Gas tank sealer removal

[LuckyEddie]

Greetings,

I need to remove the sealer from the inside of my gas tank and redo it. The PO did an incomplete coating and over time the whole thing has turned to crap. I will then clean out the rust and recoat it.
I plan on using MEK to disolve the old coating. It will take place outside and I will be overly cautious due to it being very nasty stuff.
My question is..... does anyone know if the MEK efficency will be affected by the cold tempratures (10 to 25F here)?
And does the offending coating need to be immersed in the MEK or will the fumes in the sealed tank be enough to liquify it and release it from the tank? If a quart will do the trick, there is no sense in buying 4 gallons.
I am looking for guidance in this matter as I plan to have at it this weekend if all the stars are in alignment.

Thanks in advance,

[randy]

Eddie,

Don't know the answers to your questions, but I do know this - MEK will dissolve the paint on the outside of the tank, too if you're not careful!

[fredintoon]

Hi Eddie,
been there, done that. Acetone works too, as does "economy paint thinner"
Can you wait until summer? Do it inside in the warm? I'm told that a 10 degree colder temperature slows a chemical reaction down by 40%. Set the tank up on a rotisserie arrangement so it slowly tumbles to get the solvent to the entire inner surface. Put a fistful of nuts & bolts in there to get a mechanical abrasion going.
Do NOT use a length of chain in a Standard tank as it will wrap around the filler well drain tube and refuse to be dislodged. Mr. Stupid scrapped his Standard tank doing that and had to buy another one. Remove the fuel gauge sensor too and block the hole with a gasketted metal plate.
And yeah, do not breathe those solvents, they will rip your lungs out. Wear a good quality disposable cartridge breathing mask.

[John]

I had called the manufactures of Kreem brand tank liner with this same question, and there answer was the same as Fred's, Acetone. I used two gallons in a six gallon tank and it did the job. . You will want to turn and slosh it around from time to time as it soaks, just to keep all surfaces wet.

[LuckyEddie]

Gas Tank Sealer Removal

Greetings,

Just an update on how things are progressing. I sealed the petcock and sensor holes with 1/8th aluminum plate with ruberized cork gasket material and put in 1 quart of MEK. I pluged the gas cap hole with a plumbing pipe plug (the adjustable type with a wing nut) and let it set after sloshing it around a bit for 24 hours. When I poured it out, it was the consistancy of oatmeal. I poured it into an old baking pan and left it outside to let the fumes evaporate and was left with the sealer residue that pretty much just peeled out of rthe pan.
I sloshed 2 more quarts of mek around for another 3 days for good measure and it came out with nothing more than some rust residue in it.
It should have dried out pretty good by the time I get home tonight and I will put about a gallon og toilet bowl cleaner into it, shake it up and let it cook for a few hours. After a thourough rinse I'll let it dry out real good and apply new tank sealer. I plan on using Red-Kote brand sealer.
I'll send an update as things progress.

[corey]

Think I would use acetone as the last step before coating. The acetone leaves no residue... bowl cleaner might not leave any residue, but I'm sure acetone doesn't...

[fredintoon]

Think I would use acetone as the last step before coating. The acetone leaves no residue... bowl cleaner might not leave any residue, but I'm sure acetone doesn't...

>
Hi Lucky Eddie,
90% of getting proper adhesion with tank lining formulations is the inside prep.
Toilet bowl cleaners are water based and any watery residue will have the lining compound trying to adhere to new rust.
Like corey sez, finish rinse with acetone and besides not leaving any residue, the acetone will absorb the water.

[LuckyEddie]

Gas Tank Sealer Removal

Progress update: I am offically a retard.
After getting the sealer out and using toilet bowl cleaner to remove the rust, I decided that the tank was solid and I would skip recoating it. I gave it another acid (toilet bowl cleaner) treatment last night to make sure all the rust would be removed. I decided to let it set over night to do a good job and lo and behold, this morning I found the tank splayed out and bloated. I should have used a cork so that pressure build up would just pop the cork.
If I can not tweak things back into shape, I will be looking for another tank.
For those who do not know any better (like me), learn from my mistakes.

[Ken Talbot]

Pictures, we gotta see pictures!!

[corey]

pictures, we gotta see pictures!! :d:d

agreed!!! :d

[tarzan]

Hey LuckyEddie,
Dont be so hard on yourself,I once expanded a tank with air while taking dents out.I had made a plastic plug and used compressed air to get the dents out.Well they came out nice except for this one little dent,I had a pretty good idea it wouldn't come out too.Anyway I ended up with about a 5 gallon tank.I think it was actually supposed to be a 3 gallon tank.
It no longer fit the bike and looked funny after that.I had to buy another tank.Lesson learned.

[LuckyEddie]

Gas Tank Sealer Removal

OOPS! to late for pics. Sorry. When I got home on Friday, I grabed a set of racheting tie downs from the shed, wraped them around the tank and racheted away. After about 5 minutes trying to keep them in place on a tapered cylinder, I had brought it back into shape. I got lucky....hence the name!

[latexeses]

Well, it wasn't as bad as this guy.....

http://www.zxforums.com/forums/zx-6r...need-help.html

Close one...

[DGXSER]

Hey Eddie, give yourself some credit man. You may have goofed it, but you found a way to work it back. Awesome job. No luck involved.

[tarzan]

Before doing a bunch of work on it now.I would test fit and make sure the seams dont leak.JMHO