Harley gas tank sealer

[panmandan61]

Any recommendations on best gas tank sealer products?

thanks,

[PaulCDF]

I like Red-Kote for steel welded tanks.

[exeric]

I only use Red-Kote but that's the same as people who prefer Vitalis, to Pomade, to aue naturle !

Red-Kote seems to hold up to gas, and can be removed with MEK, acetone, or paint remover if you want to have a change of heart and go the mechanical route with welding, solder, and lead filler which is the best, but most gruesome fix. . . Nothing seals, or stops leaks on the outside of a tank so don't waste your time with any product that promises that*. . . . And don't forget to pressure test the tank before painting.

*p.s. Other than welding, solder, and lead filler.

[Buster]

My recommendation is to not use any type of sealer. Solder it.

[otis71]

I agree on trying to avoid sealers. That said the only one I’ve seen to hold up over time is Caswell which is 2 part epoxy. With any sealer the prep is the crucial thing. Caswell adheres to rusty metal better than clean. The tech department recommends cleaning all loose and scaly rust and rinsing with acetone.

[T. Cotten]

Sometimes the search function almost works, Folks!

Over a decade ago, I finally was given some Red-Cote to test upon etched glass immersed in my local fuel: https://forum.antiquemotorcycle.org/...ers#post122674

It performed perfectly, whereas two varieties from Caswell's failed over a couple of months, and POR-15 always failed overnight.

I stopped testing for two reasons: The fuels are still constantly changing, and nobody learned anything anyway.

....Cotten

[chuckthebeatertruck]

I've been painting tanks since 1991. Dozens have come through my hands and unless I was instructed not to do so - part of what I charged for was/is lining tanks. Most of my personal bikes, unless original paint, are also lined.

From 1991 to circa 2010, I used RedKote. It was cheap, easy to work with, and available at auto parts stores (still is available over the counter at O'Reilly's).

I then switched to Caswell.

In the last 10 years, I've done about 25 tanks - 23 were Caswell and two were RedKote.

One of those bikes had a seam failure not a liner failure. The failure was due to my poor soldering; not the tank and not the liner. That was on a redkote tank. Had it been a caswell-lined tank, I doubt it would have leaked.

The reason is that I've personally seen the aftermath of a tank getting crushed, not dented, that was lined with Caswell. I was riding the bike and did the paint -- so I know exactly what happened and what products were used. Anyways, the forks destroyed both sides of the tank leaving deep creases extending the whole height of the tank. The tank had been in a severe accident decades before and was totally soldered back together . . .the soldered areas were the creased areas and the tank would have been pissing fuel out like crazy without a liner.

Instead, when I looked inside after draining the fuel (weeks later), the liner had distorted with the crease. It was cracked and crazed, but held fuel. The tank had no physical integrity to hold fuel -- only the liner was still holding it in.

YMMV