Gas tank lining...

[hattitude]

I bought a 2001 Springer with 10K miles... but the carb was totally gunked up (even though it ran well on the test ride)... so I looked in the tank... wow... not sure what caused it, but the lining is coming off in big flakes... and some minor rust...

I have to clean out the old lining, and I've been reading and opinions are all over the place... all the threads were older, so I thought I'd ask for fresh perspective....

1) Is there a good vendor that will clean and line the tank without damaging the paint?

2) I've read enough to decide how I'm going to clean it if I go at it myself, but .... should I reline it or just leave it bare steel... I live in SoCal.....

3) If I reline it, I'm leaning towards POR-15 for a one-part sealant or two-part Caswell sealer.... Opinions?

4) Caswell seems to be a highly regarded product, but one thread mentioned it is pretty thick... I have a carb tank, so no big opening in the middle, just small holes to add/drain through.... any who used Caswell, was it too thick to add, coat, & drain easily?

Thanks all in advance for you opinions.....

[calif phil]

I would take it to GTL in North Hollywood.   They do an excellent job.  It's not cheap but it is well worth it. 

[hattitude]

I would take it to GTL in North Hollywood.   They do an excellent job.  It's not cheap but it is well worth it.

Thanks for the input.....!

I saw them on a google search, but without knowing anything about them, I was leery to spend that kind of money.....

Still weighing my options, but knowing there is a competent vendor for this job, makes the "pay to have it done" choice a solid option......

[14Frisco]

2) I've read enough to decide how I'm going to clean it if I go at it myself, but .... should I reline it or just leave it bare steel... I live in SoCal.....

FWIW, in 1998 I noticed flakes of the (yellow) lining of my 1993 XLH tank was coming loose.  I drained it, rinsed it with some diesel, and then put a bunch of nuts and shook it for a while.  Then more rinsing with diesel.  And finally rinsed with some gas.  Now almost 20 years later it still hasn't rusted through
I do try to keep it full as much as possible to minimize air exposure.

[mrmike]

Occasionally when reading threads I'll see a link to a site or service I think is worth saving, you know, just in case, I knew I had one for fuel tank cleaning/relining so I went after it for you and guess what?

It's the same one California Phil put up, I must have stole it from him,lol. If I remember correctly they can do the job without hurting the paint which is the trick.

If you've been using the search engine you'll come across my story on trying to repair my tank lining.

My advice.... if the voices just won't leave you alone and you have to fix it, use GTL, otherwise do what 14Frisco and I ultimately ended up doing, clean it out and be done with it.


Mike

[hattitude]

o repair my tank lining.

My advice.... if the voices just won't leave you alone and you have to fix it, use GTL, otherwise do what 14Frisco and I ultimately ended up doing, clean it out and be done with it.


Mike

Ha.... you must know me... those voices are saying to fix it and fix it right.... but there is another voice telling me to clean it & leave it.... for now I'm listening to both and reading of others experiences....

[mrmike]

Well if you cave in to the voices and go with GTL please update and let us know how it went though if Phil is recommending them I have no doubt it'll be an A-1 job.

Mike

[hattitude]

Well if you cave in to the voices and go with GTL please update and let us know how it went though if Phil is recommending them I have no doubt it'll be an A-1 job.

Mike

Will do....

[hattitude]

I thought I'd give some feedback....

I contacted GTL in North Hollywood on Wed morning, via the contact form on their website...

I haven't heard back from them..... Apparently they are very busy, or don't like to deal with Harley carburetor tanks (they don't have the big opening in the middle of the tank).... either way, it doesn't bode well when you can't get timely info about a service they perform...

Not gonna beg someone to spend about $700 at their shop, so on to my own fix....

I rinsed the tank Friday. Got a lot of large pieces of the lining out. I have a blaster dryer for the bike. It blows a lot of air, and the air is heated... it worked great because I would alter the opening and chunks of lining would blow out the other. It looked like it was snowing pieces of lining out the opposite side hole.

I also attached a rubber heater hose to my shop vac... it allows me to stick the hose in and around the tank, via the two small openings (fuel fill side about 3/4" and the 1" opening for the fuel tank sending unit on the other side... It helped to get a bunch of small pieces...

Today I put 1K, .177cal pellets, in the tank and shook it around.... a bunch... it was my workout for the day... It broke down all of the loose lining I could see with my borescope camera. It scraped a lot of the surface rust, but there was still a bunch of surface rust, mostly on the bottom part of the tank.

I am currently soaking the inside of the tank with a Phosphoric acid solution to get rid of the surface rust. When that's done.... it'll be rinsed with a water/baking soda solution, and dried with the blaster... vacuumed if necessary... then I'm gonna seal it until I can remount it and fill it with gas....

I'm going to run it without a liner for two reasons... although it's not my only bike, I'm in SoCal & ride all year, and it will always have fresh fuel in it .....

I will keep an eye on the tank, and if there are other problems.... I will probably go with the Caswell sealer...

Thanks all for the input....

[1FSTRK]

I always dump a box of 1/4" hex nuts in the tank to shake around, I find the hex edges work real good on the rust and heavy deposits and I always have uses for them after.

[tbird]

Pull your tower screen on top the petcock. Either clean it or buy a new one, only about $5 and run it. Probably wouldn't hurt to have someone how knows how to clean a carb go thru it

[hattitude]

Pull your tower screen on top the petcock. Either clean it or buy a new one, only about $5 and run it. Probably wouldn't hurt to have someone how knows how to clean a carb go thru it

I pulled the screen & petcock before I started cleaning the tank. It is an aftermarket petcock (no vacuum from carb needed) and both petcock & screen cleaned up well.... I pulled the carb to remove the mixture screw plug, so I could tune the bike. Former owner had it running lean. The carb was very dirty when I pulled it, so it got cleaned and rebuilt.....

I noticed the tank, because I pulled the sending unit, it wasn't working... that's when I saw the mess in the tank... based on the looks of the carb, I would have checked the tank even if the sending unit was working..

Waiting for one part to put the carb back together...

Then it'll be up & running......

[hbkeith]

I thought I'd give some feedback....


Not gonna beg someone to spend about $700 at their shop

Are you saying they want $700 to reline a tank ??

[hattitude]

I thought I'd give some feedback....


Not gonna beg someone to spend about $700 at their shop

Are you saying they want $700 to reline a tank ??

Depends on the tank and the lining... I tried to follow their price chart..... I figured it would be between $500 and $700 for my tank, but they never answered my email...

[hogpipes1]

 Same crap after a bike sat for 7 yrs  with gas. After a good clean out and not alot of linning  comming out with the junk. Told the owner save your $$  stop by couple times this  summer and i'll pull and clean the screen. Also noticed the screen is really good on this pingle  valve compared to the H-D screen.