Author Topic: Can a Tank become 'Porous'? (Read 1376 times)

Colonel · « **on:** January 17, 2010, 01:30:51 PM »

Experts,

Can a tank become 'Porous' over the years to the point where gasoline can 'sweat out' and damage paint?
I am very skeptical of this but...

Thanks,
Stephen

Soos · « **Reply #1 on:** January 17, 2010, 01:50:36 PM »

No, they just become HOLY and started to weep goodness from the gods for all to share4(on the roadway, your driveway, your garage, YOU...)

Your paint is in the way, and the gods are offended for it is preventing their goodness from oozing forth.
The gods so offended have chosen to wrinkle/damning your paint job for all eternity for the unjust action of hiding the goodness that will in time ooze out of your tank.

Now back to reality.......

Yes METAL tanks WILL rust.
YES holes will appear in time.
Yes, gas will start oozing forth.

Try poking a screwdriver tip into one of those oozing spots.
Bet you find a rusted area that caves in easily. Be prepared to loose your tank.(worst case scenario)
(NOT recommended with a full tank!!)

l8r

Colonel · « **Reply #2 on:** January 17, 2010, 03:58:20 PM »

No apparent damage on the outside at all; light rust in the inside.
The question was raised after I had my tank repainted. Few weeks later, a portion of the paint 'bubbled' and 'pealed off.
I link this to poor prep job on the tank (tank was not sanded clean); painter link this to tank porosity; I don't buy it but I would accept to be proved wrong.

ekpent · « **Reply #3 on:** January 17, 2010, 06:22:30 PM »

+1 with Soo's--I think

Inside of a tanks can become very thin with rust.Along tank trim,left side or "stand" side,anywhere a little pinhone of rust can do its thing. I think member Johnie had a great looking red 71 and had an issue at a weird spot at the top of his tank.Any little bit of gas will kill-bubblel the paint.Can be saved

Colonel · « **Reply #4 on:** January 17, 2010, 07:11:02 PM »

ekpent,

Thanks for the explanation. How can it be saved then? Any hints? What is puzzling me is that prior to the repainting I had no issue...
BTW, I noticed several time your profile pic and was wondering; how many bikes do you have now? Do you have a large pic of the collection?

Cheers

ekpent · « **Reply #5 on:** January 17, 2010, 07:29:53 PM »

Tank issues vary with the project.If you want to save a clean original paint tank to match sidecovers etc you have to go extreme.I have a 73 Flake orange that I have taken to the extreme as far as-de-rusting- JB-Welding and fixing the lower end of tank-Sealing with 2 Kotes of red-kote etc to keep it all original.The bike will be worth it and fun to show to the original owner someday.. PS-Do not tell anybody but I have 11 right now and a couple more on the way. PS 2--- AND AS FAR as getting FLAMED i may get it someday,like right between my leggs. JUSTS take a small GAS LEAK--------------.

seaweb11 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 17, 2010, 08:00:07 PM »

Quote from: Colonel on January 17, 2010, 07:11:02 PM

ekpent,

Thanks for the explanation. How can it be saved then? Any hints? What is puzzling me is that prior to the repainting I had no issue...
BTW, I noticed several time your profile pic and was wondering; how many bikes do you have now? Do you have a large pic of the collection?

Cheers

It's obvious you upset the Honda gods when you had the nerve to sand off that special "Honda" hold in the gas invisible coating.

Seems the only way to prove the point for you and the painter is to do what was said above. Sharp pointy into the bad area. If the metal is good, the paint guy can fill in the 5-6 prick points before he repaints it. If the pointy thing goes through the tank, you need to start over. I recommend agreeing to this test with your painter before, shake hands on it and commence the slightly destructive testing procedure.

Good luck with your DT

ekpent · « **Reply #7 on:** January 17, 2010, 08:20:21 PM »

One more point from me is,if you are not trying to do a resto throw the tank far away---leakers are bad-------------

ev0lve · « **Reply #8 on:** January 17, 2010, 08:23:00 PM »

Even better and from experience - run The Works through it and see how "porous" your tank becomes.

No leaks before and then after...

Seems mine was gas tight only because of the rust and I was lucky, I think, that it was all along the bottom of the tank. All the holes I tried to plug with permatex after derusting...

ekpent · « **Reply #9 on:** January 17, 2010, 08:33:19 PM »

Not quite sure but did your tank go to hell after your"the Works" flush.It will def. open all those rusted holes.---Eric On a resto with original paint you try to throw everything you have at it first,and one of those things is doing an inner de-rusting to see if it is even worth saving,and if there is enough you give it the old college try

ev0lve · « **Reply #10 on:** January 17, 2010, 08:58:42 PM »

Quote from: ekpent on January 17, 2010, 08:33:19 PM

Not quite sure but did your tank go to hell after your"the Works" flush.It will def. open all those rusted holes.

Yep. Straight to hell. If he wants to know the condition of his tank without poking at it with a dental tool The Works will find every flaw/rust hole in it.

I Kreemed it afterward and it's been fine so far.

ekpent · « **Reply #11 on:** January 17, 2010, 09:15:28 PM »

First you have to find out how bad it all is---Then try to fix it.Some are worth it an some are not----

KB02 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 18, 2010, 05:08:19 AM »

here is an example of paint made worse by gas seepage:

When I finally decided to sand down this rough spot and repaint the tank, it started peeing gas all over me. That lead to a full paint strip, POR15 treatment, and a new paint job.

(by the way - this is what was left of the crappy Kreme coating that was in the tank when I got it after a M.E.K. treatment)

754 · « **Reply #13 on:** January 18, 2010, 09:05:54 AM »

Get in there with a borescope and have a real good look, at what you really have.. find out before you go further.. plus you can see how savage the body work was..

Milwaukee See Snake is one of those tools, there are many.. , boiler, heat exchanger, maybe plumbing companies use them. The folks that sell them , may let you have a look if you bring some beer..

mystic_1 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 18, 2010, 11:33:37 AM »

To answer the original question, if there's gas penetrating the metal, then there's a pinhole of some sort. This is not the same as being "porous" as that implies a permeable material rather than a structural flaw.

i.e. a sponge is porous, glass is not. A cup made out of a sponge will leak as will a cup made of glass that has a hole in it. The steel on these tanks is not "porous" and the only way it'll become so is if pinholes form.

Sounds like the tank wasn't tested prior to painting. That's something that "should" get done but if you just as for a paint job then the painter isn't going to go to the trouble to test the integrity of the tank properly.

mystic_1

Colonel · « **Reply #15 on:** January 18, 2010, 04:58:25 PM »

mystic_1,

I used 'Porous' between quotes for this exact reason but thanks for the explanation.
What is puzzling is that the tank had no problems prior to repainting.
I assumed wrong prep of the tank as it was not completely sanded.
I have attached pics.

Thanks for the interest.

mystic_1 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 18, 2010, 05:24:42 PM »

OK, based on the pic, I believe that fuel had NOTHING to do with this. You are right, it is from lack of sanding. Paint underneath is smooth and shiny, not good for adhesion, not to mention the possibility of wax etc still being present. When painting over other paint, you must scuff the existing paint with somewhere around 400 grit.

mystic_1

seaweb11 · « **Reply #17 on:** January 18, 2010, 06:51:38 PM »

Yup. Looks like bad prep.

Colonel · « **Reply #18 on:** January 18, 2010, 08:48:30 PM »

Thanks again for the feedback...

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Author Topic: Can a Tank become 'Porous'? (Read 1376 times)