POR 15 coating I will use minimal acid, and essentially not blow holes in any but the most marginal of tanks, and get it all treated and coated. $60 and return shipping. Make sure you send it in a good box, its comming back in the same box with pretty much the same packing.
Turn around times are prolly going to be over a week, and will get longer in winter cos its totally dependent on the weather as well as take a good 3 days to have the fumes dry out and the coating cure on warm days.
I also will try my best to have the coating not get outside on the paint, but no guarantees here, the fuel fitting and vent will have to be cleared as a priority so I'd make sure of that before preserving the paint.
Yea, send it with the fuel fitting in it.
Added 09/27/08
I can also undent the tanks in effect taking out all but the lightest of ripples. $50 for a 1 panel undent. More if you have 2-3 far apart areas. Because each hole needs to be cut right where I can get at the dent with a number of large fist sized + devices and hammers and rollers.
This is done the old fashioned way - by hacking a palm sized hole on the under side of the tank and hammering out the dent, rolling it with various home made metal and plastic and rubber devices etc etc etc ... Pics of a recent one here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/srinath.the.man/TankDeDenting#
The tank ideally needs to be coated after this, I wont count on the weld to seal up 100% and the weld will rust and rot out very very rapidly unless protected by paint and coating. $10 discount if coating and undenting is ordered at the same time. I will help the acid step by sanding up the inside well, then get coating done with a lot less acid and chemicals. I would brush coat POR 15 which is usually far superior to the gravity and rolling method. After welding, I'll coat that weld area with brush as well. Run a pressure test and send it off. I am still working on the pressure testing part - the yellow one for smithville flats may be the first of the ones with a pressure test. Yea I will spray the outside of the weld with some paint so it dont rot away from the outside.
Cool.
Buddha.
This is a nice price. I called 5 radiator repair shops in my area to ask about Redkote lining my tank (not POR15). 3 had no idea what I was talking about. One didn't do it anymore (too many complaints about coating peeling) and the last one charges $195. F it. $20 of phosporic acid nitrile gloves from Home Dept, $1 of baking soda, and $50 of bedliner (instead of paint) from Walmart will do fine til next spring...
What the ... bedliner ... maaaaaa ... how well does it hold up ... and if it has to come out ... how will it ever come out.
Its pretty much the same math for me ... but like add $10 of POR 15 and 3 days of rolling the tank around from side to side ...
This will not ever peel, there is some on my driveway that is not moved in a year. The thing will outlive the bike and heck, the coating will be holding in the gas as the gas tank rusts from the putside and crumbles ...
Cool.
Buddha.
BTW being 1 man with no real overhead = huge advantage. Spare time ... I prefer to sell my brains and a little bit of the dexterity I seem to have obtained ... like digging out tiny ass bits off carbs and go ... ah-ha, this is bad ... when people go ... you can see that ...
And yea - whoever thought that huge lumbering corporations are very very very inefficient. :laugh: ...
Cool.
Buddha.
Bedliner for the outside. One guy pays more for materials, but less for EPA fines :)
What ... EPA, bedliner ... dang it that's some strong hooch you got there ???
Cool.
Buddha.
what do you do with the POR15 after you use it?
The general idea is to drain it and let it dry up and waste it ... that is the POR 15 clown's favorite thing to suggest to you. That and "strip it out and start over" ... no matter what your question is.
I have however developed a formula ... where I do 3 GS sized tanks or 4 smaller tanks at the same time. I dont have left over (or have very little). This time I also has 2 GS tanks of my own and a square box like tank for someone's bio diesel project. The excess got dumped in that, I sloshed it and it was just about right for all the POR 15 I bought. They give you about 1 pint in a kit, and I dont think that is too much, and its not too little for a GS sized tank. So it may not give you much excess.
Cool.
Buddha.
Ok, so if I send you the tank, what do you recomend flushing it out with first to get rid of the residual fuel?
THanks.
I'll do that, just send it as drained off fuel as you can.
But very hot water will essentially displace and evaporate gas, 2-3 rinses with that and it should be devoid of gas. As will water with simple green etc etc.
