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View Full Version : will fiberglass resin withstand gas and fumes?



TDS
04-15-2010, 10:21 AM
story is ive got a honda 4 wheeler with a metal tank it has tons of tiny holes in the bottom. i tapped poked and found all the soft spots.

i removed all the rust. but i need to fill these holes. i tried welding but there is just to many to get sealed and i think the metal is just to thin for my lack of welding skills

if i mix up some fiberglass resin and pour it in the tank to seal up the holes will the standing gas and fumes eat it. i would also plan to redkote the inside of the tank after the resin cures

buying a new tank is out of the question as this atv was made for 2 yrs and any all tanks i find are around $200 due to being hard to find. i payed $125 for the atv and am planning on giving it to my dad. i just dont wanna do a temp repair and have gas leaking in the garage 3 month later

fabiodriven
04-15-2010, 10:38 AM
I am by no means an expert in this area, but I do know for a fact that there are boats that have fuel tanks made of fiberglass. You may want to look into that.

TDS
04-15-2010, 10:51 AM
i have noticed that about boats

Grizzlypeg
04-15-2010, 10:55 AM
Have you tried soldering the holes shut? You want to clean them up free of rust and use acid flux like plumbers use along with a small torch. There's no problem priming and painting lead solder.

Vantage
04-15-2010, 02:24 PM
Fiberglass will definitely withstand gas, but that will not be your problem. Because you can't get in and super-clean the rust the fiberglass will most likely fail to adhere 100%, 'missing' just a bit here & there. Because of that you'll have fuel seeping underneath the resin, gradually or quickly finding its way out of tank.

It may be possible to weld a thin sheet of steel overlay where you have the pinholes, or to apply resin to underside of tank, where you can more effectively clean to bare metal. You'd want a rough finish to help resin adhere even if doing outside bottom of tank.

Also JB Weld is a very high strength epoxy, and can be forced through the pinholes, where it will leave a little expanded blob on the inside of tank to help hold it in place. Give it a second application of JB Weld over the top of first after it has set up. After JB Weld has the holes fairly well blocked, then apply your fiberglass resin to the super-clean bottom side of tank. This should easily & efffectively end the problem, relatively cheap too.

rdlsz24
04-15-2010, 02:38 PM
A POR-15 kit will seal it up as long as the holes aren't big

Rob

pipeline triker
04-15-2010, 09:56 PM
I just bought an 81 atc 200 that the owner tried fiberglass resin. it held gas he said for a year maybe a little less. i chiped it all off very easily. The metal rusted in between the resin and the tank and it all came loss. i would not sugest it.

TDS
04-15-2010, 10:01 PM
ugh stupid old hard to find gas tanks

AutoXer
04-16-2010, 09:01 AM
some times you can get a tank that is close enough to work

JustEnough
04-17-2010, 09:33 PM
Not sure what year, but here is a new tank:

brand new gas tank for a fortrax red brand new $100 (http://burlington.craigslist.org/wan/1663601045.html)

Here is how I found it:

http://craiglook.com/all.html?q=trx200+parts

TDS
04-18-2010, 09:31 AM
ive checked out other tnaks that might work. but they just dont seem to fit with plastics.


justenough ive looked on craigslook alot of them are for a 200SX but not the 200