Tank sealer

[headsbikesmopars]

Striped, cleaned and etched the fuel tank, coated inside with Por-15. The leak it had is fixed...but now it is leaking in another spot. I am thinking about drying it out and re-sealing it with another coat of Por-15. Havn't had this bike very long. I believe PO must have let it sit for a LONG time. The paint is almost perfect and I am trying to save the tank. I used the motorcycle kit from Por-15 it seems like a quality product. Anyone re-coat their tanks a second time ? I will give it another try before I ditch the tank. My buddys want to use it for target practice...LOL. Thanks...

Terry

 

[TheCafeKid]

Striped, cleaned and etched the fuel tank, coated inside with Por-15. The leak it had is fixed...but now it is leaking in another spot. I am thinking about drying it out and re-sealing it with another coat of Por-15. Havn't had this bike very long. I believe PO must have let it sit for a LONG time. The paint is almost perfect and I am trying to save the tank. I used the motorcycle kit from Por-15 it seems like a quality product. Anyone re-coat their tanks a second time ? I will give it another try before I ditch the tank. My buddys want to use it for target practice...LOL. Thanks...

Terry

Terry you might try tracking down a radiator shop. They can usually fix a pin hole without doing much in the way of damage to the outside. Personally, I dont trust those sealing kits. If you mess it up, its a bigger mess than it was to begin with..

 

[Nessism]

I'm the opposite of Josh, I don't trust the radiator shops.

I'd call POR-15 Tech Support and ask them their opinion. The POR sealer is pretty slick stuff so you may have to etch the coating before applying a second layer.

 

[alke46]

I used the gas tank sealer from the Bill Hirsch automotive products and it states on the can that
"if tank leaked, it might be better to repeat the process".

I agree with Nessism --- call the POR hotline and ask them for the proper procedure.

 

[mike_of_bbg]

One idea: According to Caswell, you can remove the old POR-15 using MEK, then use their epoxy tank liner. I've seen people tell of putting it right over their failed old Kreem/POR15 liner, but that seems a bit risky to me if you don't want to chance trashing the tank. It's very thick and cures epoxy hard. It should seal any holes that you have. One kit provides enough epoxy to seal two tanks - or seal one tank twice (on two separate occasions, mind you . On the downside, it's viscous like honey, so there's no "sloshing" it around the tank. It's more like spending a whole hour shifting the tank every two minutes or so. It will be difficult to ensure 100% coverage inside the tank with it. I settled for concentrating a bit more on known problem areas to be sure the tank was sealed there. After curing I could feel a small bare spot through the tank sender hole at the middle of the hump. There's no "tossing" Caswell onto the hump, so pour it there for maximum coverage to start and work your way around the rest of the tank.

In some google searches, the only instance I've found of Caswell failing implied it was because the tank was perhaps not completely dry. I left mine next to a dehumidifier for three days after draining the final rinse and removing all water that I could by towel.

 

[Nessism]

I've use both Caswell epoxy and Por-15 sealer before. I recommend the Por-15 stuff unless there are holes, then it's Caswell time. When using the Caswell stuff I mixed up the whole batch and dumped it in the tank. It was much easier to get the sealer all over the inside with the whole batch. There is a lot to pour back out after you get surface coated but I'd rather do that than have bare spots.

 

[steve murdoch]

I have had good luck with POR-15 and my now closed local rad shop.
Listening to testimonials over the years...Caswells for the pinhole/tiny split seam repair and use the POR-15/rad shop for the tank liner/rust inhibitor.
Do not use Kreem. It lasted less than three years on a '78 tank and messed up the carbs.

 

[headsbikesmopars]

Thanks everyone for your input. Ed, good point..I will contact Por-15 about what they think of a second re-coat with their product. I followed the Por-15 instructions to the letter. I saved the metal ready and did a second treatment with that..still have most of that left over. I used a plastic juice bottle drilled a hole in the lid and punched a small vent hole, inserted a 5/16 I.D. tube (fuel line). to catch the solutions. Used an old pet cock without the strainer screen set on prime after the shaking and rolling was over. It worked PERFECTLY..I was able to retreaved all of the metal ready except an ounce or so. I used denatured alcohol after the final water rinse and used a hair dryer duct taped to the filler hole for four and a half hours. I am ABSOLUTLY positive the tank was dry inside...no question. I could feel thru the sending unit hole and it was DRY. Only thing I can believe is I missed a spot in rolling tank around with the sealer. It looks great on the areas I can see. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw the drip...and not where it was before. I put in one gallon of gas and let it sit for about an hour before I could find the leak..very small leak. It would be very easy to drain out the gas, flush and dry it out and re-seal with por-15 a second time or try Caswell over the por-15. Caswell says on their web site that you can reseal over the por-15 with their product after you use laqor thinner to flush out the gas. Maybe the thicker sealer is what I should use now that the tank is clean inside and I know exactly where the leak is located. Thanks for your help guys. I will not give it another try and I will post my results.

