gas tank cleaning and sealing recommended vendors

[DanM]

Can anyone make a recommendation for a supplier of tank cleaning and sealing? I have been asked, but don't have any experience with supplier of this. The gentleman that asked would like to send the tanks out. Must keep the paint that is on them. They are HD tanks, sat for 6 years with fuel, black goo and rust.

Thank you!
Dan

[HDSmitty]

Hi Dan. I have had great results with the Red Kote system of cleaning and lining tanks. The procedure is extremely thorough if followed as directed and produces excellent results. I did a set of tanks that were already painted with no ill effects. This system was recommended to me by the maker of the tanks (commercially available) and the few questions I had were readily answered by the Red Kote tech line. The proper plugs for the petcock and filler openings were also provided with the kit. Hope this helps. Smitty

[Flathead fathead]

Check out the thread "Tank Restoration" in the Shovelhead section. I asked the same questions and several other members were very helpful.

[DanM]

Hi Flathead... your post has a good line of response, except the guy doesn't want to do it and he wants to save his paint.

I found a few places by googling, and they look good. But, I was hoping some one would make a recommendation. I gave the guy the leads, but I can't recommend a place I didn't use, so was hoping other might have.

http://www.motorcyclefueltankservices.com/index.html

http://www.gastanklining.com/

http://www.rcycle.com/GasTankSealing.html

[tst]

Hi Dan, I do this myself, you can clean the tanks with muriatic acid, then use baking soda to stop the acid from eating the metal when it is clean, I have sealed lots of tanks with POR15 gas tank sealer and have not had one fail yet
Tim

[T. Cotten]

Hi Dan, I do this myself, you can clean the tanks with muriatic acid, then use baking soda to stop the acid from eating the metal when it is clean, I have sealed lots of tanks with POR15 gas tank sealer and have not had one fail yet
Tim

Public Service Announcement Folks:

If you choose muriatic acid, don't cap up the tanks, and don't smoke if you do.

....Cotten
PS: I lost a lot on POR-15

[chuckthebeatertruck]

Muriatic acid works, but is much harsher than necessary.

Yes, you can do this yourself and you can do it cheap without ANY risk to the paint.

Go to the grocers -- buy 7 or 8 gallons of white vinegar.

Stop up the tank(s), fill them with the vinegar, and let them sit in a warm place for a few days. Drain the muck, refill with fresh vinegar and repeat. After 3-7 days, depending on the rust level, you'll have a nice clean interior.

Neutralizing the vinegar is also dead simple -- lots of hot water -- really hot water.

Then seal with your sealant of choice.

I swapped to Caswell's sealant about 5 years ago. I have also used some really wicked epoxy stuff from an aircraft supplier, POR-15, Kreem, and Red Kote. The only two I'd use now are Caswells and the equivalent from the aircraft supplier. I found all the others to work fine, but just prefer the epoxy stuff. I can't say I've actually had a tank delaminate in 30 years and probably 40-50 repaired/sealed tanks. The only one I had an issue with was sealed by a previous owner. It was Red Kote and came out of the tank in sheets. The goof ball tried to use it over rust . . .

I also HAVE tested Caswells under extreme conditions.

Here's how.

In May, I finished repairing a CRUSHED 59-60 Sportster King Tank. The damage was so severe and the rust so heavy, that even though a pressure test showed I got everything, I lined it anyways. No way I put in that much time; plus the time/expense of paint to have a pinhole open up later on.

Washed the tank, shook the heck out of it with clean drywall screws, acetone, and all that jazz. Then sealed it and let it sit for a week.

Being a weirdo and having access to 90% ethanol -- I filled the tank with a couple of gallons of ethanol and let it sit in a really hot part of the shop for several days to make sure we got a reaction going. 90% ethanol is WAY more destructive than the stuff we get in modern fuel. It will eat rubber and most plastics without much fuss.

Long story short, the ethanol didn't even mildly affect the Caswell sealer -- and my tank was stupendously sterilized.



Total cost, $8 for vinegar and $42 for the sealer. I had gallons of acetone on hand . . .

I have also done three or four tanks using evaporust (or metal rescue -- same stuff) followed by sealing with Caswells. Be forewarned the evaporust works just as well as anything, BUT it does leave an oily coating in the tank and you have to rinse, rinse, wash, wash, rinse, rinse and rinse again to get it all out before going to sealing.

Vinegar is cheaper and easier to clean up after.

[exeric]

I tried vinegar as well, and it worked way beyond my expectations. As you said, there wasn't the mysterious oily residue, and neutralizing the vinegar was simple. Best of all; vinegar is a cheap bastards dream tank stripper:)

[T. Cotten]

I tried vinegar as well, and it worked way beyond my expectations. As you said, there wasn't the mysterious oily residue, and neutralizing the vinegar was simple. Best of all; vinegar is a cheap bastards dream tank stripper:)

I go through gallons of white vinegar, Folks,..

But beware it leaves a residue, oily or not.
So a mechanical wash is critical, before neutralizing. And then another vigorous scrubbing.

The insides of tanks are impossible to scrub, so I made a tumbler, pulley'd down to about a rev a second.

Still needed aquarium gravel.. Sometimes cracked corn with baking soda. It would take either a year or silicon carbide to make it shine inside.

....Cotten
PS: That's a pretty old pic to have an Arlen sticker on the wall.





Just sold him another float.

[hogchild71]

Dan
Came across an ad in an issue of Born to Ride magazine from Florida. Ad claims that he can do all sorts of tank cleaning and sealing. Claims three day turnaround for $129 per tank.
www.craigpaintsbikes.com 813-407-2226
Hope this helps, Fred