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Treating Corrosion Inside Frame Tubes

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RoamingStar
Two Stroke Sniffer



Joined: 17 Jul 2023
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PostPosted: 09:58 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Treating Corrosion Inside Frame Tubes Reply with quote

Hello BCF, I couldn't find an 'Introduce Yourself' thread (I may be thick and have missed it) so before I ask my question:
I've been riding on and off over the years, scoots, 2smokes, little Japs, a Chinese monstrosity and my favourite a Ducati ST4. I'm now the owner of a 1959 BSA C15 Star which is currently completely stripped for a "quick refresh" as I had the audacity to ride it in the winter and it started to dissolve a touch.
As it's apart I've noticed there is corrosion inside the frame tube. I'm painting the outside as part of the refresh but I'm not sure what to do about the inside. It doesn't look bad (although I can only see so far down past the headstock) so it may not need attention but it seems daft not to sort it as it's already in bits.
I was thinking of using a POR15 tank sealer kit as I did for the fuel tank. It has a bottle of wash solution, a bottle of etch and a bottle of liquid tank liner. It'd be a bit of an uncertainty as to whether all parts of the interior had been reached but turning it every which way should do the job. I'd also have to come up with a way to plug the headstock so none of the liner got on the surfaces the headstock bearings sit on. Would this be overkill/a bad idea for any reason? Would simply dumping a bottle of rust converter in there suffice? Should I leave well enough alone and not worry as it's unlikely to be rot and merely surface corrosion? The frame is nice and solid (and straight) and I'm only painting it as the existing paint has worn through in places to the metal looking unsightly. I intend on riding the bike quite regularly, it's not going to be a concours/garage queen more of a decent looking but definitely used mount. I'm not painting the tinware for instance as it's overall pretty good and any imperfections that are present mean I'm not going to be too precious if it gets marked whilst in use.
Any advice or opinion offered is appreciated.
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to v or not to v
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PostPosted: 10:40 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

welcome to the forum Thumbs Up
you should find some sound advice here, and maybe a bit of light abuse, some people like to wind up new posters.
dont take it too seriously, and good luck with the bike.
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RoamingStar
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PostPosted: 10:45 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

to v or not to v wrote:
welcome to the forum Thumbs Up
you should find some sound advice here, and maybe a bit of light abuse, some people like to wind up new posters.
dont take it too seriously, and good luck with the bike.


Thank you. After undertaking a long term apprenticeship in being a bit of a twonk I have emerged with something of a thick skin. Unlike my BSA, which is needy old thing.
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Fat Angry Scotsman
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PostPosted: 10:54 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Re: Treating Corrosion Inside Frame Tubes Reply with quote

RoamingStar wrote:
Scoots

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RoamingStar
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Joined: 17 Jul 2023
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PostPosted: 11:00 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Re: Treating Corrosion Inside Frame Tubes Reply with quote

Fat Angry Scotsman wrote:
RoamingStar wrote:
Scoots


In my defence I only actually owned one, a Piaggio Zip 50... Derestricted with a Technigas exhaust, rejet and swapped out roller weights I did myself Rolling Eyes
Any others were owned by friends so I could happily give them back.
Had good fun on that Zip back then though, when it worked. Like sitting astride an angry wasp. Handled like one too.
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RoamingStar
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PostPosted: 11:01 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

I still sit like that sometimes, even after all these years...[/img]
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to v or not to v
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PostPosted: 11:02 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Re: Treating Corrosion Inside Frame Tubes Reply with quote

Fat Angry Scotsman wrote:
RoamingStar wrote:
Scoots


dude wtf are you doing with pictures like that on your puta?! Shocked
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Fat Angry Scotsman
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PostPosted: 11:14 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Re: Treating Corrosion Inside Frame Tubes Reply with quote

to v or not to v wrote:
dude wtf are you doing with pictures like that on your puta?! Shocked


I have worse Laughing
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Easy-X
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PostPosted: 11:50 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

Might we get round to answering the OP's query? Smile

I think what you're after is cavity wax, e.g. Dinitrol.
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stinkwheel
Bovine Proctologist



Joined: 12 Jul 2004
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PostPosted: 11:51 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's probably decent quality chromoloy steel with brazed lugs on a C15 frame and it'll also be massively thick compared to a modern bike so I doubt a bit of rust on the inside will be too much of an issue.

