OK. I'm going to ask a couple of stupid noob questions, so I apologize in advance... ;)
There is a very light coat of rust inside the gas tank (more like scattered patches.) Do I need to remove this before I run the bike? Should I? Would waiting a while to do this have horrible consequences?
I'm going to get the bike running and street-worthy before I start worrying about paint and chrome, but I need to clean it and maybe deal with some of the worst of the rust, can anybody give me a place to start, maybe some pointers? For example, I know I shouldn't hose it down and then let it sit, but other than that I'm pretty clueless... Is there any kind of cleaner I can use to kind of freshen this bike up a little before I really start working on it?
Thanks!
- Charles
'65 Superhawk (CB77)
Regarding rust in the gas tank, the only dangers with rust in the gas tank are: spots where the tank has rusted through and allow gas to leak and chunks of rust clogging the fuel lines, filters etc. If the rust is as light as you say, you probably don't have to worry about either, but if you think there are free rust chunks that are going to clog the fuel system you can take the tank off and swish it around with some gas and a hand full of pennies, or small nuts and bolts. Don't use anything too big or it will dent the tank from the inside. Swish and rinse a few times and all the loose rust should come out. If the rust in there is light, just clean out the fuel tap and run it as is, you will quickly find out if it needs further treatment. No matter what you do, run big clear fuel filters in the lines between the fuel tap and carbs for a while. Once you are confident not much rust or whatever is coming out of the tank you can switch to small filters from a cycle shop.
POR15 (check their website) makes a marine cleaner that is a very good cleaner/degreaser. You can spray it on, scrub it with a tooth brush and then hose it off. It's like Simple Green on steroids. They also make a paint you can brush straight onto rust and it uses the rust as a primer- might be good for you until you can address the paintwork properly. Regarding hosing it down and letting it sit, you can always dry it with a towel followed by a heat gun (careful, you can burn the paint, plastic etc if you're not careful) or hair dryer or an hour in the sun. Matt
Also into Alfa Romeo Giuliettas and Giulias! Looking for a Giulia Super. To clean the tank properly and never have to worry about it again, look in the forum section titled "Wanted - Parts | Bikes | Services" and click "next" page and search down till you see a post titled "CL77 Gas tank". I made a very lengthy post there on stripping the rust and sealing the surface.
Welcome to the club and don't worry about stupid questions because there aren't any. Only stupid answers made by people who forgot how they came across their own knowledge. But you won't find much of that here! We are not exclusive and welcome anyone with a mutual interest. Even if you get silly and start talking about makin' a chopper out of a bike that seems so complete, and I stop talking to you, you'll still get some help here! (sorry, just a little pet peeve of mine!) Good luck! Joe
Sweet! I will definitely go get a bottle of marine clean tomorrow, and if it's sunny I'll try to clean the bike off a little bit... I'll probably take the gas tank off at the same time and swish it out with gas and pennies, as suggested (thanks!).
I'm assuming I shouldn't get any water near the inside of the gas tank, or is that OK, as long as it's dried out afterward? After I get it clean and clean out the gas tank (theoretically about a an afternoon's worth of work?), the next steps would be to put a new battery and selenium rectifier in it, then buy bill silver's restoration book & the rebuild kits, and rebuild the petcock & carb, install a new clutch, change the oil and spark plugs and replace all the tubing and cables. At some point I need to take the wheels off and take them into the local tire shop (great people!) to get new tires and tubes put on... (I don't have the equipment for that...) Did I miss anything? When all that is done and it's been ridden a while, some time down the road a bit (no pun intended) when I'm a little more comfortable with the bike, I'll wait for a particularly rainy winter and take the whole thing apart piece by piece and really deep-clean it, paint it, etc, and document the whole project using some sort of time-lapse fun... but for now I just need something to ride that I know won't break down and/or dump me. Anyway, to replace the clutch, do I just need new gears for it? Could I buy a gear set and install it myself, theoretically? Or is there more to it than just that? I don't think the outer casing has any problems, and the kick starter moves with resistance, but PO says it needs a new clutch, so... how would I go about checking this? If there is no easy answer for this, I'll just wait and attack it with the restoration manual, don't worry, I'm just trying to get a feel for this project. It's daunting, for sure, but the reward will be well worth it. Also, I was looking at it and the handlebar is bent, but there seem to be plentiful handlebars and brake/clutch levers on ebay... I think I'll spruce it up a little bit... also when I can afford to I'm going to put an electronic ignition on it... Thanks again for all the help, I'm sure I'll have post many more questions (in their appropriate sections) before I get this bike running... you guys are very helpful. - Charles No water in the tank unless your using the Kreem tank treatment. For the clutch you'll probably just need new friction plates and a gasket. There's a recent lengthy thread on clutch replacement in the transmission section, I believe. Do you know for a fact that you need a rectifier? If you do, selenium is old school and prone to failure. You can get a modern rectifier that looks just like the original and plugs in the same way without selenium from http://www.olypen.com/retro/ (part# 31700-268-000 $35). They also have handlebars in the correct bend, but only if you like the "cafe" riding position (flat bars, but no touring). You'll probably want to stick with something close to the bend you have so you don't have to change your cables. If you are changing cables, make sure you are getting the correct length for the bars you are going to use. Don't buy them from someone who can't tell you which length they are.
I don't believe I technically need a new rectifier, but somebody told me I should get a modern, full-wave one and I wasn't sure what that meant. Thanks for the clarification.
I gave the bike a very quick, light wash (with a toothbrush and a spray bottle of diluted cleaner/degreaser, but I ran out of time and couldn't do as thorough a job as I'd have liked. I've resigned myself to eventually take apart the bike and completely clean everything off, but not quite yet. I bought naval jelly already, but I'm going to wait until money has changed hands before I do any more work. It really is a very pretty bike, cleaned up a little. I can't wait to see it when it's all restored and shiny and happy (and, most importantly, running well.) Gas tank cleaning & pics coming soon. Check out the pic! More pics later as I do more to it. Cheers! -C.
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