86 Tecate tank help

[Hot Trikes]

One of the top tank bolts that holds my radiator shroud is frozen. The whole insert spins inside the tank. It has some resistance, but the person I got the bike from put a regular bolt instead of stainless steel in there. He complained a lot about the bolts coming loose on the bike, so I bet he cranked it or put lock tight on it or all the above. I was going to try and drill it, but man, one slip of the ole drill and there is a nice new vent hole in my tank.

On a good note, I used the method on here to restore the tank, and man what a difference. The privious owner left the tank on while they spray painted the frame with silver, plus the gas cap leaks. I substituted Novus #2 and #1 plastic polishes instead of the 3m stuff, and it turned out great.

I appreciate any help or ideas :beer

Scott

[scooterroo]

i had a similar problem when i got my tank for my 86t3...i used some superglue around the nut and let it seep into the plastic around the nut area....then after letting it set up for a night, i soaked it with some pb blaster, let that soak a few hours and gave it another try, came out witha little coaxing. see if it will work for you.

[Hot Trikes]

I may just give super glue a try. I was wondering if I pulled the brass insert out, would it tear up the tank? I think there are small flanges that keep the insert from spinning, and I was afraid they my cause more damage coming out. If I got it out, I was going to use epoxy to hold it in place.

Super glue sounds like the best first option though.

Thanks!!!

[Dirtcrasher]

Yes try the SG, I ruined a Banshee tank dicking around with it. Another idiot stuck a 1/4-20 bolt in it instead of a 6mmx1.0 pitch.....

[Eric250R]

Glad I found this thread, I"m having the exact same problem with a T-3 I got a trike fest. The previous onwer installed a standard bolt in my tank. Thanks for the tip guys.

[cr480r]

man what a mess... I ruined 2 1985 kx250 tanks trying to remove the bolts... then I bought a 3rd tank on ebay... and it had spinning inserts too... good luck... let us know how the super glue works...

[Hot Trikes]

Got ready to try the super glue last night..............there is no gap around the insert to let the glue seep down into. I am afraid that it will just sit on top and accidentally run onto the bolt, welding it to the insert even worse. I am really curious what pulling the insert straight out of the tank would do. If it wouldn't trash the tank, I think that would be the "right" way to do it. It would be nice if I could get epoxy all around the insert.

Does anyone have any idea what that insert looks like? Or has anyone tried popping one out? I' ll wait and see what you guys have to say before I go any further.

Thanks!!!

[Dirtcrasher]

Got ready to try the super glue last night..............there is no gap around the insert to let the glue seep down into. I am afraid that it will just sit on top and accidentally run onto the bolt, welding it to the insert even worse. I am really curious what pulling the insert straight out of the tank would do. If it wouldn't trash the tank, I think that would be the "right" way to do it. It would be nice if I could get epoxy all around the insert.

Does anyone have any idea what that insert looks like? Or has anyone tried popping one out? I' ll wait and see what you guys have to say before I go any further.

Thanks!!!


They are round and knurled or splined and sometimes have a shoulder or the tank has a plastic shoulder that covers it, which gets beat up when you rip it out. I'd use a slide hammer and have at it....

The damn things should be square so there is very little possability of it coming loose.

[Hot Trikes]

I finally got around to trying the super glue, no dice. The insert broke free. I tried heating the area around the insert with a heat gun to pop out the insert, but I stopped pulling on it when it looked like the insert was so big it was going to break the plastic. I took a good look inside the tank, and the plastic formed around the insert is in the shape of a small light bulb. Has anyone ever popped one of these 86 Tecate inserts out? I am nervous because I only have one tank.

Any ideas appreciated.

Thanks!!!

[OZQUAD44]

I screwed a bolt into the spun nut and connected it to a drill. Then I spun it up until it got hot and melted the plastic, then pulled it out.

Next up I got a new nut (could use old one if needed) and soldered steel wings on to it.

Then i screwed a bolt into the new wingnut (I suppose you could just use a real wingnut if it was the right size) and heated it up with a blow torch. Do not apply a torch to the tank itself!

I then pushed the new heated wingnut into the plastic tank. The hot nut melted into the plastic. I folded all the soft excess of melted plastic over the top and bobs your uncle!

Job done

[jason 32]

its got be a bad thing with kawis- i looked for years for a 81-kx420 tank because of the same reasons- mine was bad though- the tanks cracked inside from the bolts spinning ,and stuff-
i still cannot find a tank for it- i have found kdx tanks- but not a actual kx-
talk about rare-
i need to fix mine too-
does the plastic weld work good enough for something like this-????
anyone know-