Tank Repair Help

[robywan_kenobi]

Well, I discovered I had a leak in my tank last night. Today, I pulled it off the bike and started scraping away some kind of filler material from the under side of the tank. This is what I discovered


Seems like a PO had some leaks and patched them up. I'm positive the guy I bought it from had no idea. Anyway, I'm looking for any suggestions as to the best way to patch these up. Possibly even another tank if anyone has one for an '81H for cheap. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is my daily ride to and from work so I'm in a little bit of a bind. Thanks in advance for all the help

[rustybones49801]

Ebay has one right now, watch the auction

[BLUEJEEPLAB]

I wouldn't even try to fix it. The rest of the tank can't be much better based on the amount of scale and the size of the holes. Rustybones is right, Ebay it.

[robywan_kenobi]

Hey guys, I can't seem to find a tank for the 81H on Ebay. You don't happen to have the item number do you? Man, I hope it goes for cheap!

[robywan_kenobi]

Hey BlueJeepLab I think maybe some of the "scale" you're referring to is where I chipped off some of the filler. The whole front end of the under side of the tank was covered with some kind of bondo or plastic filler or something. I discovered a leak a couple of weeks ago on the outer left front of the tank and fixed it with an epoxy putty patch. Then, last night, I filled up with gas and as I left the station, I thought it had started raining, turns out it was fuel blowing up over the front of the tank and hitting me in the face. When I took the tank off this evening, is when I discovered the leak on the inner side of the tank. As I scraped of the filler on that leak, I figured it was time to see what was under all that other filler. The pictures tell the story. This tank had some major issues at one time or other and the PO took some kind of quick fix to resolve the issue. The epoxy I put on the outer front of the tank seems to be holding for now. I'm not sure of the chemical resistance of it though. Will it hold up a constant soaking of gasoline? Man, I don't know, but this is not what I needed right now.

[rustybones49801]

Try 4642782993 or 4625809526 or 4619775636 these are item numbers on e-bay. Just enter the number in the search bar. Hope this gets you close.

[GNEPIG]

.. it doesnt have to be just an 81, all of the tanks for the standards fit all of the years.. 78 to 82 all fit.. even the special tanks fit the standard bikes and vice versa,
.. maybe this info will help in an emergency
find out how to contact Andreas, betcha he's got one right now!

[GNEPIG]

.. here we go.. this person comes highly rated.
andreashweiss@yahoo.com

[DiverRay]

A Quick, TEMPARARY fix is get some of the fuel tank epoxy from an auto supply store. Should hold the tank for at least a month, time to get another tank.
Ray

[pggg]

To the demolition yard eventually it's a goner. Wouldn't even bother with it Robywan. But you get a spare lid, and fuel-taps out of it. Another choice is go to a fibreglass place and get them to make a fibreglass copy if the outsides still ok.

[yamarider]

Don't even bother with this mess. Your tank is beyond repair. The underlying question is, if the tank is this bad, what is wrong with everything else?????

[BLUEJEEPLAB]

No, I was refering to the rust scale inside the holes. Not clean holes, holes layers of rust visible...

[robywan_kenobi]

Well, no luck, Andreas...., doesn't have the "Standard" tank. I realize other model tanks will fit, but would like to keep with the stock configuration if possible. Anyone out there have any leads on where to find an '81H tank? For now, I have patched the holes with Magnum Steel epoxy putty. It seems to be very hard and according the the package is not affected by gas. Haven't put the tank back on the bike as yet, it seems my petcocks are leaking, so I'm gonna have to take them off and see what the deal is with them. Probably have to buy a couple of kits and rebuild them.

[skids]

STOP RUNNING THE BIKE

I once had a great running 81H engine that I ruined because I first pulled a dent with a dent puller (top of tank) with drilled holes. Then I bondoed over the holes taking care not to push the stuff into the tank. Then I sealed the inside with liberal amounts of caswells epoxy. The epoxy and the bondo did not "get along" and the gunk dissolved in the gas and solidified on the valve stems causing big problems. It looked like long stallagtites in there. I created some sort of space age material as I could not scrape the crap off the intake valves, even with a file edge. Don't repeat my mistake!!!

[cajun31]

This tank doesn't look like it is in the best of conditions but it should be repairable. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1980-...QQcmdZViewItem . At least the description states there are no holes. Some of the non destructive dent puller methods could be employed for the large dent and a refinish could do the rest.