10 replies to this topic

[Gibbon]

Look at the state of this sender unit and it'll give you an idea of what the rest of the tank is like !
 senderunit.jpg   324.09K   5 downloads
Swilled out with petrol and lots of loose flaky rust came out. Then put an old chain inside and thrashed it about (bet the neighbours are happy) and got more rust out, small granular stuff, like sand. Inside is now relatively "clean", but still rusty of course.

Been recommended this firm in France who make a bi-composant resin to treat and seal old tanks
http://www.restom.ne...dex.php?lang=en

before and after...
 petroltank_restored.jpg   14.4K   14 downloads

Anybody ever used these type of products ?
My worry is the pipe that runs along the bottom of the tank (to the outlet) looks like it's got a metal filter on the end... Is this going to get blocked up if I treat my tank ????

Cheers for any advice

[monkey]

i would of thought it would be best to buy a new one? Or at least a decent second hand one

[Big_Adam]

i would of thought it would be best to buy a new one? Or at least a decent second hand one

Nuts to that, new part are too cheap and crappy for my liking. Pref to sort old.

Moss (boo) dose a C**p load of tank flush cleaner etching stuff. Might be worth a look.

[Jammy]

How much is it going to cost to treat it? I've got a 7.5 gallon tank you can have cheap, just depends how much it would cost to send to France.

[Gibbon]

That's a kind offer JammyB

The Restom kit "25-40" for up to a 40L tank costs 55 euros (that's about 37 quid in real money)
http://www.restom.ne.....STOM 2007.pdf

[dklawson]

I have used chemical treatment/liner kits on several tanks. Looking at the link(s) above, I didn't see that this method provided a liner to the treated tank (of course... I wasn't going to pick through the French PDF to figure it all out either! )

In the U.S. there are three tank coating systems commonly in use that you can buy for a home restoration project. These products are called Red Kote, Kreme, and POR-15 (Tank Lining Kit). All three contain similar treatment chemicals and involve similar application steps. You clean the tank with a caustic to remove varnish and deposits, you clean it with phosphoric acid to remove rust and leave a phosphate coating, and you slosh a liner material over the inside to form a bonded "bladder". Treating the rust alone isn't sufficient because where rust is severe the rust treatment process often opens up pin hole leaks in the bottom of the tank. The cost for the kits in the link(s) above at 37 GBP sounds absolutely awful. All the kits I mentioned are less than half of that.

The coating process can be done at home but there is a required step for the Mini that must not be overlooked. You need to drive off the in-tank filter screen on the pickup tube and put a Vaseline coated wire in the tube. If you don't, the sealing compound will plug the screen and the tube. Obviously after that's done you need to remove the wire and put a fuel filter in line between the tank and fuel pump.

[Jimmyarm]

I think DKlawsons title should be changed from 'Mini Doc' to 'The Don' he knows everything !

[Gibbon]

I think DKlawsons title should be changed from 'Mini Doc' to 'The Don' he knows everything !

Seconded !
Many thanks for the information DKL, most interesting.

I'll be taking Mister Jammy Super Squirrel up on his offer. Much prefer to put a decent tank in, rather than trying to repair mine which I think is very badly corroded. The amount of rust that came out.... eek! To give the French company their due, the PDF says they have been in business 15 years and haven't had any problems with leaks, rust reappearing, or fuel contamination.

[jonny d]

They would say that would't they see if you can find (on the forums) someone who has used this product and get there opinions before you buy. PS I would get a better
tank if it were me.

[dklawson]

Thanks for the kudos.

After my last post I remembered that Frost sells POR in the U.K. so I looked it up. Visit www.frost.co.uk and search for part number S215. That's the POR motorcycle tank lining kit. They want 25 GBP for it. That's more than I pay, but for you it's "imported". One thing I forgot to mention about the POR coating is that I prefer it over all others I've used. The kit I linked to says it's for motorcycle tanks. Don't worry, it's more than enough for a single Mini tank. The chemicals POR uses are more environmentally friendly, are easier for you to work with, and produce a better finish. One of the great things about the POR kit is that it leaves a metallic coating on the inside of the tank so when you remove the filler cap... the tank still looks like metal. If you use the Kreme product I mentioned... it goes on white and quickly turns amber/orange from the gasoline. The Red Kote product... well... it's red.

The stupid link at Frost provided NO details about the POR kit. Though you can buy it from Frost, you'll find a much better description of all POR's products at www.por15.com . Browse the site to read about their products. They don't make it easy to find the link for the motorcycle tank repair kit. Use this link:
http://www.por15.com...mp;category=170
At the moment they show a U.S. price of $36 (roughly 18 GBP)

[Gibbon]

A big, public, THANK-YOU to JammyB for his help.
He sent the tank and it arrived yesterday, in perfect condition. Will be installed this w/e.

MANY MANY THANKS SUPERSQUIRREL. YOU ARE A STAR MAN !