Permanent Tank Liner

[mr1142]

HEADS UP!!! I recently had a fuel tank liner problem. I did not know that fuel tanks on a bike had a liner, now I know. They fouled the carb and ruined the performance and reliability of my bike. I was turned on to a company that installs a permanent liner. The liner has a lifetime warranty. Yes LIFETIME WARRANTY. The name of the company is Fuel Tank Services phone number is
954-642-6495. They are located in South Florida. They take take tanks from anywhere in the US. You can ship it to them, they do their job and ship it back to you. Guaranteed not to damage the paint on the tanks. The only problem is it takes a long time for the job to be completed. The lifetime warranty and no damage to the paint is worth the wait!

 

[LamboV12]

Cool - I'm painting my bike as we speak and thanks for the heads up. I know in 06 they had issues with the liner - I'll give them a call and see what they can do for me.

 

[LamboV12]

Michael - did not know your in Broward - we need to hook up.

Frank

 

[pknowles]

I got a 07 bulldog and had to have a new liner installed by the factory. I think they have to boil the tank to remove the old liner(i.e. new paint on tank) A life time warrenty is only good as long as they are livin.

 

[Andy]

Heys guys, how you know if your liner is going bad?

 

[Eric]

Heys guys, how you know if your liner is going bad?

remover your fuel valve from the bottonm of the fuel tank.. I inspect the filter screan.. if you find big flakes on it remove the cap & use a light & small mirror to inspect,, or it you got a boreascope laying around,,,

 

[LamboV12]

Michael - Good to run into you at OCC yesterday, going to visit George and his shop Monday - he may end up painting my tins also.

Andy - There are 2 popular types of liners - One is organge colored and the other one is green. Both tend to go bad - some claim its ethenol. Like Eric said, you'll see tiny little things that look like paint flakes. Symptons can be poor performance or an unexplained engine miss that comes and goes if it gets pass the screen and into the carb.

 

[Throttle]

My fuel pump is working very hard once I am down about 1.5 Gallons. I was wondering if this was caused by the liner coming apart?

 

[Andy]

Thanks guys

 

[Staffy]

Good to know - thanks.
How long is long? Approximately......
Do they have a web site?
What are we talking about in terms of $$$ - Approximately
Thanks

 

[LamboV12]

Staffy - I'm going over there this morning to check him out. He said turn around is about 3 days. Cost is $200 to coat + another $100 to remove due to EPA fee he has to pay.

I'll post details after meeting him.

 

[BadBrad]

There are also a couple of quality "do it yourself" kits out there that have been used by forum members with no issues. My wife's tank liner separated and I chose to go with Caswell tank liner. It's formulated especially for the ethenol fuels and put a hard, clear coat liner that has had no issues. It's been about a year and a half since I did that and other than time with the prep work, it was simple to do. Google it up to read more about it.

 

[quik333]

Any radiator shop on the corner of any main street in American can clean and re-coat a tank, considering its what they do all day long to radiators. Turn around time shouldn't be more than a day or two in my past experience. Going rate is about $100, probably a lil more for a split. I did it myself once on a sporty I had back in the 80's. You'll know it's failing if you look in your tank and see what looks like seaweed floating around in there. It usually won't make it past the filter but the real problem is that without it your tank will rust from the inside out.

 

[Staffy]

Any radiator shop on the corner of any main street in American can clean and re-coat a tank, considering its what they do all day long to radiators. Turn around time shouldn't be more than a day or two in my past experience. Going rate is about $100, probably a lil more for a split. I did it myself once on a sporty I had back in the 80's. You'll know it's failing if you look in your tank and see what looks like seaweed floating around in there. It usually won't make it past the filter but the real problem is that without it your tank will rust from the inside out.

Without damaging the paint?

 

[LamboV12]

Any radiator shop on the corner of any main street in American can clean and re-coat a tank, considering its what they do all day long to radiators. Turn around time shouldn't be more than a day or two in my past experience. Going rate is about $100, probably a lil more for a split. I did it myself once on a sporty I had back in the 80's. You'll know it's failing if you look in your tank and see what looks like seaweed floating around in there. It usually won't make it past the filter but the real problem is that without it your tank will rust from the inside out.

The problem with that (I was told) is the only way to get the old liner out is with a torch - OK with a regular tank - but if you have a stretch tank (K9) the torch will reveal the welds, bondo, etc and you have to reblock the surface... 2 paint shops told me this... The guy in the thread uses chemicals to remove - he has my tank now - seems like all the custom shops around here use him and have nothing but good things to say..

 

[BadBrad]

The problem with that (I was told) is the only way to get the old liner out is with a torch - OK with a regular tank - but if you have a stretch tank (K9) the torch will reveal the welds, bondo, etc and you have to reblock the surface... 2 paint shops told me this... The guy in the thread uses chemicals to remove - he has my tank now - seems like all the custom shops around here use him and have nothing but good things to say..

Acetone and large wood screws will take most all of the old liner out too. That's what Caswell recommeded with the kit I purchased from them. Anything that does not come loose, the new 2 part epoxy liner will cover and seal permanantly.

 

[mr1142]

HEADS UP! I have the tanks back from the permanent liner install. I put the bike back together. I had to put in a new fuel valve (petcock) some jackass removed the screen from the valve that was on the bike. New tank liner, new fuel valve, clean carburetor. Took the beast out and she ran like a top. Had her at 75mph and over for miles. I could not do that before, I would 70 mph and in a few minutes she would start stumbling, like you were running out of gas. She also died on me while i'm cruisin down the road. I had to wait 5 minutes (smoke a cigarette) and she would start back up again. This shit did not happen, she hauled ass with no problems.

 

[mr1142]

Regarding the permanent liner vs. radiator shop.

The story i got was that the job the radiator shop will do for you will not last also, you could end up with damage to the paint. This is not some bullshit paint job we have on our bikes. What would it cost you to repaint your tank? I saw some of the tanks he had, they were all custom tanks, with custom paint. The shop that does the permanent liner gives you a lifetime warranty. You sell the bike, give the new owner the receipt and he has the warranty. The chemicals he uses for the liner are Rockwell tested for hardness, he achieves a hardness of over 8. They use chemicals to remove your old liner. Nothing touches your paint. You can go with something else if you wish, the choice is yours. I just wanted to let you know about this option.

 

[Staffy]

Sounds great - Thanks for the info.

 

[1BADK9]

Staffy - I'm going over there this morning to check him out. He said turn around is about 3 days. Cost is $200 to coat + another $100 to remove due to EPA fee he has to pay.

I'll post details after meeting him.

Never heard the details about this, any more info, because I think that shit is in my tank too.