I get a lot of questions from people asking "what can I do with my fuel tank?" Maybe it is leaking or full of rust, maybe the paint is faded or dented. There are, of course many different cases that you could run across with just as many answers that are available. I know of several different procedures for fixing any one of the above questions. Some work better than others, sometimes the dent is too large to repair one way and another method will work better. Sometimes you don't know for sure until you have suffered through that trail & error thing.
I guess where I'm going with all this is these are my ways, this doesn't mean they are the right way or the wrong way. Surely there are other ways to make some of these repairs. One of the most common question has to do with rust or maybe a small pin hole in the fuel tank.
Rust in my tank!
If you have rust in your fuel tank, and we are not talking about a little surface rust, then you have a real need to remove the rust as 1. It is eating your tank from the inside out, kinda like termites do to wood. Soon enough all that is left is the paint. 2. It will work it's way down the fuel system and wreak havick with your fuel filters and carbs.
There are several different gas tank liners that are available to treat rust in fuel tanks. The Kreem system comes to mind first. This is a 3 step process that removes the rust, then the moisture and finally adds a rubbery type liner to the inside of your fuel tank. These "Kreem Systems" came be purchase from your local cycle shop for about $25 for the kit. Be prepared to follow the directions fully to get the maxium results. Any scimping on the labor and you could end up with a bad liner that causes as much problems as the rust itself. This method is probably the most common method used to restore the inside of fuel tanks.
I usually remove the rust in the fuel tank by adding about 2 cups of "Sand Blasting" sand and shake it around for about 10 minutes. This method I have found to be superior to putting a nuts and bolts in the tank and shaking. It doesn't leave any small dents and seems to do a better job of removing the rust and leaving shiney metal in the tank. It does take a little while to get the sand out. After that I rinse the tank out with alcohol as it will leave the inside very clean and evaporate quickly. If the integrity of the metal in the fuel tank looks good I just re-install the tank. If there is a problem I use a fiberglass resin mix and coat the inside of the fuel tank with it. This requires removing the fuel peacock value and taping over the hole with masking tape. Recently I repaired a tank that had a leak in it on the bottom side of the tank. I taped the the area where the leak was from the outside of the tank. I removed the fuel peacock valve and taped this hole also. Now, this tank had a excellant paint job on it so I really wanted to salvage the fuel tank. I mixed about a quart of my resin with the proper amount of hardener and stirred it until I though it was properly mixed. I poured the mixture inside the tank and rolled it around for about ten minutes. Once I could see it was starting to set up I poured all the excess mixture out of the tank and quickly removed the tape covering the fuel peacock valve hole. Don't forget this step unless you like playing with drills. I then sit the fuel tank down where any excess mixture inside the tank would pool over my hole in the tank. I usually wait about 24 hours before I remove the tape and install the tank. However, after about two hours the resin has harden enough for use. I once used this method on a small lawn mower fuel tank, after using the sand blast sand I realized the tank was more "Hole" than tank. It looked as if it had been shot with buckshot. I taped up the outside of the tank, mixed the resin and hardener and two hours later the mower was running fine. That was 5 years ago!
You can pick up some fiberglass resin and hardener from your local boat suppy company. Figure on spending about $20.
Need someone to help with your fuel tank?
Check ou this guys web page on fuel tank restorations. He may be able to help.
http://www.gas-tank.com/bike.htm
