Tank troubles

What is the best way to clean rust out of a sportster gas tank?
I have been riding the bike and it would just quit.If I got lucky it would start up and run good for a week or so then quit again.
I removed the carb bowl and checked for dirt and found only a few grains of rust.Then I turned on the petcock to check flow,cranked the engine and nothing.Pulled the tank and the petcock strainer was completely plugged up with rust! Large pieces.I cleaned the tank the best I could with just sloshing gas around and dumping it. Put it back together and now the petcock leaks.
I was wondering if they make a rebuild kit for it.It is the factory 2005 vaccume operated type.When I looked down in the tank it looked good and the metal is all clean no signs of rust. This is a 2005 883C Sportster just bought in June from Youngstown Harley Davidson,supposedly all checked out and ready to go.

a new stock petcock is only about 26 bucks its better to replace than rebuild

is it with 05 Customs. Good luck man I have been fighting mine since before I joined this board. It has gone from a bonding period, to a POS Hardley (not mis-spelled), to someone with a trailer and six grand pulls up they own this thing, to :rant: not going to lose to this f**ker, it is now a grudge match that I ain't sure my bank account can win, but I will make this thing run again if I have to figure out how to put a suzuki motor on it. uke: Ok that last part won't happen but it will run again.

Pulled the filter out of my tank (since I had to take it off to get the intake off to put in new gaskets) and it was coated with rust about .25" up :gah: . Cleaned that and drained the tank. Need to clean that out now before I put it all back (as usual around here still waiting on stealer to come up with parts). Like you I didn't find anything in the carb bowl when I first (oh God how many times ago was that) pulled it apart to start this project.

I thought my mom and dad took it a bit too easy that I finally bought a bike. Now I am starting to think she talked to the BIG MAN and put some prayer jinx on my ass. I hope I am only fighting gremlins and bad luck, would suck to :fight: with God, my arms are WAY too short.

Cowboy if you come up with the name of that company let us know please. Plan to repaint this winter anyway, might be a good thing to go ahead and do while I am at it.

if your planning on painting I would look in the jirehc or j-p type catalogs and you can pick up a new after market for a hundred or so and it will already be bare and ready and like chuck said keep it full and your problems will be gone, rust wise. another 96 cents and your at that dollar

liners

i having a radiator shop do some work on a fuel tank. they where telling me about puting liners in them anybody heard of that? i think they weld them in

I made the mistake of having a radiator shop pressure my shovel tank once and wound up with rust. Now I take them to a welding shop here and they use an inert gas to test them and BTW I will never paint another set of tanks that haven't been tested, even if they are new, another lesson learned the hard way. Instead of rocks I used some .45 jacketed truncated bullets (just the lead part) that would not chamber right, anyhow shake and pour shake and pour. A friend who owned an indy shop told me i could use Kreem but I damn well better follow the directions to the letter. That was back about 1984 I believe, i still have the bike and have never had a peeling problem. It is a two part system if memory serves me, first an etch and then the coat. AL

praying

i'm just hoping this new tank doesn't leak. seems to me this concept of putting in a liner would reduce the tank volume. it's been a nightmare:gah:

If you have a new tank and there is no rust than I wouldn't worry about a liner. What I would do is at the very least put some gas in it before mounting the tank and let it set over night and then examine around the welded areas very carefully. i found my last bad weld after the clear coat was cured and the tanks were on the bike. My local welding shop does not charge me very much to test with Argon gas, cheap insurance. AL

cleaning

any ideas on what would be good to rinse the tank out with once i get it back.

Kreem peels off after a few years. Like Chuck sez, makes for a goop that is a PITA to get out.
I've used ball bearings and MEK (Methyl Ethly Keytone) and shook like hell, drained, flushed and repeated until no rust was visible and the MEK comes out clear.

Pressure test for leaks, have any leaks repaired and retest....leaks ruin paint faster than Hillary will f&ck up the country and that's pretty quick.

Like Chuck also explained if you do not ride at least weekly keep the tank full and if in storage for any length of time or your ride is infrequently ridden, use Stabyl in the fuel tank. If water in the gas is an issue or heat and humidity with cool nights condensing water vapor in the tank, a shot of rubbing alcohol every tank or two will help keep the rust gremlins away.

It really has nothing to do with HD quality at all. Ever see a rusted gas tank on a car? Same reasons.....

you sure

keep in mind most rubbing alcohol is 30% water and 70% alcohol