My Maxim has a huge rust in tank issue, and wondering before I go out and buy the kit from my yamaha dealer, if anyone has any tips or warnings about anything  

Yeah I know I no longer own a GS twin but the sites a good resource anyway  

are you refering to the kreem tank liner kit?

I'm not sure what brand, but they all seem to be the same. Only one I know of is Por 15. They all have gunk remover, rust remover, then tank sealer.

here's a good tutorial for kreem...

http://www.cycleconnections.com/articledetail.asp?TypeID=23&ID=396

OK kreem kit is sorta useless and overpriced ...
Part A - acid is Muriatic acid, available at Home depot and its $3 a gallon. - You need only ~ 1 quart for a 4-5 gallon tank.
Part B is Acetone and its also available at Home depot at $3 a quart. Also need under a pint per tank.
The White part is the only one you need.
There is a laundry list of precautions ... Here is a small subset ...
1. Acid etch ... acid full strength, but under 2 - 3 mins of sloshing around. Use duct tape to cover filler and pet chicken and empty it into a bath tub or anywhere really, it stinks up the house, but is essentially harmless... just dont stay in that fumes ... it will asphyixiate you ...
2. You follow it with a gallon of water mixed with baking soda ... Lots of baking soda ... neutralises that acid. Once again seal with duct tape, and empty into bucket or front lawn or anywhere. Harmless.
3. No duct tape, and be very very careful, this will eat paint ... I use the petcock with fuel hoses connected for the bottom and regular gas cap for top. Slosh it everywhere, and make sure it doesn't hit paint ... it will eat paint. If you have sprung a leak in the acid step ... forget the whole thing ... you need to get professional help.
4. Drain the acetone into a container ... use 1/4 of that kreem and mix with a pint or less of the acetone, and now put the petcock in with the inflow part bloksed off with a inner tube, and the filler mouth also should be blocked .... on a GS I use a flat metal plate with bolt holes to match the tank and inner tube there as well ... and slosh it everywhere, then after a few mins open the top and let some of the pressure out ... repeat over the next 2-4-6-8 hours .... and finally the thing should be coated and thick enough to have it sit in one position for an hour or so, then rotate it to next position, and so on ... Heat helps but dont heat it so fast you dont have the runny mix harden up too quick. That runny mix will put a thin coat over whatever it touches ... which is what will help hard to coat areas. Atleast a couple of hours of that ...
Cool.
Srinath.

Cool.
Srinath.

Thanks seshadri_srinath! Just one clarification

Your number 3 is refering to acetone right?

I'm gonna set up my shopping list I'm gonna go to the paint store, get some Muriatic acid and some Acetone or MEK. Lots of baking soda, and pick up some of that tank sealer from the local yamaha dealer and follow Sri's instructions. Sound good>?

here's what i did (following the instructions that came with kreem). i paid $20.

step 1: tank prep
lossen any rust particles. i thew in some nuts and bolts and shook the tank for a couple of minutes. then, rinsed the tank with water. repeat the step till all of the rust particles are cleaned off. seal the petcock holes (bushing paper and duck tape will do the job). you're on the etching the tank with the bottle #1 (mixec with hot water). the tank should be filled up with the solution. i left it over night outside (really stinks).

step2: water removal
this is the only tricky step. once you pour out the solution from step 1, rinse the tank. pour in the bottle #2. once you've rinsed out solution from step 1 using bottle #2, go immediately to step 3. do not try to complete dry the inside of the tank. and don't wait too long. it only takes a couple of minutes to flash rust.

step 3: seal the tank
pour in bottle #3 and coat the inside of the tank. let it cure. make sure you vent all the holes.

Yea my step 3 is acetone ... forgot to mention that.
Home depot has it all, no need for paint store.
Also I forgot ... does the tank have a big hole on the bottom for a fuel level guage ... if so there is a neat idea that may work great.
Get a gallon or 2 of diesel or used filtered cooking oil ... somehitng that's oily but flows like water ... heck diesel works best. Then do the jetswing method ... lots of sharp objects like nuts and bolts, chewed up nuts and bolts, a guy I know used beebees that he had hit with a hammer ... put the gas cap and the fuel level guage and the petcock back in ...as its supposed to be ... and shake it for a good long time ... an hour or so ... then drain it and invert it and remove the beebees ... No rust, no risk of springing a leak and better yet ... coating is optional ... but if you do coat it, you need to acetone it and then coat it, skip the acid steps and the baking soda ... so no risk of blowing a hole or acid mess. If no damn fuel leve guage hole or if the tank has funky pockets like a GS tank you are sorta screwed.
Cool.
Srinath.