Cool.
Buddha.
How long from new can you expect to get out of a GS tank before needing treatment.
Is there additive treatments you can buy to add with fuel to give a longer life?
Should I start looking at placing in line fuel filter (bike is new 400km on clock)
Just curious, thanks
Steve
Ha ha ... I have seen the insides of my 86 yamaga maxim 700, its has a rough life with atleast 5 years of sitting in the weather un used ... and its tank clean and shiny inside. Rust outside, especially where I dropped it and dented it and scratched the paint etc etc, inside, shiny.
A non rusted tank, I'd just try to keep it full. The rust coating is designed to stick to a rough and pitted but non rusted tank. Maybe just protect it. Keep it full.
Cool.
Buddha.
Look up Gas Tank Electrolysis. There is a video of cleaning parts with A&H Washing Soda, water and a battery charger. The great thing about it is you cant over do it. It will only remove rust, not metal.
This is Otis's buddy. ;)
I ahve heard of that electrical methos back on 2001 or even earlier. I am worried about its properly cleaning the crap pockets etc. Electricity is line of sight almost. Acid on the other hand attacks the nooks and crannies better, cos the acid gets caught in there and like de rusts it better.
Anyway I'll experiment on my own tank with the electrolysis.
I am adding a new twist to this. The flat $60 is only for GS tanks. I did a shadow 600 tank for someone and other tanks like my nighthawk etc are much much harder for their various designs. GS is just about the easiest IMHO.
Cool.
Buddha.
got a tank that was badly rusted. used the "tank cleaner" multi step process that i bought from a local shop. really not confident it went well...guy working on my carbs suggested a new tank.
any way to tell your process will do the job? with tanks over $500...thought it worth a shot.
thanks.
Oh crap, I dont believe I replied to you.
Anyway, It will work just fine as long as your tank doesn't have a lot of holes in it. I'd know when I toss in the acid BTW, the method I use I have brought so many tanks back from the brink.
The one part where it can fail is if it had a gash, and you patched it with gas tank patching type thing ... it can come loose a few days to months after.
But yea send it and I'll do a honest assesment before getting into it. Pics etc etc will also be sent to you via email.
Cool.
Buddha.
I am actually going to drill a hole in the top of the tank, put in a vent tube and you can run a hose out of it with those 1 way vent valves like on the 80's sport bikes (which GS is) ... if the tank will be painted anyway. If not ... figure a bit of lumpy looking coating. I like putting a lot of coating stuff in it, sloshing it and sitting it with it on 1 end, then draining it. It makes for the right thickness, smooth as glass coating with all the dust and crap out of it when it drains. It also helps dry the tank, and to drain the acid etc etc etc.
If not painting it, I may have to drill on the underside ... just where the mount bar goes and weld a threaded boss and bolt it shut when done.
Cool.
Buddha.
Hey this may be a stupid ? .... I don't know Maybe..... I have a tank with exsiting rust........ one hole rusted through . can you do anything with this tank?
Rusted though must be welded shut. Now if its very thin around that rust, its prolly a goner.
Sorry I didn't see this post, you should PM me.
Cool.
Buddha.
Hey Buddha - I'm pulling my bike apart after a crash and noticed some rust in my tank. I'd like to get it taken care of, but have a quick question first. I don't understand if you actually drill any holes in the tank when you clean out the rust. I have what looks like very minor rust, although there is quite a bit of it. No worries about hurting the outside of the tank, as I've been in the process of repairing it with bondo (got a pretty good dent in it) and any paint that comes off in the process of the coating would only help me in the long run. So how does this work for minor rust? Do you need to cut/drill any additional holes in my tank? Thanks in advance.
Waaaa ... rust coating does not include cutting nothing.
Undenting includes cutting a fist sized hole in the under side. Look at this.
http://picasaweb.google.com/srinath.the.man/TankDeDenting#
I actually got this tank powdercoated, dont have pics yet, and its still got visible dings. Under powdercoating. I however did a far better job on a red tank that was really dented much much worse.
