WANTED ASAP: fuel tank 1303s
- Thread starter beetlebug
- Start date
Liam, that resin stuff I was telling you about, I bought a "tank sealing kit" from a motorbike shop when the tank in my bus went immediately after landing on Irish soil. I don't think it liked the taste of Irish petrol.
Anyway, you take the (empty) tank out, throw in a bucket of big nuts and bolts, sockets, spanners, anything big and metallic really. Rattle the hell out of the tank with all that stuff inside, the idea is you want to knock off any flaky rust or paint from the inside of the tank. Then you empty the tank of the above stuff and all the flaky bits that have been knocked loose. Wash it out and leave it in the sun til its bone dry. Plug the drain hole (feed to the engine) in the bottom of the tank. I used a pencil in a plastic bag to make it easy to remove once the resin had set. Mix up the resin and hardener in a tub and pour it into the tank. Now you want to roll the tank around, you need a coat of the resin all over the bottom of the tank and up the sides to seal any pin holes in the base. Let the resin set for a couple of hours, paint the outside of the tank, remove the plug in the base and you're good to go!
Now here's the money-saving secret: the "tank sealing kits" in the motorbike shop cost me €30-€40 from memory for a 500ml tin of resin and a small bottle of hardener. After using the kit I read the side of the tin and discovered it's only polyester resin, the same stuff they use to make fibreglass. You can buy 500ml tins of polyester resin and the hardener in your local motor factors for about a tenner or if you know anyone who's into fibreglassing they might be able to dispense some of their resin/hardener into a tin for you cheaper than that.
Job done! My tank is still holding its contents 5 years later.
Anyway, you take the (empty) tank out, throw in a bucket of big nuts and bolts, sockets, spanners, anything big and metallic really. Rattle the hell out of the tank with all that stuff inside, the idea is you want to knock off any flaky rust or paint from the inside of the tank. Then you empty the tank of the above stuff and all the flaky bits that have been knocked loose. Wash it out and leave it in the sun til its bone dry. Plug the drain hole (feed to the engine) in the bottom of the tank. I used a pencil in a plastic bag to make it easy to remove once the resin had set. Mix up the resin and hardener in a tub and pour it into the tank. Now you want to roll the tank around, you need a coat of the resin all over the bottom of the tank and up the sides to seal any pin holes in the base. Let the resin set for a couple of hours, paint the outside of the tank, remove the plug in the base and you're good to go!
Now here's the money-saving secret: the "tank sealing kits" in the motorbike shop cost me €30-€40 from memory for a 500ml tin of resin and a small bottle of hardener. After using the kit I read the side of the tin and discovered it's only polyester resin, the same stuff they use to make fibreglass. You can buy 500ml tins of polyester resin and the hardener in your local motor factors for about a tenner or if you know anyone who's into fibreglassing they might be able to dispense some of their resin/hardener into a tin for you cheaper than that.
Job done! My tank is still holding its contents 5 years later.