dob@ihlpa.UUCP (Daniel M. O'Brien) (06/12/85)
Well, here it is the much awaited summary on how to fix leaks in one's gas tank. Thanks to all who contributed! ---- cut here ---- From: ihnp4!uw-beaver!ssc-vax!fluke!marauder Regarding your gas tank leak, we used to have that problem back in the 60's and 70's with our British "Dirt" bikes which had steel tanks. A real slick method of repair is stuff that you pour into a clean, dry tank and slosh it around and it hardens into an epoxy like seal inside your gas tank. You, of course, have to remove the petcocks and anything else you don't want sealed, but it work very well. I don't know the name of the product but shops or magazines would have the information. From: ihnp4!hou2g!dud find a good bike accessory store and buy a can of KREEM tank sealer or equivalent, or buy if from Whitney or Warshauskey (sp?). The tank sealer is thick enough that it won't run out through the pin hole. to do the fix, first drain the tank, then wash it out with KREEM tank cleaner or soap and water, then alchohol to get the water out. use a muffin fan or other small fan and blow some air into it to dry it out good. Pour in the tank sealer, and rotate the tank slowly by hand till the sealer coats the whole tank. pour out the excess. (I forgot, you have to remove the petcock and filters, and cork the hole they (it) go into.) with the muffin fan, gently blow air into the tank. this will make the sealer dry completely in 24 hours. reassemble tank, put in gas, go scrape pegs. From: ihnp4!uw-beaver!tektronix!reed!kehoe I had a small hole at the top of my gas tank, only leaked when the tank was full and the bike leaned on the sidestand. When there was less gas in the tank. I cleaned the area off well and smeared epoxy cement liberally over the hole. Looks like shit (actually, it looks more like snot :-)) but it worked and was real easy to do. From: ihnp4!houxm!whuxl!whuxlm!spuxll!abnji!saab I fixed a tank once screwing in sheet screws, but instead of loctite, auto stores sell this special gas tank repair shit, that will not rot under gas. From: ihnp4!pesnta!hplabs!hp-pcd!dhk Do not know if this will help but you might give it a try. When I worked for a service station we used some stuff called Seal All Glue in a yellow and red tube to seal gas leaks. Many times the gas would be running out of the bottom of the tank and all we would do is clean the area around the hole, rough it up a little, and put the glue on. Usually we would coat a piece of cloth with the glue and stick that on the tank to make a better patch. My 1965 Chevy ran for years with a patch like that. You should be able to find Seal All Glue at most any hardware store. I have a tube at home if you need toknow who makes it. Good luck. PS. The glue dries clear so if you tank is empty and dry you should be able to patch the holes so the glue hardly shows (ie. without the cloth).