daffodils coming up- 3 days ago

Spring is coming fast. The clocks sprung forward recently so the daylight runs later- add in the warm days(70's today) and the daffodils and crocus pushing up and winter is forgotten. I've hauled a 2nd load of shredded leaf mulch(22 buckets to the truck bed) and put it in the 2 raised beds and around the asparagus as well as various other plants.

I needed to get my open truck bed back for hauling so built a stand at the height it would easily slide off for storage.

1973 cb450 tank soaking w. vinegar inside

I've cleaned up all around the motorcycle project- put away parts and tools, to start fresh. As a project, I took on one of the 2 fuel tanks I have on hand. I rinsed it out with water and soap then added a few hand fulls of hex nuts with more warm soapy water and shook repeatedly holding the tank in many different positions so as to "sand blast" the rust and grime loose. Next I filled with apple cider vinegar(really no different than white vinegar but usually sold in a little higher acid strength). I let it go about 3 days in various positions and then drained. It's about unbelievable how clean it left the steel. Then I rinsed several times with water, then water with baking soda and a few more rinses of clean water. Next it was a quart of denatured alcohol shaken about to get up any remaining water (flash rusting is an issue to avoid). After the alcohol rinse I did a few rinses with 2 cycle gas mix (oil and gasoline) then searched for a light oil and chose a quart of transmission fluid I had. I poured that in and shook it all about so as to coat the metal with oil and prevent flash rusting till I put gasoline in it. I poured the used trany fluid into my container of chain saw lube oil.

hex nuts added

clean metal inside

I traded some work on a gas blower for a nice load of ash firewood

part of the load of ash I received