POR15 would be one solution but as you say, i think it'll be overkill. It'll also be very difficult/impossible to get the inside properly dry after flushing and the POR15 coating is almost impossible to get off again if (when) some of it finds little holes and gaps to creep out of. I saw one account of a guy who painted his trailer chassis with it then needed to remove some to weld on it and not even one of those nippy grinder mounted wire brushes was marking the stuff.

If it was me I'd either do nothing or squirt a liberal amount of ACF50 in through any orifices I could find then forget about it.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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RoamingStar
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PostPosted: 12:28 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

Easy-X wrote:
Might we get round to answering the OP's query? Smile

I think what you're after is cavity wax, e.g. Dinitrol.


Appreciated. Certainly one to consider.
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RoamingStar
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PostPosted: 12:34 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

stinkwheel wrote:
It's probably decent quality chromoloy steel with brazed lugs on a C15 frame and it'll also be massively thick compared to a modern bike so I doubt a bit of rust on the inside will be too much of an issue.

POR15 would be one solution but as you say, i think it'll be overkill. It'll also be very difficult/impossible to get the inside properly dry after flushing and the POR15 coating is almost impossible to get off again if (when) some of it finds little holes and gaps to creep out of. I saw one account of a guy who painted his trailer chassis with it then needed to remove some to weld on it and not even one of those nippy grinder mounted wire brushes was marking the stuff.

If it was me I'd either do nothing or squirt a liberal amount of ACF50 in through any orifices I could find then forget about it.


You're correct in what you've said; the frame is thick tubed and brazed together and that tank liner is very much around for the duration once it is even remotely cured. I got some on a concrete slab by mistake and I think it will still be there long after the slab has disintegrated...

That idea with the ACF50 is a good one, I've got a couple of tins in the garage. It works as a corrosion inhibitor even where there's existing corrosion so provided I can get it to run all the way down/around the frame tubes it should help. Thanks.
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jeremyr62
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PostPosted: 16:47 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

You could slowly pump in old (or new if you prefer) engine oil or ACF50 from a low water drain point, plugging leaks as they appear with plasticene or blutac. When you think you are the top of the frame, just let it all drain out. It will drip out for a long time though. I did this with a VF500 frame and it was easy enough to do.
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Nobby the Bastard
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PostPosted: 16:51 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

Surely it would be easier and cheaper in the long run to find someone who can dip the whole thing in phosphoric acid?
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WD Forte
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PostPosted: 17:09 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

On my old CXs which like many bikes rotted from the inside out
I used to weld them up and paint them then flood the frame
and swinging arms with old engine oil sometimes thinned with a bit of white spirit.
Then I'd turn the frame upside down and round and about to get it into every nook and cranny then let ( most of it) drain off.

The swinging arm which I repaired and did this to in 2005
was still sound when I sold the bike 2 years ago.
I also introduced a few 3mm holes in strategic tricky places to enable me to get a nozzle in to squish ACF50 and or WD 40 the areas around the engine hangers from time to time.

Never had any tin worm problems after that and my current scooty
frame was treated the same when I fixed it up
Yes you heard me, scooty
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WD Forte
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PostPosted: 17:15 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Re: Treating Corrosion Inside Frame Tubes Reply with quote

Fat Angry Scotsman wrote:
RoamingStar wrote:
Scoots


OMG!! WTF?? STFU!! that is so rassis
this place is full of nazi biggits, wimmin like me are not safe here
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stinkwheel
Bovine Proctologist



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PostPosted: 20:33 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

Anyway, a scooter is almost certainly faster and more reliable than a BSA starfire.

