VF1KR Fuel Tank repair

Discussion in '1st & 2nd Generation 1983-1989' started by straycat, Jan 28, 2021.

  1. straycat

    straycat Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2017
    Messages:
    1,443
    Likes Received:
    539
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Canada
    Map
    So imagine my horror when I found a small bubble in my relatively new (1 yr) paint job. Bottom left edge of the tank, the size of 3 pin heads. Close inspection showed paint lifting in a larger area as well. I knew right away I had a pin hole leak (or 2).

    Plan to fix:

    -Exterior fix with JB weld and Glass lite
    -Line the inside of tank with Por15

    Here's what I did to fix it.

    -Pulled the tank and Drained the fuel
    -Used my bore scope and found that every inch of the tank was clean except the tiny area of the seam on that left side which is the low spot and the usual place for rust to start
    -I flushed the tank and put in 4 litres of Evaporust, and let that sit overnight
    -Drained & suctioned the Evaporust out and flushed the tank again
    -Put in a splash of acetone to clean and dry the inside of the tank in the "repair area"
    -shaved off all the paint in the repair area
    -punched the pin holes into larger holes until I found firm metal and used a small drift and hammer to dimple the area to give me some depth for the external part of the repair.
    -light grinding with a Dremel tool to clean the surface
    -Used original JB weld 2 part metal epoxy and pushed that through the holes until it extruded to the inside of the tank
    -Once the JB dried (24 hrs) I applied Evercoat Glass Lite water tight resin filler
    -Once the JB and Glass Lite was dry I Cleaned the inside of the tank with the Por15 degreaser per the instructions, followed by Por15 metal prep.
    - I used a heat gun to completely dry the inside of the tank
    - I emptied a full 8oz can of Por15 liner into the tank to coat it. Now I was sceptical that 8oz was going to be enough in this large tank, as it happens, 7 oz would have done the trick, so because you cannot drain the excess liner from an Interceptor or VF1kr tank, you have to keep rotating the tank (8 hours in my case) so you do not get any pooling of the liner (which may cause you issues later on)
    -Once that dried I used pro grade surface filler on the outside to finish the repair.

    Time elapsed for repair:

    Saturday to prep and apply the JB weld, 24 hrs to dry
    Sunday to prep and apply Glass lite, 24 hrs to cure
    Monday to prep and apply the Por15 liner - 12 hours

    After the liner is in, 96 hours minimum must elapse before you add fuel. My will sit for weeks or months before I add fuel.
    ---------
    Tank is now back at my painter for a touch up, lucky for me I still had half a pint of blue to match.


    Here is the offending pin holes with paint removed

    IMG_2126.JPG

    Inside the tank after it was flushed, before it was prepped and lined.

    IMG_2130.JPG

    Here I am drying the tank before lining it (2 hours to dry). I made a funnel/deflector from aluminum foil to ensure the heat from the gun didnt damage the paint around the filler hole. Also, by rotating the foil deflector inside the filler neck, I could also direct the heat to the lower part of the tank more easily. You can see the repair area already has the JB Weld and the Glass Lite applied in this pic.

    Note that a tank will NOT fully dry by itself, you MUST use hot forced air to dry it. Drying it this way not only ensures its completely dry, but it limits the amount of flash rust you get. I got none in this case.

    IMG_2138.JPG
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2021
    Boomtank likes this.
  2. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2009
    Messages:
    5,818
    Likes Received:
    2,351
    Trophy Points:
    158
    Nice. Started out as a nightmare.

    My buddy's newly painted VFR tank lifted the paint from bad seams. He was gutted. I lent him a tank to use while we figure out our next move. The tank was pretty rusty and he used Electrolysis to remove the rust. Well, it worked really good. Too good. The rust was holding the fuel in. We might line it, but he is pretty skeptical/nervous about painting it again.
     
  3. straycat

    straycat Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2017
    Messages:
    1,443
    Likes Received:
    539
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Canada
    Map
    Yea, I hear ya.

    In this case I was a bit surprised since there was so little rust in the tank, but, it is what it is.

    If the tank is super clean of rust and you prep and line it properly, there is no need to be nervous. (now having said that ill be watching mine like a hawk. LOL)

    You may be able to just blow in the patch areas like my painter is doing. He will spray in the repair area with the blue and then blend the clear.

    Apparently he uses a "blender" solution (Id never heard of it till yesterday). he uses 3 guns. 1 with clear, 1 with half clear and half blender, and one with just blender in it. You clear the repair area per normal with gun 1, then apply the Clear/blender with gun 2 but apply to the outer radius of the 1st clear application, then you apply the 100% blender to the outer radius of the Clear/Blender area. once dry for 3 days, buff it out.

    He did that with my NS400R side panels and the results are fantastic.

    PS I was also shocked to find out how much he pays for quality clear coat. $350-400 CAD per gallon with the catalyst. Cheaper ones are available I guess but apparently some are better than others.
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2021
  4. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2009
    Messages:
    5,818
    Likes Received:
    2,351
    Trophy Points:
    158
    Yeah, your NS panels looked superb.

    His lifted BAD in multiple areas. The paint job is toast. I didn't help the paint was pretty fresh.
     
  5. straycat

    straycat Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2017
    Messages:
    1,443
    Likes Received:
    539
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Canada
    Map
    Ah, yea, if there are large areas it makes more sense to re-paint the whole thing. As you say, if paint is fresh it will lift a much bigger area. I can understand his frustration. A new paint job is such a thrill to see, and when it turns sour like that, its a real let down for sure.
     
  6. straycat

    straycat Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2017
    Messages:
    1,443
    Likes Received:
    539
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Canada
    Map
    Got my tank back from paint touch up today.

    Ill get the Gas Cap & petcock/fuel tap back on tomorrow (with a new O-ring) and put the tank back on the bike.

    IMG_2217.JPG
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2021
  7. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2009
    Messages:
    5,818
    Likes Received:
    2,351
    Trophy Points:
    158
    Suh-weet
     
Related Topics

Share This Page