gas tank sealer

[Daniel G]

I did several tanks with POR-15 years ago and all of them have some problems with flaking off either a little or a lot...some in giant sheets. I don't think I'll be using it again.

I have only seen this when the directions are not followed. I have almost 16 years on by bus tank, 6 years on my Square tank and countless client tanks with not a single come-back. Prep and ensuring that there is absolutely no moisture left is key to success. That and allowing a full 96 hour cure before adding fuel. . .

Ummm its been a few years since I did my Beetle tank but I don't recall this being the directions they provided...

If you have several tanks to do, I would do them assembly-line-style and save huge $$$. If you have 4 tanks to do, here's how I have done it. . .

Clean each tank with acetone to remove the varnish. About $20 worth of acetone should do all 4. Rinse all tanks with water thoroughly. Get a bottle of OSPHO (phosphoric acid) at the hardware store (about $15). You can use 1/2 a bottle in one tank, then after you finish with the first tank, empty it into the 2nd tank and re-use it. Do the same with the 3rd and 4th tank with the other half of the bottle. Rinse the tanks thoroughly with water and immediately dry them using a heat gun (best) a hair drier (2nd), hell a leaf blower will even work. Make absolutely sure they are 100% bone dry.

Then get 2 quart cans of POR-15 tank sealer about ($35-$40 each). Use the 1st quart in the first tank and coat it as normal. Drain it back into the quart can (it only takes about 1/4 of the can to coat a tank). Then dump the remaining amount into the 2nd tank and coat it. Repeat this for the other two supplementing the lost sealant with the 2nd quart.

If you don't get careless and spill too much, you can actually coat about 5 beetle tanks or 4 bus tanks with 2 quarts of sealer if you do it all at once and are prepared. You'll have just over $100 into it, but you'll have all 4 tanks done at a cost of about $25-$30 each. Not expensive at all, but not free either. . . You gotta pay to play!!

I am not saying your way won't work...I just want to point out if anyone does this and it peels off then the company is not going to help the person out since this is not the way they tell you to do it. They say to use the Marine Clean, Metal Ready, and then the POR-15 tank sealer.

If I was going to buy their sealer and then not follow the instructions then I would use something cheaper. Masterseries is supposed to work as a gas tank coating, and its much cheaper..They tell you what to prep the tank with...And it's not stuff they sell like the POR-15 company...

[frankysfree]

I did several tanks with POR-15 years ago and all of them have some problems with flaking off either a little or a lot...some in giant sheets. I don't think I'll be using it again.

I have only seen this when the directions are not followed. I have almost 16 years on by bus tank, 6 years on my Square tank and countless client tanks with not a single come-back. Prep and ensuring that there is absolutely no moisture left is key to success. That and allowing a full 96 hour cure before adding fuel. . .

Ummm its been a few years since I did my Beetle tank but I don't recall this being the directions they provided...

I do quite a bit of the tank coatings and have been using POR-15 for awhile. Ive done more than 6 on customer bikes this year alone. IT IS true that the tank needs to be completely dry, ie hair dryer, after the cleaner is put through them. It is also true that it needs to cure for roughly 3 days before ANYTHING gets put in the tank. This is all in the instructions and probly the problem that most people run across. I also just had a tank in here that was REALLY bad and i actually had to clean it twice because it was so rusty and had a liner previously installed(a really bad job btw). If the tank is not completely void of any contaminants of any kind it will compromise the new liner.

All in all its YOUR choice what to use, im just giving my perspective from a business standpoint and i completely trust the POR-15 tank liner. If i were to install a liner and it flaked off, guess who would have to foot the bill..? Thats right ME.

[Daniel G]

I just wanted to point out that if anyone did this his way (Even though I don't doubt it works) and it failed they won't get any help from POR-15. If you used it and didn't follow their instructions exactly they are basically going to tell you tough luck.

When I did my tank I followed their instructions exactly. I knew that I could probably clean the tank well and use OSPHO in it but I didn't wanna risk it so I bought the rest of the kit from them. My tank hasn't had any issues for 4 years now.

I went the the store and bought a cheap hair dryer, plugged it up outside (in case it burned up and caught fire), and let it run for about 2 hours until I knew the tank was dry completely.

