leaky rgs petrol tank

H

harpmeister

Full member
Location
UK
Well I find I've developed that age old problem of a leaky petrol tank.

At present it is very slight, possibly just a tiny pin hole or two on one of the lower wings, and I want to catch it before it gets any worse.

After reading some of the posts regarding tank sealers I am reluctant to go down that route at the moment and was wondering if anyone has had any success using JB weld, PC7 etc

Any advice would be most welcome
 
My friend I think you are doomed long term anyways to go down the route which you are reluctant to go down. 
if you were successful with JB or similar then it would only at best be a short term fix, as the rust is coming from the inside so you gotta rectify the cause as like cancer left untreated it will spread and only make matters worse.

Over the years have tried various shit and by way and far the best I have found is POR15. Comes in kit form with and agressive cleaning agent, then a primer and sealer.. the key is to get the thing a clean as possible inside ( I use some big old nuts to shake around in there as I used to use dry wall screws but reckon on of the suckers got caught in one of the seams at the front of those RGS tanks and never recovered it.. ) then make sure that the tank inside is bone dry before moving to the next step..
You need to remove the fuel sender anyways and make a blanking plate so this gives you a good point in which to dry out the tank with a hair dryer etc..

Good luck and here is a link to POR 15 as reckon you are gunna need it sometime soon.

http://www.por15.com/POR-15-Fuel-Tank-Repair-Kit_p_62.html
 
I'd be using Caswells as a liner as it an epoxy based liner. If the tank isn't prepared properly I've heard reports that Por15 will delaminate then you really have a problem!
Not saying Por15 is shit, just that prep is very important, more so than an epoxy base product.
Do some research on the different products available. The final choice could turn into a nightmare!
 
Brett is correct on the repair, more likely than not there are many more little pin holes that are about to appear once you start the process. There are a lot of tank sealers available, some better than others. After reading so many forums and reviews there were so many people that had poor results from Kreem and POR so I settled on the Caswell process (i couldn't find many bad reports but no doubt they are there). And like Brett pointed out you have to get the cleaning of the tank done first. Caswell process says you don't need to clean first with their chemicals but I'd do it anyway, with mechanical and chemical. I have heard of people using a bead blaster, not for me since there is no way to get those beads out no matter how hard you try. Vapor blasting with baking soda seems better but still not sure you can get it all out either. A pressure washer seems to be ok but unless you have a way of making your own spray wands to fit inside it is a challenge but it will get a bunch of the crud broken up. I like Brett's idea of the screws and there are a host of other things you can use, the biggest issue is the rolling/shaking of the tank in all directions. I did see one guy used his cement mixer as the rotator with the tank strapped to it. Another guy took the tank and taped it to a rod and then supported it with wooded V-blocks secured to keep the rod from falling out and then manually rotated it (a BBQ rotisserie might work??). After all of this mechanical work and the tank has been flooded a gazillion times it's probably as ready as it can be for the treat and seal. It's not an hour project, plan on a day to get it ready and sealed and then 24-48 hours to cure.  Depending where you are there are shops that will do it all for you but it's pricey. 90% prep, 10% repair, have fun.

No doubt there are going to be others to chime in on what they have done and what worked best for them, do your homework and get ready to become an expert in tank repair so others will send them to you to be done  :o :o :o

Clay
 
I found Caswell's to be excellent.  I used it about 5 years ago- maybe longer- and it's been exemplary. Not a sign of rust in the carbs' float bowels and certainly no leaking from the fuel tank.  Highly recommended!
 
+1 for Caswells. My 3CL tank was irrepairable by the usual methods at the panel beaters. Good clean out and Caswells in and she is a goodun. Does not leak and safe with modern fuels.
 
I am going to use "KBS Motorcycle tank sealer" Aussie Made 3 part kit on my 750 tank
that I TIG welded the Tank Badge indents into 6 months ago. Not because the welding will leak but
the tank has been sitting in the shed for the last 36 years not used. I must say it is in pretty good condition inside,
just doing it as insurance really. Will post back in 10 years with the results. :) Or earlier if it all turns to
Shit!! ???

Barry
 
walkermarra said:
You got to get lucky, I have a good mate who is a bit daft who ground all the crap out and rewelded  bottom wings been fine and he didn't blow up
Click to expand...
:LOL: :LOL:
Waiting for Clem to respond too - he'll be able to repair it for you, more than likely remove the wings and hence remove the high risk problem

Alan :)
 
BlackJota1978 said:
I am going to use "KBS Motorcycle tank sealer" Aussie Made 3 part kit on my 750 tank
that I TIG welded the Tank Badge indents into 6 months ago. Not because the welding will leak but
the tank has been sitting in the shed for the last 36 years not used. I must say it is in pretty good condition inside,
just doing it as insurance really. Will post back in 10 years with the results. :) Or earlier if it all turns to
Shit!! ???

Barry
Click to expand...

Might be a 3 step process but the sealer is not a 2 pack epoxy. Personally I would not be using it no matter what their guarantees.
 
walkermarra said:
You got to get lucky, I have a good mate who is a bit daft who ground all the crap out and rewelded  bottom wings been fine and he didn't blow up
Click to expand...
In actual fact if you clean out the petrol with water and then run a hose into the tank from an exhaust pipe whilst you are welding it you will be fine.

This is exactly how we used to weld up fuel tanks back in the day, as I am still here these days then can attest that it works. Just got to make sure that all the rust is cleaned up and that you identify all the spots before you weld.

That was in the days before any of these modern sealers were available.
 
walkermarra said:
I have a good mate who is a bit daft who ground all the crap out and rewelded  bottom wings been fine and he didn't blow up
Click to expand...

Reminds me of a mate who took his beat-up old Holden panel van in for a roadworthy inspection to get it re-registered. The inspector failed it because it had rust in the bottom corners of the doors that you could poke your finger through. My mate went home and cut the corners off the doors with an angle grinder, and took it back to the inspector.  He'd got rid of the rust as required, and the bloke couldn't find anything in the rule book about the doors having to have corners in them, so he had to pass it as roadworthy!
 
OK Alan  (post 8 above) I will !!

you can find it elswhere,I have posted on this before, but I have repaired quite a few which started with my own very low mileage Corsa, I built an air proving kit for the testing (before and after) procedure.

I have never found an RGS type tank to have suffered from corrosion due to water in the fuel.

The ones I have seen have welding defects between the top and bottom pressings, most of the "edge on" seem jointing  is done by machine welding using carbon rollers, where you can see tiny ladder like indentations that this procedure has left as the two halves are pressed together and welded by the machine, the indentations driving the part forward as welding by fusion takes place, the leaks (that I have seen) occur where the radius of the tank corners is too tight for the machine to cope with and about an inch of "joint" is achieved by TIG welding (by hand) the un-welded corners, nothing wrong with that for 98% of the inch of weld required, but at each end where there is a change from machine to hand weld, there is a strong risk of a leak, because at the change you are achieving the hand weld by joining the very edges of the sheet metal, but the machine joins the faces of that same metal, maybe 2 or 3 mm's lower than the edges, it can and has been done, it is difficult to achieve an "overlap" from process A to process B, but it is a risky area, bronze welding or even silver solder is a superior method of achieving that non machine weld area, as capillary action will assist with the required overlap.

I just detest it when some one prior has welded the dodgy area or added filler or even internal tank sealer, because if I take on a tank that has had any of that prior to me seeing it, then whatever takes place becomes my fault no matter if it is or not.
CLEM
 
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