Being the noob that I am, I have no real idea where to start finding a trusted fuel repair shop that works on motorcycles willing to tackle the mess that is my tank. Besides the obvious rust in there, a botched kreem job was done and I wanted to try and see if it can be saved so I don't have to buy a new tank. Wanted yalls opinion before I tried to yellow page it. I live in Athens Ga, 30606 willing to travel up to an hour or so out of my area. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
I'm pretty sure acetone will remove Kreem. Once that's all out, get a POR-15 kit and re-coat it. Don't get any of the chemicals on the outside of the tank.
It's like putting gas in the tank, only you use acetone instead. If you've gone for a ride and filled the tank, you've got half of the job covered already. Maybe find someone local to help you, so you learn how to do it? Somebody showed me the first time, and it was pretty easy to follow. Though we used some other steps to dissolve the rust after. And shook the tank a lot.
Go and buy a kreem kit from the motorcycle shop or elsewhere that you can find it and read the instructions it is pretty straight forward, there is solution in the kit that you use to paint the outside of the tank to avoid messing up your paint, and you can call kreem and ask them the removal part of it. I have a mechanic who just called me about my tank being rust removed, and I will pick it up in the next hour, he is using electrolysis to remove the rust, this has been just over 3 weeks. Picked up my tank and it is awesome, the tank looks almost good as new, all the rust is pretty much gone. The prior onwer of this bike had poured muriatic acid inside and then done nothing and it was sitting in a car port rusting away for almost 30yrs when I got it.
If you find a shop that works on radiators they can usually dip the tank and get it all cleaned up for you, often times preserving the paint on the exterior was well (don't ask me how.) If you're willing to travel a bit there's a radiator shop on Airport Road between Baldwin and Cornelia (about 35 minutes north of Athens) that cleaned up a tank for a buddy of mine one time: Williams Radiator 1047 Airport Rd Cornelia, GA 30531 (706) 778-6141
Kreem is obsolete. It's not resistant to today's gas. About the only two liners that will work today are POR-15 or Caswell.
Agreed. Kreem is krap. I've seen people get excellent results with the POR15 and Caswell kits. I think I might have heard once of a Kreem job that didn't quickly fail, but I was mistaken. POR15 even sells a version of their motorcycle tank kit that includes a solvent that will remove a failed Kreem liner. If you can read and follow simple instructions to the letter, you can do it.
You sir, are absolutely awesome! I've traveled further to stare at lakes and eat ice cream. So this is a piece of cake.
At this point, I really just want to punch Kreem in the face. And whomever did this half-assed job of it. I'm over Kreem and rust. Out of my tank they must go!
Methyl Ethyl Ketone is what is used to disolve Kreem, I have it in the tank of my old honda Trialer... Larry
If I have a tank I'm going to repaint, it goes to a commercial paint stripping company. It comes back bright steel, no paint, no rust. They also do a great job on home heat registers with many coats of old paint.
Who said anything about a plastic tank? :huh Anything that would dissolve Kreem (we seem to have votes for both acetone and MEK here; dunno which is better or correct) would also run the risk of damaging a plastic tank, so you'd need to consult a polymer chemist... But yeah, I know the POR15 stuff is rock-hard when it sets up, so it would be a pretty bad idea with a plastic tank for that reason alone. I haven't seen a sample of the cured Caswell stuff.
Side thought, and I'll take any answer that sounds like it may be based on just a little fact... Since a plastic tank will not rust, what would be the reasoning for coating the inside?
I've stripped/sealed some 300 tanks over the last 15 years. It's always been virtually impossible to install Kreen such that it does not fail, and quite difficult to remove when it does... MEK works best, but that's nasty, dangerous stuff to use, and hard to dispose of once used... It'd be nice if someone(s) sued Kreem out of business. I use Por 15, but like getting a good paint job, proper preparation is vital, or Por 15 can fail too. There are many types of plastics; some don't deal well with gasoline and/or alcohol: Google "Ducati tank swelling".
There are lots of plastic tanks out there. Some swell up, others delaminate from today's witches' brew everyone thinks is gasoline. I've never seen a plastic tank that's been Kreemed, so I wouldn't comment on how to get it out. Caswell is a phenolic epoxy that sets up almost clear with a slight yellowish cast. It works well as long as the instructions are followed exactly. I've used it on rigid plastic tanks with good results. I don't think anything would work well with the flexible polyethylene tanks sold for dirt bikes.
I've had a tank done at Apex Cycle in Ellijay (2 hours from Athens). They have a bunch of tank liner failure / repair pictures on their web site http://www.apexcycleshop.com/Tank_Liner_Failure.html.