Thought I would share my experiances with repairing a petrol tank.... First attempt didn't hold at all

The First product I tried was made by Granville a thick liquid type product with a gauze that you impregnate and stick on top. You then repeat the procedure and leave it to set.

I left mine a good 24 hours. It held for a day and a bit I managed to get a test ride in. However having left the bike in the garage with a full tank of fuel I started to smell fuel. On investigation I found that the majority of the fuel was now all over the garage floor. Having got an LT I had to remove half of the fairing in order to remove the tank again.

Couple of photo's below showing the hole and the repair that I made.

This photo clearly shows the hole with the first coat of sealant. I think that if the hole was a crack that it may have had half a chance of sealing it.



First patch in place. It is now left for 20 mins before putting another coat of the sealant on it.



Below is the second coat of sealant....



The patch had dried off totally before the tank was turned the right way up but after about 36 hours this is the result below.



So onto method 2

This time I got some epoxy resin which is supposed to cure in about an hour. I am going to be leaving it for a bit longer than that to enable as strong a bond as possible. I had to key the metal first and clean off what I could of the original resin that I can. The product I am using is called QuickSteel.... all you do is break/cut off the required size piece and you knead it in your hands in order to mix the 2 parts of hardener and resin once it is reaching the point of being ready to fix into place it gets warm this is the exothermic reaction occuring.... (Or did I make that bit up!)



The above image is how it is now after about an hour and a half. I need to use the bike for work in the morning so I am going to have to get the tank back on the bike tonight! I would prefer to leave it on the bench for 24 hours to make sure it has the best possible chance of getting a bond. The other option is to get up 30 mins earlier to get the bike back together hmmmm It's going to be a cold morning so would rather not!

Is the gause patch on the front holding TC? Seeing the performance of the other bit I'd whip it off when you have time and replace with the (e)poxy chemical metal.

88

I put the gause bit on the front because it looked a bit iffy.... but isn't leaking at the moment. The plan in when in work tomorrow to have a good look again at the patch I did today and if needed attack it again. At the same time I will peel of the other patch!

Luckily I have a couple of hours when most people have gone home leaving just us on shift in so can easily do it.... Just so long as the main patch holds!

Thought it would be good to have a thread detailing a repair.... with experiences about using both methods.

Thanks for the details.

I used a similar product that you knead it in your hands in order to mix the 2 parts of hardener and resin and it worked.

When I was young (a long time ago), I traveled in Africa across the Sahara desert and learned some amazing tips.
The best one that I used and successfully experienced was how to plug a gas leak on a gas tank..

No chemical is required:
Have a loaf of bread (or at least few slices) and a bar of soap in hand.
Cut a piece of soap in tiny little pieces, wet it with water and start to knead it with the bread. When you obtain a sticky paste, just stick it on the gas leak. It will instantly plug the hole. (I drove a car with a 2" gash in the gas tank for 2 months after applying this treatment.)

Water leak in the cooling system: trow a small can of black pepper in your radiator. The pepper will plug the hole and the repair will last for ever.

These repairs are not supposed to last for ever, but at least they give you time to plan a proper repair.

CF

Brilliant stuff, great tips if we get stuck somewhere, all very well to use the kneadable epoxy but if there is none about, the bread and soap and the pepper for the radiator are doable emergency repairs, thanks for sharing.
Regards,
K-BIKE