Can a rusted tank be fixed with lead?

[tri guy]

Greeting atc maniacs . Once again, just trying to cut thru all the stuff out there...... Does anyone know or have they tried fixing a crust hole in a metal gas tank using lead to seal it? Does it last better than say" epoxy" attempts ? Thanks in advance redfleet

[wellys88]

not sure about lead. ive braised a few tanks, then coated the inside.

[ps2fixer]

I'ved attempted a lead solder hold patching. Was good enough to slow down the leak, but it didn't stop it. I was using like 1930 tools at my uncle's house though and who knows what kind of flux.

I'd second that braising works better, have an air compressor tank that's braised on the bottom and still holding up well, ironically the job was done by the same uncle as above. The job's a bit ugly, but it was a larger area of pin holes too and never sanded down or smoothed out.

Personally wouldn't trust epoxy, I had a 250es tank someone repaired with JB weld and it wept a little.

Don't forget, once you patch the holes, the inside needs attention. Look up how to remove rust from the inside of tanks and it's advisable to use a tank liner to prevent rust.

Probably worth mentioning that normal welding could be possible to repair it, but you'd have to have some real skill with the thin metal. My dad cut down a CB500 motorcycle gas tank to mount on a blaster with a TX500 engine swapped in. The bottom of the tank had to be flat, and the blaster tank wrapped around the frame too far. It was tank lined, but we never finished the project, so unsure if it will leak or not. Also the tank is under a plastic cover, so a pretty tank wasn't needed in our case.

[oldskool83]

In the days of plastic tanks a click away I don't know why you'd want to keep using and fixing metal ones. If you didn't know new replacement tanks are out there, they are. No dents or rust or problem with the carb.

[ps2fixer]

The plastic tanks generally don't look as nice as OEM Metal ones, so could be a preference for looks over function. Plastic tanks tend to brown with age with gas in them. I don't care about looks much, so the 2 main machines I ride have plastic tanks from other part's machines I've picked up, only using because I had them on hand.

Old rusty tank vs new plastic is hard to beat though for the price vs effort involved fixing the metal tank.

[Scootertrash]

I've tried patching a couple tanks, the problem I found is that the damage from the rust extends quite a bit beyond the visible hole. The 3 that I did the rust thinned the metal of the tank for quite a bit around the hole, and the thinned metal burned/melted away as I braised the visible hole. I will admit that the insides of these tanks were quite bad rust wise.

[tri guy]

Thanks for all the responses! Although I didn't really find the answer I was really looking for ! Oh well ! Once again I will try it myself and post my results!