Had Gas Early This Morning...(GC)

[Cam3512]

... all over my Ambassador and garage floor! So the wife walks into the garage and said it smell strongly of gas. I go out to check the petcocks on the Ambo (last bike I rode on Sunday). Petcocks were closed, fuel lines in tact. Then I look closer and notice a paint bubble dripping under the right side of the tank. So I spend the next hour draining both sides of the tank. Figures, I always fill up after a day's ride. I pull the tank, and find this after peeling away the paint bubble.





I spoke to Charlie Mullendore, and he suggested sealing it from the inside with Caswell tank liner. The paint on the tank (except for this spot) is still very nice, and the rest of the bottom appears solid. There's a step in the Caswell process where you have to fill the tank with Acetone. The stuff's deadly to paint, and I still have to find a way to seal that pinhole in the rust spot so the Acetone doesn't leak out like the gas did.  Upside is it happened in my garage, not out on the road. Downside is the tank is really nice, and I just dumped a crapload of money into this bike to make it roadworthy.

Any suggestions?

Said '71 Ambo Police fresh out of Charlie's shop (tank was still fine)  - Antietam Classic Cycle.

[Kiwi_Roy]

That's too bad, perhaps seal it from the outside with silicon sealant while you slosh around the acetone

[canuguzzi]

Make your life easy. 3M makes a solvent resistant masking tape. You can find it at paint stores. A few bucks and your done without a big mess. You probably won't need it to hold for a long time. Put a piece of that down and some duct tape or similar over that extending out a little to give some strength.

Done.

[Lannis]

I had a seam break on my BSA Firebird steel tank.   Patched it with JB Weld and it held for 2 years until I had Fuel Tank Renu do a proper job of fixing it.

Lannis

[pehayes]

External patch is easy with a product called "SEAL-ALL" available in the 'glue' section of most good hardware stores.  Impervious to fuel for years.  Certainly long enough for you to clean and then Caswell the interior.  BTW,  :1: on the Caswell product.

http://eclecticproducts.com/seal-all.html

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Cam3512]

Good stuff.  Thanks guys.

[Triple Jim]

The Seal-All should work.  I'd probably put a blob of 5-minute epoxy on it.  Then if any seeps inside, it'll be compatible with the epoxy liner.

[nunzio]

I have used an external tank sealer on my '72 XS650 and had no problems with it....Alan

[Farmer Dan]

I sealed a pin hole in my Daytona tank with silver solder.  It never leaked again.

[Kiwi_Roy]

I sealed a pin hole in my Daytona tank with silver solder.  It never leaked again.

Did it blow up?

[stomatomoto]

Did it blow up?

Asking the important questions exactly as I would put it.

[tris]

No, but he now has a 9 gallon tank 

Dodgy things to put heat and sparks on are fuel tanks

[Farmer Dan]

Did it blow up?

No, fill the tank with water first then it won't explode

[Chuck in Indiana]

One other thing. Put three heavy applications of a carnuba paste wax on the tank before starting. If you get any spills of anything, it'll wipe off.

[stick]

I sealed a pin hole in my Daytona tank with silver solder.  It never leaked again.

What about the cherry-red-heat level?  That would affect the paint surrounding the wound, yes?

I'd vote for epoxy or sealer of some sort.

Update:  If you look at the TECHNICAL DATA SHEET, US English document, it says that acetone is one of a few solvents that will dissolve SealAll:
Acetone
Chevron solvent 1100
Chlorothane NU
Cyclohexane
Methyl Ethyl Ketone
Methylene chloride
Perchloroethylene
Propyl acetate
1, 1, 1-Trichloroethane

But for a "quick rinse", it might not matter.

[boatdetective]

JB weld- definitely
-it's a "cold cure", so not added heat to mess up the surrounding paint
reinforced epoxy is pretty rugged and it will stick to clean steel quite happily
solvent won't affect it (at least for the relatively short span of the acetone wash)

Do NOT use silicone. This stuff will contaminate a surface so nothing else will stick to it. Very problematic in any bonding situation

Tape?  really? Are you going to trust that it won't peel back just because the label says it won't?

Acetone is a fairly aggressive solvent

[Cam3512]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.  Decided to call Mark Etheridge (http://www.motoguzziclassics.com/), and I'll be sending him the tank (he did the paint).  He'll do much better than I would, and I like to throw him some work ($$) whenever I can.  FWIW, he says he will JB Weld the small hole on the outside, then seal the inside with Caswell.  Bitchin'...

[bigbikerrick]

Mark is right on the money Cam. I fixed a friends old Harley tank with JB weld on the outside, and then he used caswells on the inside, like  Mark suggests. He actually waited 3 weeks after the JB weld before doing the sealer, because he had to use the bike for transportation to work. The JB held fine, he almost didnt want to line the inside, but I talked some sense into him!

We drained the gas, then did the caswells, and he still has that bike for over 3 years.
Rick.

[Charles in Lake Charles]

JB Weld and Caswells worked fine on my Lemans. It hasn't leaked in 8 years.

I also like to run my bikes on reserve when starting them up. The theory is drawing from the bottom of the tank gets rid of the accumulated water in the bottom of the tank.

[Bob Wegman]

I am just glad you didn't have a fire at your house.  I am sure you know the gasoline fumes are heavier than air and sink to the lowest spot.  Usually where the gas fired water heater resides.  So, after you get the tank back and fill it with fuel maybe give it a test for a couple days outside to make sure the fix is adequate.  We like you too much to have bad stuff happen to you.

[Cam3512]

I am just glad you didn't have a fire at your house.  I am sure you know the gasoline fumes are heavier than air and sink to the lowest spot.  Usually where the gas fired water heater resides.  So, after you get the tank back and fill it with fuel maybe give it a test for a couple days outside to make sure the fix is adequate.  We like you too much to have bad stuff happen to you.

Thanks Bob.  Fortunately the water heater is down in the basement, no where near the garage slab.  I did find myself covered in gas at 7am dealing with it, draining the tank while I soaked up rags under the drips.  Garage doors open with fan blowing.  It evaporated pretty quickly.   I AM glad I wasn't out of town for work!  I had my fuel lines split overnight at the VA rally years ago.  Woke up to guys standing around my Eldo with a pool of gas underneath.  That taught me to ALWAYS turn off the petcocks.