Saving Old Seagulls

Hi Guys. I've recently bought my first Silver Century, however by the looks of it, it's been dormant for a while, left with petrol in the tank. I've managed to clean the carb, well maybe another hour or so might be required as I've just read some posts and see Amal twin jet carbs take a bit of cleaning. My problem right now is the fuel tank, it's badly needing cleaned. Can I get some suggestions please? I thought of ballbearings but wondered if they might cause dents.

Gerard

I use a couple of handfuls of shingle off my drive, with some strong detergent and hot water.

Remove the fuel tap and plug the hole, or you will destroy the filter gauze.

Then shake until you are fed up with shaking.

Wash it all out then stick it on a radiator with the cap off for a couple of days.

H-A

Horsley-Anarak wrote:


Wash it all out then stick it on a radiator with the cap off for a couple of days.

H-A

What if it still smells of petrol abit...my other half would tell me what she thinks

Pennies, or some equivelant small bronze coins seem to work well.

Cheers Lads, as I said it had old fuel in it so it's in dire need of a good clean. I'll give the shingle a go. Any advice on Amal twin jet cleaning won't go amiss either guys. At first I thought it had been against creosotte, but now I realise it's the remnants of the old fuel.

spiderg wrote: Any advice on Amal twin jet cleaning won't go amiss either guys. .

just take it all apart and give it all a good clean best you can in petrol
make sure both jets are clear...

For carbs I'm a believer in the soak method. I've had some luck with spray carb cleaners for minor deposits but for a total rebuild I soak. A good cleaner is ChemDip or similar from an auto parts store. Comes in a gallon can with a basket. It's expensive but if the can is sealed well to avoid evaporation and the solvent is strained occasionally through cheesecloth or an old T-shirt it lasts a long long time. Last can I had lasted so long the can rusted out from the outside, I had to buy a new unused gal paint can from the hdw store. Stuff till works excellent. Soak overnight, flood, wash/rinse thoroughly with fresh water then dry/blowout thoroughly with compressed air, rebuild, tune...good to go.

Caustic Soda Granuals. Tip in some caustic soda, add water screw the cap back on and shake--shake--shake. Wear safety or sun glasses and waer gloves because the tank can get very hot to handle. The first batch that you tip out will be Black as.Tip it down any drain you have at home that may be blocked and needs to be cleaned. Keep doing this until you have clear comming out. As for the amal carb. I use my air blower and blast everything out.

Lot to be said for hot water and dish soap. cheap and it wont hurt ya.

Thanks again, I'll give some of these suggestions a go. I'm well pleased with my new toy, it was a bargain at £40 so a little time spent on cleaning it up should be all it needs I think.

i usually clean my tanks by half filling them with a mixture of kerosene and petrol , adding small pebbles like perlite then let the tank go round on my outdoor rotisserie for about 24 hours on say 15 to 20 rpm. has never failed yet cheers
Bill

What temp and do you baste also?