Getting surface rust out of lawn mower fuel tank?

I bought an old mower that it looks like someone left some gas in it until it dried up and left rust. Looks like surface rust. How do I get it out?
 
Pour some carb cleaner in, along with half a hand full of 3/8th nuts and shake the you know what out of it, with the lid on ufcourse. Won't take long to clean it out.
 
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Get any residual gas out of it, then use any of the phosphoric acid rust converters like Ospho or SEM.
 
Electrolysis works good on small metal tanks. All you need is a good battery charger. Either "google" or email me for the procedure.
 
Vinegar, plain old white vinegar. Leave it in for a couple of days and shake it some during that time. Pour it out on some weeds.
 
Hold on before you go to the rough stuff. Go buy a couple of gallons of E85 fuel. Un hook the fuel line to the carb and plug it with a stick. Fill the tank to almost the top and let it sit overnight. Next day you can shake the tank or just drain it. You will not believe how much crud will come out. If you really have rust then follow the other posts.
 
I'm going to suggest a modern alternative: Evapo-Rust.

All I can say is, the stuff works. If the tank is a small one, you only need a gallon, and you can dump it back in the jug and reuse it several times. Put it in, let it soak for a day, dump it out, rust gone. No fuss, no muss, no nuts, no strapping to tractor wheels, no witch's brew potions...

They tell you to rinse it out with water but for a fuel tank I slosh some gasoline around in it because it seems counterproductive to fill a fuel tank with water.
 

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