Rust work can be done without cutting it. Undenting cannot. Doing both at one time - heck if you're OK with some light cutting drilling, I can do an extrordinary coating job with or without undenting. I'll drill and weld a tube into the top so you use it with a 1 way valve and its works like a vent after I'm done.
Cool.
Buddha.
Hey Buddha. Rad, so no cutting or drilling holes in my tank. And for $60 plus return shipping you'll clear out the rust and coat the tank so it can't rust again? What is your schedule like these days?
I'd like to do this only in warm weather. I cannot commit to it when its raining or freezing.
It needs temperature to cure, and I cant have it in the house while its curing. It really needs temperature, like a car parked in the sun on a blazing hot day is ideal.
My schedule sucks too.
Cool.
Buddha.
Okay, that's fine. Gives me more time to strip the rest of the paint and repaint it. When do you suppose the weather will be sufficient for this sort of work?
March should be a definete, feb, maybe. I can do steps 1-2 on cold days, that coating day has to be sunny and relatively warm. Like 60+ with sun should be good for a 12 hour period.
I am actually working on a couple of cool tricks. Like crap pocket removal etc.
Cool.
Buddha.
Great. Thanks, Buddha. I'll touch base with you about this late February, early March. We can go from there. In the mean time, do you recommend I wait to repaint the tank (I'm using the Rustoleum method)?
Paint after coating. Careful as I am, I get coating crap outside too. Might as well sand over it and paint.
I dunno, I powdercoat them, not so much paint.
Cool.
Buddha.
Hey Buddha, what's your turn time to coat a rusted tank right now? This is a bare tank in primer, no petcock or gas cap. Can you work like that? Thanks
-Jessie
Hey Buddha,
I am halfway across the country, and I am wondering if you are still coating gs tanks? Mine just rusted out and started spewing gas on to my leg in traffic (Hardly safe I am sure). It has two holes actually, is there anything you can do for such a predicament? Or is it just toast?
I will gladly send pics, and if it is fixable lets strike a deal.
Budweiseric
Hi man, I totally didn;t see this post for this long.
But yea I can atttempt to coat it.
The holes if they are large need to be welded shut ... also as I acid etch, it will get more holes if it is on the verge of blowing.
Cool.
Buddha.
Hey budda,
I have two dents I want out and it needs the acid treatment. What does your calender look like?
Gaaaa I didn't even see this, but its good as of now, I am laid off and 100% free ... :mad:
Cool.
Buddha.
If you're still coating tanks.....
I'm trying to get an extra tank. I would like to have it cleaned & coated then get it re-painted. Since the paint should cure for a month or more, I plan to leave it in a hot attic for a month or two. Would that make it easier for you since you wouldn't have to wait for complete curing, as it would finish curing while the paint cures?
As an extra tank, I'd be in no rush to put gas back in it and put it on the bike.
After that, I'd take the existing tank and do the same but a different color. I'm getting a few sets of tail coverings, so it would confuse everyone by changing colors with the season by swapping the tank and tail covers. Wouldn't that be fun?
I think we can kill this thread. I posted a question in September and there has been no response. Seems this is a dead topic.
Gaaaa ... didn't you PM me about this ...
Cool.
Buddha.
Buddha -
Looking to have a tank cleaned and POR15 coated. How does your schedule look?
PM sent.
I am putting this one on hold for now, I am not going take em on cos my life is going crazy.
Thanks.
Cool.
Buddha.
If you decide to start doing this again please let us know.
Thanks
Man I just about killed myself laughing, one guy I know took a shadow tank which had very minimal rust cos its electronically galvanized, and he put 5/8th nuts in it and shook it so hard, it has dents, inside to out. He's also scraped off most of the zinc off the inside, now it will rust all the way across ...
A gs tank is a lot thicker wall, but still dont put huge a$$ nuts in it to get out rust.
Cool.
Buddha.
Buddah
Saw ur thread on derusting tanks
I just took mines off after 2 yrs of rusting
If you don't mind since ur the unofficial king of
Derusting if you can send me pm on step by step process
Also I have pin size hole on various parts of the
Is it worth saving or is time for a funeral
Sincerely 95 one eyed purple people eater