Topic: Holes in my freshly painted tank...

[Greg]

so i decided to go the nice route and have my tank powdercoated.  brought it to a guy and he sandblasted it, then powdercoated.  i guess he didnt look at it in between those two steps, because there are clearly 3 holes in it that are big enough to leak some of the sand that got in the tank.
so now i have a freshly powdercoated tank with leaks.  is there anything i can do?

thanks!
greg

[MetalHead550]

 :(Wow that sucks man!  What did the inside of the tank look like before you took it in to him?  Rusty, clean, sealed?  Sounds like it must have been rusting from the inside and that sandblaster was the final step in goin all the way through.  Tough luck buddy!

[Bob Wessner]

I think the first thing you need to do is assess just how sound the rest of the tank is. These might just be the three thinest areas and there are others about to corrode through.

[Uncle Ernie]

I'd ask for my money back ! If he says no, then you've learned an expensive lesson~ I hum that tune a lot myself I'm afraid. There's a guy with a radiator shop in either Ohio or Pennsylvania who coats tanks with an aircraft quality coating that allegedly never gets completely hard. I had him do a set of tanks, and even with shipping I thought it was reasonable. He advertises in Walnecks.

[kghost]

You can get the powdercoat off with heavy duty paint stripper. Keep putting it on / keep the surface wet with stripper.

Weld up the old tank. Repowder coat.

Or, You could find another tank and start again.

Either way blows, sorry dude.

[Greg]

hey thanks for the replies guys, and the sympathy!
i'm going to talk with the guy on monday and hopefully he'll see things my way....

I also just realized that he powedercoated part of the interior of the rear caliper -- around one of the small inlets that lets fluid pass from one side to the other.  this seems dangerous, constant exposure to the brake fluid could degrade the powdercoating and make it flake off, potentially clogging up an inlet.  what do you guys think?
thanks
greg

[Bob Wessner]

I have no idea how well powder coating holds up to brake fluid, but no foreign matter in brake lines/systems sounds like a good rule of thumb to me.