Petrol tank liners (again!)

[Mr Bump]

Hi,

No doubt a subject that's been done to death already, but I've got two issues:

1 A one off fuel tank on a mates bike - made 15-16 years ago, someone lined it with white stuff and first had petrol in it about a month ago. Popped open the cap and the white stuff is coming off in sheets like gloss paint.

2 a very old fibreglass tank on a bsa bantam race bike. Put fuel in it and left it for about a month before I got worried and drained it. Tank is ok but the inside had started to go slightly tacky. Raw fibreglass and a similar white gloss paint type substance are visible.

In both cases i used super unleaded, so less ethanol than unleaded but possibly still a bit in there.

Any advice, product recommendations?

Found a site called Tank Care Products and am thinking of giving them a ring - anyone had good/bad experience of them?

What a pain in the arse....

Thanks, Olly

[swampy]

that is precisely why I refuse to use tank liners.

[ZedHead]

Flowliner Ethanol proof.

http://www.saisei-europe.com/Shop/Produ ... /flowliner

[martinz1000r]

Something I can relate to here! My Harris has a tank that was previously lined. When drained and dried the old liner came away in sheets and chunks. I'd had some repairs made to where I understood it to be leaking and have had a very expensive show standard respray. After a weekend left with fuel in a bubble appeared in the paint on one of the seams so obviously we didn't get all the leaks.

After much internet research I spoke to the technical guy at Frost Restorations. They produce a product call POR15 which is ethanol proof and can be used on steel and alloy fuel tanks. Don't know about fiberglass.

He recommended a 4 part process. First was use of an evil paint stripper to remove last remains of the old liner. The tank then needs cleaning with an alkaline cleaner, used to be called marine clean. You then use a metal prep chemical to prepare surface for the new liner. Final part is the liner itself.

I applied the tank liner last weekend and have now left it whilst on holiday as it needs 96 hours to dry minimum. I guess with stripping, cleaning, prepping and drying it took nearly a week to properly prepare for the liner.

On the Harris the whole process was relatively easy as the filler can be removed allowing easy access to the depths of the tank. All chemical used were evil so rubber gauntlets a must. The liner sticks to everything and the bit I splashed on my hand was a bugger to remove. Bodes well for the tank!

The whole kit was about £80 posted and comes with good instructions plus the Frost web site has more detailed instructions and YouTube video links to support.

I'll be home at the weekend to fill the tank with petrol and hope it's now fixed. Will report next week.

[GPZ592]

I've used an Ethanol proof liner from Caswell on a couple of my Kwaks - 1 Steel tank & 1 Aluminium. The application process is similar to the POR15 in that you have to remove old liner/rust, clean out the tank, prep the tank and then apply the liner. I'm happy with the results, although they've only been done a year or two. Time will tell !

[johny brando]

I've used an Ethanol proof liner from Caswell on a couple of my Kwaks - 1 Steel tank & 1 Aluminium. The application process is similar to the POR15 in that you have to remove old liner/rust, clean out the tank, prep the tank and then apply the liner. I'm happy with the results, although they've only been done a year or two. Time will tell !

I have used POR Gold tank Sealer in 3 tanks about 5 years ago now ! ...followed the instructions 100% & never had any issue's !!! Having said that I wouldn't have anything with Ethanol in it within 2 metres of any of my bikes !!! Cheers.