Sealing the fiberglass tanks

I have seen several posts on the effects of new gas on the tanks, from melting ? to just screwing things up. In the long run it may be just easier to seal the tank and be done with it. My son has a Buell and that tank bubbles the decals and the thought is the fuel is going through the fiberglass as well. So what to use and where to get it. Has anyone had good experiances and what did you use to seal the tank. Please post your findings.

Do a search on this forum. There is plenty of info here and many opinions. Personally I sidestepped the issue by using avgas, but that may not suit your riding style.

Dave
69S

Are we talking Buell or Norton, here? If it's a Norton, I go along with Dave. No ethanol. Although, in most cases, that's a bit impractical. Non-ethanol not being a practical solution, my second choice would be a metal tank. Preferably aluminum. The steel tank reproductions are plentiful and relatively cheap when compared to an aluminum tank. These would be the only choices for me. As for lining a fiberglass tank, based upon the experiences posted on this site, I'd be inclined to say no. If it were just a case of the lining separating it wouldn't be a big deal. Unfortunately, the goop used to line tanks has the propensity to mix with the fuel and really gum up the works. There's a post from Jim Comstock (comnoz) that tells of some pretty expensive damage to the engine from tank liners. Some have reported good results. My take is that the tank liner applications are subject to too many variables to always have a proper result. Anyway, do a search here and make your own choice. I, personally, think it's a bit like the old Fram ad. "You can pay me now or pay me later". I've always found that it's a lot cheaper to do things right the first time, regardlees of the cost. It's usually been a hell of a lot more expensive to do it over.

If your able to do extreamly good prep work & I do mean extreamly good, not just the 3 minuet rinse with drywall nails as some say to do but a very well done job and then drying it completely maybe even blow drying it over two days or more then you might have good results with the Caswells stuff, I would use thier new "red dragon" stuff & do at LEAST two coats, the 2nd one just while the first is still tacky or after it dried completely. Personaly I would do three coats. Let it cure totaly for maybe two weeks, a friend baked his at 104 degrees for 24 hours and it seems ok but to soon to tell. I wouldn't trust any other stuff & can't say I'de totally trust Casswells eighther but it see the safest bet. Good luck.

In fg tanks acetone or its meaner relatives is the key cleaning and old grime and factory resin dissolver that don't need screws or other objects to get down to a surface Caswell's Novalac can bite and cling to well. Must thoroughly 'over' dry how ever long it takes but more than a day of active heated air or oven or full summer like sun a couple/3 days so no ordor left. Then most a pint worth of sealer in small tanks and most a quart in big tanks and turn every way till it stays as thick everywhere while setting up too stiff to flow or even sag, most of an hour. If done with at least 1/8+" coat, once should be enough but second or 3rd coat will add more crash protection than single coat but not much more protection against gasoline solvents. This ain't painting or even mere coating level but re-making a second pretty thick tank inside the first. My IS tank appears to have almost 1/4" thick coat you can see through to the original surface. If appears too much has been put in then can drain excess out cap upside down till not so much it covers completely over the fuel tap fittings. Greased wood dowels screwed in taps lasted 3 tank jobs so far.