Terry

 

[headsbikesmopars]

I ment to say...I will give it another try. Just call me FF...Fat-finger LOL.

Terry

 

[steve murdoch]

I ment to say...I will give it another try. Just call me FF...Fat-finger LOL.

Terry

Probably the fumes from the tank resto..

 

[headsbikesmopars]

LOL, yes you are right Steve...not to mention I missed spelled the word 'meant'...WOW...LOL I have been researching the different venues I can take and Caswell is what I will try now. What brand of stripper do you recommend for removing old coatings, something that will not harm or remove metal. Something I can get locally. I think I will try the aquarium rocks Ed speaks of. What is best to use after the stripper removes the old sealers? Por-15 uses marine clean of which I do not have any of that left over. I do have a quart of the por-15 metal ready. I intend to start this over and completely strip out old sealers and prep the surface to finish off with Caswell sealer epoxy. Thanks guys for any insight you can give.

Terry

 

[Nessism]

Terry,

I suggest slowing down and calling POR for their advice. You might get away with simply dumping the left over sealer back in the tank and giving it another coat. Maybe put the phosphate solution in the tank for a couple of minutes to give it a chance to etch the old paint a little before recoating.

On my first coating job I used Por-15 tank sealer but didn't properly dry the tank, HUGE MISTAKE. The sealer didn't stick properly and didn't flow out well. I stripped it out but very few people have the stubbornness that I do - it took a LOT of time, shaking of the tank with HD paint stripper (get the aircraft stuff) with aquarium rocks in the tank. Took at least four different batches of stripper and shaking the crap out of the tank each time - total time of about 1 week of hard labor. Trust me, you don't want to have to go though all that if you don't have to.

 

[mike_of_bbg]

From http://www.caswellplating.com/aids/epoxygas.htm :

"When recoating your gas tank from failed Kreem or POR-15 tank sealers, remove the old, failed coating using a paint stripper containing Methylene Chloride."

You shouldn't have to do any tank prep other than rinsing it out and making sure it is completely (Sahara Desert style) bone dry. They even recommend NOT de-rusting the tank, other than large chunks, because it gives the epoxy a better surface to adhere to. Note that unlike Kreem/POR-15/Red Kote, Caswell is clear and you will be able see the surface of the tank underneath, so leaving rust or any other imperfections where you can see them may bother you during a fill up!

 

[spyug]

Good advice, as always, from brother Nessim. Slow down and do a consult with the POR folks. They may be able to give you a fix.

Stripping the tank once you've got a coating in place will be a big chore....to be avoided I'd suggest. I redid one on my first Yammies a few years back and it took some serious persuading to get the nasty stuff out. I tried just about every solvent and ended up using some fabbed up scrappers to fish a lot of it out. Messy and time consuming.

If you are able to throw in a second coat, maybe even a third I think it would be a better alternative.

Next bike you can try the Caswell stuff that Mike and I like:dancing:

Keep us informed of how it goes.

cheers,
Spyug

 

[headsbikesmopars]

Thanks, some very good advice there. I will let you know how it comes out.

Terry

 

[steve murdoch]

Nothing more that i can offer, Terry, other than i use old bicycle chain instead of nuts and bolts or rocks to swish around inside.
MUCH easier to remove.

 

[spyug]

For scouring the tank the chain is a good idea or even a bag of nails or screws.

One of the funniest things I ever read about was one of the guys on the XS site who took his tank andput in a good handfull of wood screws, wrapped it in bubble wrap and some pillows and stuck in the clothes drier for an hour Needless to say, he did that when the boss was out

Worked well according to him. I thought about doing that when putting in the sealer but chickened out. With my luck, the sealer would pour out and coat the inside of the drier. Try explaining that one to the boss

Anyway, hows it coming along?

Cheers,
Spyug

 

[LHO39]

Cleaning

Cleaning

I only read this on the web.

First, use aquarium rocks since they have sharp edges. Available at Walmart.

Second, rather than spend an hour exercising, stuff the tank in a clothes dryer with a bunch of quilts to prevent bouncing. Then run the dryer with NO HEAT for a half hour. Alternative to this was bunje cord the tank to a jacked up tractor wheel, first gear, idle. Clever guys out there in cyberspace.

 

[Nessism]

Aquarium rocks are far superior to using screws, bicycle chains, nuts and bolts, ect. I know because I tried (except for the bike chain). The Aquarium rocks have lots of sharp edges plus they are small so it's easy to cover the entire surface area of the tank.

 

[GTGS]

I'm getting ready to seal the inside of my tank with Caswell. I took out the sending unit and petcock and the inside of the tank has surface rust but no scale. Basically in pretty good shape. In your opinions would I be better off just cleaning with acetone and rocks or screws and cleaning it and leaving it alone or would you go ahead and seal it anyway to keep the rust away forever?