Looking for a gas tank...

[Russ]

I'm not really sure where to post this, so moderators, move it it ya need to. :-)

 

My Father-In-law has a 1974 Yamaha RD200 Electric that he left garaged for 15 years. he parked it when the tires went flat and never bothered with it again. I snagged it out of his shed a few years back and with the help of a friend of mine we've got it back in running order.. the only problem we are faced with now is the gas tank. He left gas in it for those 15 years.. I'm sure you can all imagine what we were met with when we opened it up. We've run several of those tank cleaning kits through it (you know, the three bottles of goop) and it's still pretty bad off... It's at least usable now, but here's the issue. On each side of the saddle there's a small 90 degree pipe that comes down that is supposed to be connected with fuel line so that fuel from the side away from the petcock can be used... at some point both pipes have become filled with gunk. I"m not sure if it's from the tank cleaning stuff we used or if it's just from having sat for so long with fuel in it, but they're clogged pretty good. We've tried everything we can think of from drill bits to get as much as we can to pipe cleaners to try and clear around the bend, but we can't get it to punch through on either side. so I've decided to look for a new tank.

 

SO, any of ya'll know where i can get a new tank for a '74 RD200? I've been watching e-bay but I can't seem to find a tank. I tried a few cycle salvage yards but haven't been able to find one there either, at least not one that's in serviceable condition.

 

Thanks in advance guys!

[Freebird]

I'll keep my eyes open for you. Have your tried Pinwall Cycle Parts?

 

(330)878-0313

[rod]

I use the piece of guitar string to clean tubes like that. You can even chuck them up in a drill. Spray with carb cleaner work guitar string through the tube and repeat till clear. Have you tried soaking in carb cleaner and blowing compressed air? I think that the tubes are brazed in on those old RD's so you might try to take them off and replace them. Will keep my eyes open for a tank. Rod

[WilCruise]

Don't give up on the one you have yet though. Pour solvent in it and let it sit. Try a blast or 2 of air from a high poweredcompressor with the rubber blowing tip too (protect your eyes). Worst case you might be able to find some extra petcocks, cut out the existing pipes and bolt those on.

 

I'll keep eyes peeld too.

[Russ]

Don, I had totally forgotten about Pinwall! I'll have to give him a try if Rod's Guitar string idea doesn't work...

 

Wilcruise, we tried solvent and compressed air... the solvent we used was the acid etching stuff that you get in the tank refinishing kit (those three bottles of goop I was talking about) and after three tries it didn't seem any better. After we got some of it dug out we put my buddie's air compressor on it and it didn't do anything noticable for us.

 

thanks a lot guys! I knew I could count on ya'll for advice!

[juggler]

Seafoam make a product just for this. Seafoam Deep Creep. http://www.seafoamsales.com/deepCreepTech.htm

 

This stuff is supposed to cut through just about anything.

[concours]

Don't give up... a handful of 1/4" pea stone in the tank with vigorous shaking for a half hour will finish getting all the rust flakes that will mess with you later. Rinse thoroughly with water, then just dry and WD-40 after to stop the rust. I know just what you mean about the 90 tubes for the crossover. Consider cutting them shorter with a die grinder (I assume this is NOT a Concours grade restoration) which will allow you to access them straight through with a drill.