Grasping at STRAWS to fix broken carb post.

[jetmechmarty]

I was led to believe the ethanol in the fuel is why the fiberglass tanks are on the outs.

Marty (in Korea)

[latexeses]

I don't know but I can gaurentee' you there wasn't any alcohol in the gas at that time. Plenty of lead.
I wasn't drinking then so I dind't "pour" any in the tank and my dad never got close to alcohol when he had anything to do with internal combustion engines.

However.... Take a read.

http://www.beyondfossilfuel.com/etha...ass_tanks.html

More good stuff in there as well.

[3Phase]

I was searching for information about ethanol fuel damage and stumbled across one guy's project. I can't remember what kind of bike the tank was made for but he took pictures as he worked and it was a really nice tank until the ethanol got to it.

Google suggests vinyl ester is better for ethanol but fiberglass and I don't get along any more; too much fiberglass when I was younger. I try not to touch the stuff so it's pretty much a moot point for me whatever kind of resin is used.

[79XS11F]

I'm going to guess that there must be different grades of the stuff because every new gas storage tank I see them installing at gas stations these days is fiberglass.
I wonder if this also means that the fuel tank liners they sell are no longer viable?
Rob

[79XS11F]

So this post repair is now hardened / cured and it is indeed not as hard as the Z Poxy was. There is a little bit of flex to it but it appears to be well enough bonded to the top of the broken post. I will soak a sample from the mixed up resin in gas for a few days and see what happens.
Rob

[3Phase]

Hey, it looks great. That's some nice work!

[79XS11F]

Bad news and more bad news. The fiberglass resin also became soft enough that I could push my fingernail into its surface after a 2 day soak in gasoline. The other bad news was that the repair "popped" off the top of the post when I gave it a final pressure test. It came off cleanly so it did not bond well enough to the top of the posts small profile.
So all in all the straw does make for a perfect form for rebuilding the posts but there does not appear to be a easy to get substance to pour into the form that will harden and be impervious to gasoline. While I have no doubt that there are substances out there that would do the job they are not likely to be easily available to the general public.
The next "easy fix" I will try will be to make a slot in the top of the post that will receive a flat piece of alloy that can then be pinned in place. This will be similar to how we remove stripped screws and bolts by slotting them to receive a flat tipped driver.
Rob

[natemoen]

Body lead or even solder. Each of them would need a support wire but they would hold up to gas perfect.