1996 Honda Magna 750 Project

The rust in the tank will be a killer. You have to remove ALL of it or it will make it's way to the
tiny jets in the carburetors. After you've removed all of the loose rust that you can, treat the
inside of the tank with phosphoric acid. That stuff turns iron oxide (rust) into iron phosphate which
is a protective coating.
Good luck with your project!

SeanyD said:

The reserve tube has a cut in it

Click to expand...

Are you sure that this tube is not a vacuum line connected to a vacuum activated petcock? If it is, it would be rendering the petcock inactive.
Regardless of what it is, it clearly needs to be replaced.

Along with getting rid of the rust in the tank I think you need to see if the engine turns over, not start, just see if it cranks over.
I'd probably pull the plugs, squirt a bit of oil in each cylinder, then hit the starter and see if it spins.
If it does then you can start going over things like brakes, oil, tires, carburetors, etc.
If it doesn't crank over then you need to find out why and fix it or else your project is dead in the water.

First thing I do with a new project is see if I can get it to turn over or fire. So long as it turns over I know I have the basic recipe for motorcycle fun. And if it fires, you're only a couple steps from a runner! The tank will be easy to fix. Shove some rust killing agent in it (muriatic acid or some specific product), let it do its job, then coat the insides with something like POR-15.