warning : fiberglass petroltank

The Cagiva era Morinis
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mantaray
Posts: 153
Joined: 07 Mar 2009 19:33
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warning : fiberglass petroltank

Post by mantaray »

A few years ago i bought a new petroltank from the club and was very happy to get one.

Today my neighbour told me there was a lot of petrol laying under the dart :-(

Removed the fairing and the petroltank.
The underside of the tank was full of bubbles ......leaking petrol.
Another victim of the green ethanol lobby.

I guess the tank is lost

So be carefull.
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Monstyr
Posts: 97
Joined: 23 Sep 2011 21:51
Location: Ayrshire
Location: West Kilbride, Ayrshire

Re: warning : fiberglass petroltank

Post by Monstyr »

Have a look for Caswell tank sealant before giving up.
http://www.caswelleurope.co.uk/gastank.htm
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mantaray
Posts: 153
Joined: 07 Mar 2009 19:33
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Re: warning : fiberglass petroltank

Post by mantaray »

thanks ;-)
nickst4
Posts: 185
Joined: 31 Oct 2011 06:55
Location: Diss, Norfolk, UK
Location: Norfolk

Re: warning : fiberglass petroltank

Post by nickst4 »

Bad luck Ray!

This reminds me I was going to show you my leaking-tank fix. It was split just below the bushing that supports the air filter box. Not, I hasten to add, because I'd used an overly-long screw in the hole! In a previous post, (air filter mods, or somesuch), I described the new bracket I'd made to support the air filter, so that the tank bushing could be released from that duty.

Trying to plastic-weld the split did not seem likely to be successful, and I knew from my split Cagiva Canyon tank that I discovered the same week (!) that putting a patch of epoxy on the outside was not likely to hold for long (I was dead-lucky to find another perfect nylon Canyon tank on ebay immediately :D ).

For the Dart I aimed to seal the leak with flexible fuel-proof gasket sealant, held in place by a patch that was supported by the now-redundant air-filter support bushing. I built a GFRP patch all around the split part of the tank and when it was cured fully, pealed it off the nylon, and drilled the bolt hole. Then I sprayed it and the tank with several coats of Hylomar sealant, which is everything-but-acetone-proof and stays flexible, coated the bolt with the same and attached it to the tank. I left it in the sun and progressively-tightened the bolt as the sealant settled, until I thought it was as tight as I wanted to risk it. So far, so good! Given that the Hylomar will keep the fuel in, I'm not worried about the glass-fibre resin being affected by alcohol, but I guess it would be possible to use a resin that was proof against this effect.
Attachments
The patch in situ with Hylomar sealant
The patch in situ with Hylomar sealant
P1020834 Dart tank patch small.JPG (225.43 KiB) Viewed 9002 times
The GFRP patch cast on the surface of the tank, the split just visible beneath the bolt hole.
The GFRP patch cast on the surface of the tank, the split just visible beneath the bolt hole.
P1020826 Dart tank patch small.JPG (173.44 KiB) Viewed 9002 times
The bushing no longer has to support the air filter box
The bushing no longer has to support the air filter box
P1020819 Dart air filter support small.JPG (252.75 KiB) Viewed 9002 times
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