So I’m going to re-seal my gas tank with the POR-15 kit and I’m looking for any advice from anyone who has done this themselves. I’ve looked and asked locally and no shops do it so I’m going to do it myself. I don’t want to ship my tank anywhere! It seems easy enough just got to have patience and follow the instructions and it should come out fine. My tank is the stock one on my 1998 FXDWG and with the trouble I had last year with the original sealer clogging the petcock filter and leaving me stranded I think it is time for it. I’ve already got the tank off and removed everything and it looks clean on the inside from what I can see but the sealer is half gone and bare metal is left. No rust as of yet! My main question would be how or what did anyone use to not clog the cross over pipes in the front? Both are small and I was thinking of using pipe cleaners in them when I install the sealer. Thanks ahead of time for any info!

 

Are they bare metal inside from the factory ?
I always fill mine at the end of the season.

 

No it had a factory sealer in it but the ethanol gas has slowly eaten it away. I can’t say I had always kept it full over the winter months but probably 80% of the time I did. Either way my options are to remove what’s left of the factory sealer and ride it as a bare metal tank or remove and reseal which is what I’m doing.

 

If you're really going to try and re-line the tank make absolutely sure that you get ALL the old sealer out or the new liner will start to peel quickly.

 

Is it leaking? If not, why seal it?

 

If you ride rarely then consider just getting a fill-up of gas on the way home before parking.
It would suck to line a tank with remaining loose liner to then have old liner peel and take new one with it.

 

If your going to seal it, I would suggest Red Kote. I feel its a better product. Have used it in the past.

 

When I lined my tanks ,after completing the rotation of it all,I used a little compressed air to blow out the cross over tubes from the gas cap opening. Then I set them aside with them leaning away from the tubes . Laying on the flat side,tube up so it stays open.worked perfectly.
The pipe cleaning idea should work also just let them dry as stated.

 

Any solvent you use to dissolve the old liner can be damaging to the painted finish on the outside.

Remove old liner with solvent like MEK and wonder if you got it all out, rinse multiple times, use some type of gravel (aquarium gravel) and shaking/rotating of the tank to remove more of the loose liner, repeat the solvent step, rinse, repeat the gravel step, let dry, repeat as needed, then etch inside tank with mild acid, neutralize acid and rinse, make sure inside is really dry, then apply liner.

I dunno man, pretty risky with a tank that has a nice paint job. No guarantees that you got all the liner out either. Maybe pick up one of those cheap bore cameras for your smart phone or PC to visualize the inside of the tank. They are like 20 bucks on ebay and if you get one small enough it will fit in your spark plug hole also...

I would think long and hard. Maybe try the aquarium gravel with some gasoline and agitate the tank to get the loose liner out at the beginning of the season, empty the gravel, do a couple of gas rinses and be done with it. Run an inline fuel filer, keep the tank full when the bike sits.
Kind of sux but no easy answer...just would hate to have the paint damaged. YD

 

MEK works well

If you are trying to save the paint...before you start...wax the tank, then cover it with several layers of blue painters tape...and even then if you get anything on it...clean it immediately.


You will hear all types of suggestions of things to put in the tank to shake around to break up the old sealer...they are all easy to put in...but a piece of chain is the easiest to get out.

Por-15 and red-coat work well...kreem is garbage and should never be used