4 replies to this topic

[moke man]

Decided to try tank sealant/liner to the petrol tank, due to small amounts
of dirt, but no serious corrosion on the tank externally. Thought this might
last a few years before full tank replacement.

Any way, does anyone have any experience of this, and specifically the fuel pipe outlet
to the carb. If left, my concern is that this pipe would become restricted ( firred up ) due to the
sealant, or if filled with say wire it could become stuck insitu. when the sealant dries, or again restrict the
inlet to the outlet.

Any helpfull comments would be useful.

Moke man

[dklawson]

I have coated several automotive gas tanks, 3 Mini ones.

There are several types of kits/chemicals to select from. One product you may find is "Red Kote" which is popular for sealing aviation tanks. As the name implies... it's RED in color. A second product is Kreem. As it's name implies, it's creme colored. The third product available is from POR-15 and it's metallic in color. POR products are available through Frost in the U.K.

All tank kits require you to drop the tank and use a series of caustic and acid washes to remove deposits and rust inside the tank. The effectiveness of these chemicals can be improved by dropping stones, bolts, lengths of chain (etc.) in the tank and sloshing them around during the cleaning process. Obviously you dump them out and rinse the tank (with water) before coating. An additional prep step required for the Mini is that the fuel pickup tube is typically covered with a plastic filter screen. You need to reach through the filler neck with a rod of some type and KNOCK that screen off. It will plug otherwise. The Mini has a tank vent and the gas hose connection nipple to worry about. I use large pieces of insulated copper wire coated with Vaseline to keep these open. Insert the coated wire until you can see it inside the tank, then duck-tape the wire to the nipple from the outside. Duck-tape is also effective at covering the opening for the fuel sending unit... which also has to be removed.

After all this prep work you also put duck-tape over any pin-holes in the tank and finally poor the coating mix in through the filler neck. I put plastic wrap over the filler neck and refit the gas cap. Once the compound is inside you slosh it around until every surface is coated (not just the bottom). Drain the excess out, remove the filler cap so air can get in, and wait for the coating to cure. Turn the tank every 15 minutes or so to prevent the coating from pooling "extra thick" in any one location.

Of the products, I've used Kreem and POR-15's tank liner. I MUCH prefer the POR product. It uses much nicer chemicals (no MEK). POR also appears to bond better to the inside of the tank and it leaves a nice metallic finish behind. The creme colored coatings will turn orange/amber from gasoline very quickly. Don't worry about the filter screen removed at the beginning of the sloshing process. Once the tank is lines, put a coarse, disposable inline filter between the tank and the fuel pump and you'll be fine.

[moke man]

Doug,

Thanks for your advice, I will take it on board.

For some strange reason there is no vent on this moke tank, even though
it would have orginally, thus I trust this means the petrol cap must be venting type, would you agree ?

Many thanks

David

[dklawson]

Hi. You're correct, there must be some form of vent and perhaps it is through the cap. If there were no vent the suction created by the fuel pump would eventually be too great and the pump would stop moving fuel.

by the way, the links below are to the POR products. As I mentioned, Frost probably sells these but I doubt their web site will have the complete info on the products. The motorcycle tank kit is all you should need for up to a 9 gallon Mini tank, I don't know how big a Moke tank is.
http://www.por15.com...rp=CTRK&dept=11 (Motorcycle tank kit)
If the link doesn't work, go to www.por15.com and on the left side of the screen select "complete kits" then select "utility & cycle tank repair kits".

[moke man]

Doug,

Great thanks for help.

David