It's got a fuel lever gauge hole    THanks Sri. I'm gonna try the sharp object shaking method, then coat it.

don't put anything too small inside the tank...depending on your tank, you'll have difficult time getting them out.

i had use magnets to fish them out on my gs tank.

POR-15 is a very good product.....(I don't care what Srinath says hehehehe). But kreem in my opinion is junk.

http://www.por15.com/product.asp?productid=306

I've done a bunch of tanks with POR-15 -all with good results.
I'm sure you can buy just the sealer from them too.


Good luck.

hey, as long as the fuel down't turn kool-aid like color, it's all good  

and don't forget to install an inline fuel filter!

Fuel is coolaide now     Theres a company here in VT that will professionaly restore, sand and prime your tank for 100$ I was thinking of doing that, because I definitely need sealer. I just picked up my tank, ill take pics so you can see how damaged it is  

OK try this one Nicebelair.
Cool.
Srinath.

Srinath, my GS tank has that seeping leak in the left side crap trap. Are you saying that the tank is a basket case?  :dunno: The decal is wrecked there anyway.

Maybe I should get with you for an eye-to-eye consultation?

Its probably not a complete wash ... you could find it with pressurised air and soap or a large water tub ... You'd need a top gas cap cover with a air pressure valve like they have on wheels ... and stuff inner tube in the middle as a geakset, and do the same with the petcock, then put air ... and see where, then remove all the gas, and all traces of gas from it, and then weld it up with someone who can weld thin steet metal ... and then paint it.
If you dont have dents in it ... I'd like to buy it off you if you decide the other method costs more than a damn tank. Yea it does cost more than a damn tank ...
Cool.
Srinath.

Quote from: starwaltSrinath, my GS tank has that seeping leak in the left side crap trap. Are you saying that the tank is a basket case?  :dunno: The decal is wrecked there anyway.

Maybe I should get with you for an eye-to-eye consultation?

I had that problem not long ago and I managed to fix it.  I don't know how long it'll last but here's what happened and what I did:

Started smelling gas at stop lights, wondered how come so many cars forgot the gas cap after refueling.  Next day, walked to my bike to go to work, and there it was: drip drip drip.  Doh for thinking it was someone else's gas problem at every stop light. :mrgreen:

Leaking on left side crap trap. Took out tank to examine.  Hello, what's this little rust doing here?  Pressed it with finger, little rust fell off and seeping leak started peeing a stream.  :lol:  The rust hole is on the inside/underside of the crap trap, not on the seam.  It looked like a small crater, like a shallow conical hole.

I emptied the tank and removed all the rust that I could.  Cleaned up the area (sanded off the paint as well) and applied JB weld to it.  It was to be a temporary solution which I thought would not hold off for too long, but it is still holding.  A few weeks later I treated the tank with POR-15.  I think that will make the fix last longer.

This summer I am going to repaint the tank.  With POR-15 inside and decent paint outside, I think the tank will hold for another few years.


Cheers,
e.

P.S.  When I did my POR-15, I also spot-fixed some rust spots on the outside as well, including the JB weld spot.  I just sanded the rust spots off and applied the POR-15 epoxy.  When I was grinding/sanding the JB weld, I half expected it too fall off, but it never did and instead it looked like a good fix.  I think gluing job depends a lot on surface preparation, just like paint job--it sorta makes sense.

P.P.S.  Also, I am in Hawaii, so I have no large temperature gradients. I don't know how temperature variations would affect the JB weld.  Althought I think it would be OK since people use it on engine parts.

I have used keen on 2 tanks the first one worked great.  but #2    what a mess  it looked like it was fine untill the tank got cold and the white  stuff just peeled off the inside of the tank.   it took alot of time to get all the stuff out I dont know if I will ever use that stuff again.  I may have got a bad batch?  but what a mess :x