Topic: OMG...my paint! I think I'm gonna cry : (

[IndyFour]

Even though it is blazing hot here today (and has been for a couple of weeks), I decided to ride to work.  Beautiful ride this morning....had to turn to reserve when almost there, so I pulled into the filling station before heading to the parking lot at work.

Fast forward to 3 o'clock today.  I walk out and see this...









The heat had apparently made the fuel expand and it seeped out of the cap and onto the paint....lifting it and leaving streaks down the side.  I just about fell to the ground.  I didn't overfill the tank.  It was filled up to about the bottom of the filler neck while on the side stand like I usually do.  I have never had fuel overflow like this....although I don't think I've ever had the bike sitting out in near 100 degree heat before.

I just had this paint job done this spring by a very reputable guy here in town who is pretty well known for his work.  He did a great job and it looked sexy.  Great color match to the original...hand painted pinstriping.  I had some lifting issues under the cap which he said may be normal, but they stopped at a certain point and I didn't worry about it.

I'm going to e-mail him with the pics and ask him what can be done.  Maybe he can respray the top part?  I don't know.  I got a heck of a deal on the paint job.  We basically bartered the job and it cost me $100 including materials....so I don't feel I can complain to him very much. 

I'm just sick over this.   

[gnarlycharlie4u]

wow that's terrible. same thing just happened to my friend's ninja.
we were working on the bike and I said we should probably drain teh fuel if we're gonna leave the tank off the bike sitting at a weird angle.
he said it'd be fine.

well... it got hot. fuel leaked out all over the place and took all the paint off the front of the tank

[flybox1]

aww FK ...sorry. 

can excessive heat really do that with a good fuel resistant clear?

[Salad]

That sucks!  I never knew this could even happen.  Thanks for posting, though.  I'll keep this in mind.  Hopefully your painter can sort something out short of repainting the whole tank.

[Silverback]

The clear can probably be buffed out. However, the painter did not put a hardener/sealer on the lip of the tank fill tube, allowing fuel to get under the paint. This is very common. You will notice a different color ring around the lip of the filler of most tanks. This is the sealer. I painted a Royal Enfield with terrible fuel cap leaking problems a year ago, and that paint still looks perfect. I would contact your painter. He would only have to touch it up and re-clear. The decals can remain in place.

[IndyFour]

I just e-mailed him.  He's a good guy and will help me out hopefully.  I know the top part around the cap is toast....maybe I can come up with some creative way to hide that?  I'm just hoping that I can buff out the streaks.  I didn't go wiping it off right away for fear that it might wipe the orange tinted clear off.  

The paint was two part (metalic silver underneath with orange tinted clear) and I believe it was house of color auto paint.

 

[dave500]

snap!!i got the same colour,ive spilt fuel although i try not to and it hasnt hurt mine,this is three years old and feels really hard,ive rubbed of easily any stains with kitten #1 by hand,thats a real bummer hope its easily fixed.

[Johnie]

Man, that is sad. I had the same gut feeling when I saw pin holes show up under my paint job...twice. And that was after a tank liner. Glad that is behind me now. Good luck with yours. Sounds like you got a good painter there. Is that rust in the tank there?

[Silverback]

I just e-mailed him.  He's a good guy and will help me out hopefully.  I know the top part around the cap is toast....maybe I can come up with some creative way to hide that?  I'm just hoping that I can buff out the streaks.  I didn't go wiping it off right away for fear that it might wipe the orange tinted clear off.  

The paint was two part (metalic silver underneath with orange tinted clear) and I believe it was house of color auto paint.

 

If it was House of Kolor, and he is an accredited painter with a shop, and he applied the paint according to their tech sheets, HOK offers a one year warranty to their paint users. I use only HOK stuff, but I do it as my second job without a store front. I give a one year warranty with every paint job I do.

[IndyFour]

Man, that is sad. I had the same gut feeling when I saw pin holes show up under my paint job...twice. And that was after a tank liner. Glad that is behind me now. Good luck with yours. Sounds like you got a good painter there. Is that rust in the tank there?

