Gas Tank Sealant

[sam98177]

I just got a tank for my XS11e from LBrown311 (Thank you very much!). It's was a good deal and is in decent shape, although I'd like to clean out and seal the inside.

Does anyone local to me (Orange County, CA) know of someone that can do this for me for a reasonable price? What would be a reasonable price?

Thanks,

[BobBaldy]

I just sealed my tank. It's not that hard of a job. First I made some block off plates for the petcocks and fuel level sender holes out of some scrap sheet metal. I used RTV to seal them. Then I put Acetone, nuts and bolts in the tank and sloshed it around to clean the varnish and rust out of the tank. To remove the nuts and bolts after agitation take them out the fuel level sender hole one at a time. Next I rinsed the tank with Dawn dishwashing soap about 5 times until no loose rust was coming out, just clear water. Then I put it in the sun for a week to dry because the manufacturer warns any moisture might cause the coating to fail.
I used Red Kote http://damonq.com/TechSheets/Red-Kote.pdf to seal the tank. Just pour it in and slosh it around real slow trying to get it everywhere. The manufactuer claims it will seal what surface rust is left after cleaning. After opening up the petcock holes to drain the excess you will want to do more sloshing to spread the excess that wouldn't drain out due to the petcock holes being raised. You don't want any thick spots that just skin over when it dries and has liquid underneath because this could come out later and screw up the carbs.
Some day when I have more time I'll post a thread on this with pictures. I can't post pics from this work computer.

[BobBaldy]

I forgot to add that I had some MEK also to clean up the mess from draining the excess. MEK is the recommended thinner for Red Kote. Red Kote is @ $35 a can. I haven't priced acetone and MEK lately.

[BobBaldy]

And another thing. I used MEK and Q-Tips to clean the threads and openings of the tank and dropped the screws in a little cup to disolve the coating off the threads.

[natemoen]

A lot of radiator shops will do this. They will did the tank, it removes most of the crap from inside, it remove most paint too. And then they can seal it as well.

[mrbisbob]

POR-15 recommendation

I have done my XS11's tank and my Vmax tank with the POR-15 kit. You can buy it from them directly for about $45 plus shipping. I like this stuff better because it goes in like paint and sets up like epoxy whereas the redkote and Kreem sealers are elastomeric (like rubber). So far the POR-15 doesn't discolor from gas like the Kreem stuff does and it will seal small holes. One trick I have used for a long time is to fill the tank with a mixture of CLR rust remover and water and leave it sit for a week. Usually I use 4 bottles of CLR to make the mixture stronger (more reactive) When you remove the solution your tank rust is gone and it's ready for the POR-15 metal prep solution that comes with the kit. It has zinc in it to protect the bare metal for a short time so it doesn't flash rust. Hope this helps.

[skids]

Rather than nuts and bolts to scour the tank, I found that a length of skinny chain is a lot easier to get a hold of for removal. You do need to be careful that you don't hank on the chain if it is caught on the overflow pipe in there.