a bottle of Marvel mystery oil in and sloshed it around for a good long time to make sure it went every where in the tank (be sure and put some on the cap and replace the rubber gasket). Got a good coat then I drained it as much as possible and grabbed it, the chain guard and both side panels and raced to the paint dudes. He said the inside of the tank looked great and the oil I used was no problem. Always tell people of anything you use in a tank or anything someone is going to work on.
Forgot, I also gave him the Honda decals and badges for the tank and side panels. I repainted the badges myself. With the multiple coats of paint, resanding, decals, clear coat, resanding and more clear coat, it will be next week when they will be cured up enough for me to pickup. I'll put them in my reloading room till I'm ready to put them on. First I'll clean all the frame with degreaser and use my very powerful gas power washer to clean and rattle can paint.
This is a lot of words to just show a picture of the color I'm using. Tell you what. Wife caught me cleaning out a fence line the guy I hired didn't do right so here's a pic of that too. I'm in deep trouble.
Again, it's not factory blue. It's the blue I wanted. Here's a sample he gave me.