There is a tad bit of surface rust around the inside of the filler tube and on the bottom of the cap, but nothing serious.  The tank is largely in really nice shape.  I did a de-rusting job last summer that seems to have helped it and it has stayed relatively rust free.

The brown around the edge of the filler neck is actually remnants of "hard as nails" nail polish.  That is what the painter told me to do periodically....paint a bit on to keep paint and fumes from getting up underneath and lifting the paint.  I found that the nail polish tended to chip off and fall into the tank after a while, so I stopped.  I did have a couple of little spots lift on the filler neck, but it stopped after just a few millimeters.  

[Silverback]

Next time get some Novolac epoxy and seal that area one time and be done with it. Actually the painter should have left the edge of the paint 1/8 of an inch below the lip, and used the sealant up to the lip. The top of the filler should remain raw metal, if possible.

[sangyo soichiro]

The heat didn't make the gas expand and flow out of the cap - it was the fumes.  But the heat definitely exacerbated the fumes.  The next time it's out in the sun, stand to the side and look at the gas cap.  You can see the fumes coming out.

I used to cover the tank with a cloth to keep the sun off it.  But when I pulled off the cloth the whole top of my tank had the clear coat start to get milky.  No big deal for me since I just rattle-canned it, but no cloth after that!

Anyway, just thought I'd mention that it wasn't the gas itself that seeped out, but rather the fumes that did it.  
[EDIT:]  Nevermind.  I didn't look at the photos well enough.  Definitely looks like gas spilled out.  Fumes can also mess up the paint, but looks like actual gas in this case.  Thanks to Gordon for point this out to me.


And I think freshly painted tanks (within the last year) are most susceptible to this.

[Gordon]

Anyway, just thought I'd mention that it wasn't the gas itself that seeped out, but rather the fumes that did it.  

Huh?  How did the fumes pour down the side of the tank and mess up the paint all the way down to the bottom? 

Excessive heat and direct sunlight will cause gas to spill out the top of a completely full tank.  The exact same thing happened to my 550 less than a week after painting it.  Luckily it was just a cheap rattle can paint job so I wasn't all that pissed, but it was definitely liquid gas spilling down the side of my tank when I went back out to my bike. 

[bollingball]

I would not even think about paint until all rust was (properly) taken care of either by me or my painter. Nail polish is just a bandaid. The painter should make this good he did not seal it. did he bake it? did he tell you not to use it for x amount of time. Has this ever happen to him before? I would be nice at first and see what he does. but if he did not make it right I would have to get another tank because that one would be up his ass

[mycb750k6]

Silverback,
What do you get to paint a tank?

[Silverback]

There are a lot of variables to pricing. I haven't looked into matching Honda colors, but I do know some of them can be mimicked with HOK, or a kit can be acquired. (Easily $100+ in paint alone. I provide catalysts, reducers.). Decals can be purchased or replicated with paint, also. Replication is similar to the price of the decal.
I usually start at $250 for candies and decal applications, if I provide the paint. A little cheaper if I don't.
Tank condition is also a factor. I don't mind repairing small blemishes/dents, but I am not a metal worker.

...and I will not use water based or cheap paints.

[swellguy]

I've had this happen a few times with tanks I've had painted. One painter suggested a thin film of JB Weld around the filler cap to stop this situation. On two bikes I've done it and there have been noo issues so far.

The clear can probably be buffed out. However, the painter did not put a hardener/sealer on the lip of the tank fill tube, allowing fuel to get under the paint. This is very common. You will notice a different color ring around the lip of the filler of most tanks. This is the sealer. I painted a Royal Enfield with terrible fuel cap leaking problems a year ago, and that paint still looks perfect. I would contact your painter. He would only have to touch it up and re-clear. The decals can remain in place.

