Do our tanks have sealer?

Energy One
Moespeeds

Moespeeds

Well-Known Member
I've got an '05 Chopper I'm working on, and it's been badly neglected. My biggest concern to start is he has rust in his tank, and the gas cap is frozen to the paint saver for who knows how long. I was planning on resealing the tank, but someone told me our tanks don't have any sealer inside. Can anyone confirm this? I can see metal in there, but the sealer could be clear. Any ideas on neutralizing the rust inside? I've heard phosphoric acid...
 
pig pen

pig pen

Well-Known Member
my sealer is a gray color.It looks gray when you look inside with a flash lite. I would assume thats what it is. But you know what assuming does:rolleyes:
 
W

Whistler

Active Member
Strange???? I've got a '94 Harley Dyna Wide Glide and I've never been concerned about a tank sealer. It's still running fine and there's never been a concern about the tank, sealer, leaking, etc. Wonder why Big Dog can't produce these same results? Metal materials are better now, primer materials are better now, paint products are better now, so what's the problem with sealing a fuel tank?????? I suspect someone at Big Dog could tell you why.

:spank: :spank: :spank:
 
kickstart

kickstart

Well-Known Member
Whistler said:
Strange???? I've got a '94 Harley Dyna Wide Glide and I've never been concerned about a tank sealer. It's still running fine and there's never been a concern about the tank, sealer, leaking, etc. Wonder why Big Dog can't produce these same results? Metal materials are better now, primer materials are better now, paint products are better now, so what's the problem with sealing a fuel tank?????? I suspect someone at Big Dog could tell you why.

:spank: :spank: :spank:
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I recently spoke to a HD Service Mgr and HD is also having these types of problems, he claimed it's because of the 10% or less ethanol that is added to the gas.
 
Staffy

Staffy

Active Member
Moe - Not exactly an expert on this but here's my 2 cents. General rule of thumb the gas tank should be sealed. BDM does do that (at least on the current models, using a green epoxy based material - not certain what it is and don't necessarily want to comment on it - check Neil's (Nomad2day's)post). I understand a preferred way to go about sealing the tank is "nickel" plating it - the processes first includes an acid bath followed by plating. The plating hits both the inside and outside of the tank so it's body work and paint after that - not practical if you want to keep your existing paint and just address sealing the tank. In that case try (I would use) POR-15, here’s a linky…have fun (they have a complete kit which is what I would recommend)
-POR-15 Inc.
 
Agentbman

Agentbman

Member
Mine in my 04 is a tan/beige color. Also, when I bought mine the sealer was blocking the crossover to the second tank. Just something to watch for...RIDE ON! :flag:
 
Moespeeds

Moespeeds

Well-Known Member
I planned on using POR15, I've heard great things about it, but I wanted to confirm that he had sealer in there to begin with. I haven't really taken a close look yet. Thanks guys!
 
Raywood

Raywood

The Pirate
Staff member
Calendar Participant
Troop Supporter
Moespeeds said:
I planned on using POR15, I've heard great things about it, but I wanted to confirm that he had sealer in there to begin with. I haven't really taken a close look yet. Thanks guys!
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You can see it just by looking into the tank. Over on Clubchopper there is a long thread on this right now and a lot of people don't use a sealer anymore.
I was looking at a tank from Independent Tanks before they went under and they recommended having the inside nickle plated by a radiator shop.

I don't think I will be using that liner stuff on my new tank. I used it one on my old HD and I fucked it all up (my fault).

:cheers:
 
shovelcowboy

shovelcowboy

Well-Known Member
Calendar Participant
For what it's worth, I checked with quite a few people on sealing or not sealing the tank on my chopper when I was building it and the consensus I got was NO, why put something in there that might flake or peel off. And gas won't interact with bare metal unless you get some water (condensation is always a potential problem). Just drain the tank every now and then (in fact most have a little drain plug on the low point just for that). This is the reason that old farm tractors had a sediment bowl (glass) on the bottom of the unlined tanks with a shutoff just above the bowl and at the low point of the tank. You could see the water build up in it, shut the gas flow off, remove the bowl, empty any water, dirt, etc, and put it back on. I now have, and have had tractors that are 60 + years old and still have their original unlined steel tanks.

Shovelcowboy
 
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R

Ridgeback Boy

Guest
Well I just found a piece of clear and green material in my petcock screen today the size of a nickel. Not cool....
 
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