[hugging corners]

hellow guys this tread took off a little, thanx for follow up
i will take advice of "aircooledtechguy" and will do them all at once.
I also will use eastwood kit, i searched after posting this question, and it came out as top rated.
That por 15 job shown above does not look like correct. I dont believe its a por15 reciepy that failed
maybe post production oils on metal, or simple surface contamination, I will do ospho, and acetone right after. Then sun dried for 24

[aircooledtechguy]

Ummm its been a few years since I did my Beetle tank but I don't recall this being the directions they provided...

If you have several tanks to do, I would do them assembly-line-style and save huge $$$. If you have 4 tanks to do, here's how I have done it. . .

Clean each tank with acetone to remove the varnish. About $20 worth of acetone should do all 4. Rinse all tanks with water thoroughly. Get a bottle of OSPHO (phosphoric acid) at the hardware store (about $15). You can use 1/2 a bottle in one tank, then after you finish with the first tank, empty it into the 2nd tank and re-use it. Do the same with the 3rd and 4th tank with the other half of the bottle. Rinse the tanks thoroughly with water and immediately dry them using a heat gun (best) a hair drier (2nd), hell a leaf blower will even work. Make absolutely sure they are 100% bone dry.

Then get 2 quart cans of POR-15 tank sealer about ($35-$40 each). Use the 1st quart in the first tank and coat it as normal. Drain it back into the quart can (it only takes about 1/4 of the can to coat a tank). Then dump the remaining amount into the 2nd tank and coat it. Repeat this for the other two supplementing the lost sealant with the 2nd quart.

If you don't get careless and spill too much, you can actually coat about 5 beetle tanks or 4 bus tanks with 2 quarts of sealer if you do it all at once and are prepared. You'll have just over $100 into it, but you'll have all 4 tanks done at a cost of about $25-$30 each. Not expensive at all, but not free either. . . You gotta pay to play!!

I am not saying your way won't work...I just want to point out if anyone does this and it peels off then the company is not going to help the person out since this is not the way they tell you to do it. They say to use the Marine Clean, Metal Ready, and then the POR-15 tank sealer.

If I was going to buy their sealer and then not follow the instructions then I would use something cheaper. Masterseries is supposed to work as a gas tank coating, and its much cheaper..They tell you what to prep the tank with...And it's not stuff they sell like the POR-15 company...

I understand what you are saying about my use of Acetone AND OSPHO, so let me elaborate. . .

What is the "Marine Clean" that comes in POR-15's tank kit??
Answer: It's nothing more than a concentrated cleaning agent that removes varnish and crud in the tank. The goal here is to get the tank free of contaminants.
The cheaper alternative: Acetone will dissolve fuel varnish like nothing else on the market for pennies on the dollar. BTW, it's what a radiator shop will use and charge you a lot more. . .

What is the "Metal Ready" that comes in the POR-15 tank kit??
Answer: It's nothing more than phosphoric acid to etch the bare metal which provides the "teeth" needed to get a good solid bond for the sealer.
The cheaper alternative: OSPHO is phosphoric acid. . . Prep-N-Etch is another brand of the same product. . . There are likely a dozen other brands of the same phosphoric acid. Again, pennies on the dollar compared to the POR-15 tank kit. . .

As per the directions on the sealant can, you need to rinse thoroughly between steps and dry the tank COMPLETELY before applying the POR-15 sealer (which if purchased separately is cheap)

I hope that clears up any confusion over the products I mentioned.

[Daniel G]

I totally agree with you that there are cheaper alternatives that would work just as well. My point was just if someone doesn't follow the POR-15 instructions exactly, and it peels, the company is not going to help them out because they will just say the instructions weren't followed...Not that your method won't work

[fusername]

I think daniel is just makeing a WARRENTY work vs a REALITY work comment here. Not a question of which is better, Nate's method or PORs, just a question of which method will POR pickup ur complaints over.

[juki48]

I'm going to try the Caswell Plating kit http://www.caswellplating.com/restorati ... ealer.html they are about 20 minutes from where I work and said if I call ahead I can do local pickup.