I had a comedy moment, I was riding my 350 bullet with a trailer and my mate was riding his BSA B40 on the M56 when we were both passed by a 1964 Honda C90.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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RoamingStar
Two Stroke Sniffer



Joined: 17 Jul 2023
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PostPosted: 20:45 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

jeremyr62 wrote:
You could slowly pump in old (or new if you prefer) engine oil or ACF50 from a low water drain point, plugging leaks as they appear with plasticene or blutac. When you think you are the top of the frame, just let it all drain out. It will drip out for a long time though. I did this with a VF500 frame and it was easy enough to do.


Cool method, not sure there's anything open at the bottom end of the frame but worth a look.
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RoamingStar
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PostPosted: 20:47 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nobby the Bastard wrote:
Surely it would be easier and cheaper in the long run to find someone who can dip the whole thing in phosphoric acid?


Yes indeed, but I've already shunned going the route of having it done by a third party purely to expedite the process of getting back together before the summer is over. That and I have been thoroughly enjoying working on this bike (I have to, I've been spannering on it more than I've been able to ride it Rolling Eyes )
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RoamingStar
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PostPosted: 20:50 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

WD Forte wrote:
On my old CXs which like many bikes rotted from the inside out
I used to weld them up and paint them then flood the frame
and swinging arms with old engine oil sometimes thinned with a bit of white spirit.
Then I'd turn the frame upside down and round and about to get it into every nook and cranny then let ( most of it) drain off.

The swinging arm which I repaired and did this to in 2005
was still sound when I sold the bike 2 years ago.
I also introduced a few 3mm holes in strategic tricky places to enable me to get a nozzle in to squish ACF50 and or WD 40 the areas around the engine hangers from time to time.

Never had any tin worm problems after that and my current scooty
frame was treated the same when I fixed it up
Yes you heard me, scooty


Looks like three thumbs up for the engine oil method Very Happy
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RoamingStar
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Joined: 17 Jul 2023
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PostPosted: 21:00 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Re: Treating Corrosion Inside Frame Tubes Reply with quote

WD Forte wrote:


OMG!! WTF?? STFU!! that is so rassis
this place is full of nazi biggits, wimmin like me are not safe here


If it makes you smile then buggrum Laughing I have some memories that I doubt will ever fade from pillocking around on scooters. That poor Piaggio spent almost as much time on its side as it did upright. It actually got put on a dynamometer at a local scooter specialist at one point, broke 6hp at the wheel but it was a bugger getting the transmission weights right. Most likely more to do with me than anything else. Ah stupid youth, such fun.
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RoamingStar
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PostPosted: 21:10 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

stinkwheel wrote:
Anyway, a scooter is almost certainly faster and more reliable than a BSA starfire.

I had a comedy moment, I was riding my 350 bullet with a trailer and my mate was riding his BSA B40 on the M56 when we were both passed by a 1964 Honda C90.


It's a well known fact that C90s warp reality and are capable of both flight and time travel.
My C15 has an SS80 cam and a slight overbore, I've had the needle over 75mph, the ol' man keeping pace on his Trident said it was doing near 80mph. I didn't watch the speedo too closely to be honest as my eyes were darting around making sure nothing had vibrated off...again. She's much more comfortable cruising at 55mph, and moves like a proper thumper from rest up to about 40ish. It was intended to be a short range commuter in its day so expecting it to ride like it's at the IOM is asking a bit much I suppose.
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WD Forte
World Chat Champion



Joined: 17 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: 21:56 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had a 59 Tiger cub and IIRC this and the C15 had similar dome shaped
distributors.
Parts sharing perhaps?
cba to look up when Triumph and BSA amalgamated
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Bhud
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PostPosted: 22:14 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rust converter, and don't ride it.
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stinkwheel
Bovine Proctologist



Joined: 12 Jul 2004
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PostPosted: 22:16 - 17 Jul 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote

Remeber, they didn't make the electrics, Lucas did.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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