[IndyFour]

Regarding the rust, it is not nearly as bad as it looks in the picture.  There is no rust at all in the main part of the tank.  There is a bit of very light surface rusting there on the top that appeared right after I de-rusted it prior to having it painted last winter.  I think it looks bad here because of the direct sun I was in to take the pic.  This paint issue wasn't caused by rust.  It may look like paint seeped out of the joint where the filler neck is welded to the tank, but that is not the case.  That joint is totally solid.  the gas seeped under the cap and ran down....then collected in that joint and sat.  That's why the paint failed there I believe.

Yes, it was definitely gasoline that came out.  It was dripping down the side of the tank.

I did hear back from the painter tonight and, like I thought he would, he offered to redo the tank this winter once riding season is over.  I really was looking to just get some advice from him as to what I should do about the streaking...so i'm thrilled.  He told me that he's never seen paint be this susceptible to gas before and that it shouldn't be like this.  So that is VERY good news.  He is a pretty good guy and is pretty well respected in the vintage scene here I think.  I'm sure he probably doesn't want a tank he painted looking like this while parked at a vintage night around town....that may have something to do with it too.

[CBJoe]

Sucks about the tank...

but very cool of the painter to offer the redo.

Joe

[DONZIE]

The last thing I do before putting gas in a freshly painted tank is take a sanding block & sand through the paint on the top of the neck where the gasket on the cap sets. If fumes are allowed to get under edge of the paint this will happen & sanding past the gasket will prevent this lifting. Is the vent on the cap open. If clogged pressure will surely build inside the tank in 100 dgree heat & all sorts of fun things can start.

[Stev-o]

I would not even think about paint until all rust was (properly) taken care of either by me or my painter. Nail polish is just a bandaid. The painter should make this good he did not seal it. did he bake it? did he tell you not to use it for x amount of time. Has this ever happen to him before? I would be nice at first and see what he does. but if he did not make it right I would have to get another tank because that one would be up his ass

+1. Nail polish, you've got to be kidding! The painter needs to make good on this or find someone else to paint.

[seaweb11]

I have had 2 tanks painted by a professional. If either one of the tanks had that I would have MARCHED back and said WTF!

Tricks and tips are for when you do it yourself.

[dave500]

I have had 2 tanks painted by a professional. If either one of the tanks had that I would have MARCHED back and said WTF!

Tricks and tips are for when you do it yourself.

yeah i cant paint or fill dents for shyte,i can strip and bare metal like a champion though,it saves some outlay and i like to be thorough,im pretty good with a pressure pack(rattle can)on sundry items,it looks like bad prep,your painters coming to the party and not arguing though so thats a good thing,i doubt it really could be fixed with out a total strip and respray.better luck next time.

[Silverback]

I did hear back from the painter tonight and, like I thought he would, he offered to redo the tank this winter once riding season is over.  I really was looking to just get some advice from him as to what I should do about the streaking...so i'm thrilled.  He told me that he's never seen paint be this susceptible to gas before and that it shouldn't be like this.  So that is VERY good news.  He is a pretty good guy and is pretty well respected in the vintage scene here I think.  I'm sure he probably doesn't want a tank he painted looking like this while parked at a vintage night around town....that may have something to do with it too.

Glad to hear! Most professional painters will stand behind their work. 'tis not good for business to have bad work rolling around town.

[srook]

"The paint was two part (metalic silver underneath with orange tinted clear) and I believe it was house of color auto paint."

There are a couple of things that throw up a red flag for me.  One is the price, another is the nail polish, and the third is the "orange tinted clear".  Candy colors are transparent like hard candy and shot over a solid or metalic base color.  The base and the candy create the final color.  The paint job isn't done after the candy is shot.  The entire tank needs to be cleared afterward and buffed smooth.  This isn't the 70s anymore.  Modern paint jobs need to be clearcoated.  The clears can be tinted but this is usually for UV protection not to create the final color.  Was the tank cleared after the colors/striping were done?  It only cost $100, so you won't be out that much.  I would reconsider using the same painter to redo the tank.

Scott