Fuel tank restoration

Does anyone have any good suggestions for a coating for the inside of a fuel tank? I have a McCulloch 795 apart right now that had a lot of corrosion in the tank. I have sand blasted it and used JB Weld on a couple of bad spots where the corrosion went all the way through, but would like to put some kind of coating inside to try and head off any future "activity".

This is a two piece tank and I can use either spray or brush if there is something available.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Mark

POR 15. From what I hear this stuff works good on motorcycle/car gas tanks.
http://www.por15.com/products.asp?dept=12

gregz said:

POR 15. From what I hear this stuff works good on motorcycle/car gas tanks.
http://www.por15.com/products.asp?dept=12

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:agree2:
i hear good things.

I've done 3 with great results. 1 old Mall that I thought was hopeless and a Stihl 032 that was even worse. The cycle kit was enough for them all and then some.

http://www.kbs-coatings.com/KBS-Cycle-Tank-Sealer-Kit_p_31.html

Jay,

I assume you did all three tanks at the same time? It appears you can't effectively keep any of the material you don't use once you open the can. Is that your experience?

Seems to be the same for the POR15 product.

I will further assume that since I can open these tanks and clean them thoroughly, including sand blasting, that I can skip the other "cleaning" instructions and apply the coatings to the previously cleaned tanks.

Can anyone confirm?

Thanks,

Mark

I would think if you cleaned sandblasted the inside of tanks all you would need is the sealer. It is sold seperatly, 8oz can is 12.00 bucks.
I know the Cream tank sealer is more of a liner and stay away for that product.
The por15 is more like a thinner paint and gets in the pors. por15
here is just the sealer
can't hurt
http://www.por15.com/prodinfo.asp?grp=TS&dept=12

Also. My brother did a frame off on his 69 chevelle and used the por15 on the frame with great results. I would bet there tank sealer works just as well.
cheers
gregz

Also there is an industrial coating called Glyptal.. It is used to coat the inside of industrial electric motors.. That is what we use to coat the inside of v-8 race engines to aid in the oil drainback. It is very tolerent of gas , oil and heat..

Rick

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions guys.

I went ahead and ordered the 8oz. POR 15 and will give it a try.

I will report back on what I find / how it goes.

Mark

heimannm said:

Jay,

I assume you did all three tanks at the same time? It appears you can't effectively keep any of the material you don't use once you open the can. Is that your experience?

Seems to be the same for the POR15 product.

I will further assume that since I can open these tanks and clean them thoroughly, including sand blasting, that I can skip the other "cleaning" instructions and apply the coatings to the previously cleaned tanks.

Can anyone confirm?

Thanks,

Mark

Click to expand...

Mark,
I did them over a couple month period. As long as you make sure you get zero moisture in the mix and seal the balance well, you should be fine. It has worked well for me. I've gone so far as to make sure the humidity level was very low where I opened the can, only extracted what I needed and promptly sealed it back up. While this is the first time I've used the sealer, I have used other POR and KBS products. While using them, I did not follow my aforementioned procedure and the left overs hardened up in short order. On one occasion I was doing part of the undercarriage of my truck in the hot sun, a few drops of sweat dropped into the container and the balance was hardened up in a couple days. I would definitely use the phosphoric acid prep, I believe it will ensure the proper bond for long term adhesion. As for the cleaning agent, I believe you can forgo that step since you've gone through the steps you have to clean the tanks already. Of course, these are based on my experiences, other's may vary.

So you guys think a good sandblast and then run some phosphoric acid through it and it's good to go? I have a couple 125 tanks I have to seal up also.

Jacob J. said:

So you guys think a good sandblast and then run some phosphoric acid through it and it's good to go? I have a couple 125 tanks I have to seal up also.

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As long as you're certain it is also de-greased, you should be good to go.

BIGBORE577 said:

I've done 3 with great results. 1 old Mall that I thought was hopeless and a Stihl 032 that was even worse. The cycle kit was enough for them all and then some.

http://www.kbs-coatings.com/KBS-Cycle-Tank-Sealer-Kit_p_31.html

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I used this stuff on my boat's aluminum gas tanks and it works great.

Jacob J. said:

So you guys think a good sandblast and then run some phosphoric acid through it and it's good to go? I have a couple 125 tanks I have to seal up also.

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The kit in the link above has an acid included in it that cleans and etches the tank in preparation for the epoxy application...................454

Restoring ole saws is so much fun sometimes...NOT

How do you repair this ................:censored:

belgian said:

Restoring ole saws is so much fun sometimes...NOT

How do you repair this ................:censored:

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Fiberglass mat and resin on the back side or an Aluminum plate with the edges sealed well. Re-attach and seal the tank as specified above. Automotive type body work on the front especially if you could find someone who still works with lead. If the part were not available you could get that one functional and beautiful without that much effort/expense.

belgian said:

Restoring ole saws is so much fun sometimes...NOT

How do you repair this ................:censored:

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Whats that for??? Is it ALU, you could have it welded up as long as it's not corroded to bad. For finishing I would use some body filler called All Metal.

this is the bottom of a Mac 35A (gas tank) and it's badly corroded. probably to porous to weld actually imo. I replaced it with a part from another parts saw for the moment. thanks for the tips anyway.

roland

If you ever need filler though, give that All Metal a shot, its really good and strong filler. Not sure If you can get it or not where you are.

I sandblasted the tank parts, ran them through my dishwasher, then took them to work and had them run it through the parts washer/paint prep system at work. That unit combines very hot water under pressure and phosphate (phosphoric acid).

A bit of JB weld on the bigger holes, then a coat of POR 15. I was able to reposition the pieces a few times to try and even it out, seems to be setting up now.

I will leave in the morning and won't be back home until Wednesday night so it should be fully cured by then.

I will keep you posted.






Mark

Looking Good!