After I repair your tank never, ever use ethanol in your tank. If you live in a state that does not sell ethanol-free gasoline, make your own with my instructions. Call me and we can talk about your tank: 952-607-6063 7 days a week.
Original XR Tank
July 2024
This was an old original XR tank which had been repaired many times. It was in just terrible shape. The outside was totally buggered but the inside was even worse. I cut the top and bottom apart and saw the mess you are looking at. See that shiny black stuff in the tank bottom? That was ¾” deep fiberglass someone poured in to solve a leak. I ground the bottom crap out and roughed up the inside of the top. I coated both insides with Caswell--the best liner--and rejoined them.
The customer was more than happy with the result. I even installed a new filler neck because his was so rusty. A friend of his saw the work and sent me an aftermarket CB750 tank he wants brought back to life.
New Life for an Aftermarket Honda Fiberglass Tank
August 2024
Don Duffin of San Antonio really liked his tank but it was in terrible shape. See here the massive bubbling of paint. The tank was built from general purpose resin which was eaten away by ethanol and the painter didn’t rough the surface for paint to adhere.
I split the tank and discovered a disaster zone.
Here’s a close up of the bottom. Just awful.
The far rear corner had one inch of fiberglass. Someone’s feeble attempt to perhaps stop a leak.
The rebuilding begins. I sanded off all the bubbled paint.
Don’s filler neck was badly rusted and I removed it. (See it sitting on tank.) The filler neck area was filled from inside and outside. (The blue/green Duraglass is reinforced filler.) I will replace it with a chromed filler neck which won’t rust.
Don’s tank with first coat of Duratech, a two-part high-fill coating. I’ve started what I call sand-shaping. I use 320w/d to speed the process which means I’ll keep coating and sanding with finer paper until the surface is paint worthy.
Caswell liner in red. Notice I didn’t coat to edge. That I do after the tank is rejoined.
Tank re-joined. Don’s bottom exterior was a mess so I coated it in red gelcoat.
Don’s finished tank. That gray stuff is Duratech a two-part primer. I polished so I could confirm all the surfaces were level and straight. Don’s painter will sand the tank, prime and paint.
Leak in an Old SXR Tank
August 2024
Dan Kjeer from Oklahoma bought a street tracker from the original owner. It had a major leak on the left font corner.
On close inspection, it was a series of weak spots in a line. I have no idea how that could have happened.
Happily, I was able to seal the leak from the inside without splitting the tank. Sadly someone had clear coated the tank and that caused a mis-match in the old and new oranges.
I couldn’t let the tank to go back to Dan looking bad. So I sanded the entire tank and recoated it with orange gelcoat and sanded and polished the tank.
This is how it turned out. Just like a brand new tank with new graphics.
Jim Albright of Grove City, OH
September 2024
Jim had a pinhole leak on the left front of his tank. My leak test determined exactly where it was.
The first order was to grind out the entire area. The area was filled with ethanol-resistant glass and resin. I finished it and made it look pretty so no one would know major surgery was done.
Jim Kobylinski from Hatteras, NC was in agony.
His 1970s BSA Hornet race tank started leaking. Someone previously patched it with JB Weld but that didn’t last. He couldn’t find a local repair source or anyone in the area.
In desperation, he called Mark Appleton at British Cycle in Nova Scotia & Maine. Somehow, Mark knew I repaired glass tanks. Jim honed in on me and away we went with his repair. (Mark is a big Hagon shock seller if you have a need.)
JB Weld that didn’t last:
I ground down into the bottom edge and there it was big as life:
I fixed the leak in a tidy way because I didn’t have the matching BSA color:
I polished the tank and sent it back to Jim and he was ecstatic:
Jeremy Beer’s 2000 Speed Triple 955i
Jeremy Beer from San Antonio had a Triumph with a mushy tank bottom which leaked. We think it cause was ethanol fuel. I ground out the area and filled it with anti-ethanol resin. It took two times but we achieved success.
Sad OSSA Pioneer Body Prepped for Paint
October, 2024
John Metz, a fellow retired flat tracker, is an OSSA expert. He has a very tired Pioneer body he wants to bring back to life so down the road he can flip it. OSSA made very thin fiberglass body parts to save weight. Good on the 1970s sales floor but not so good 50 years later.
Thin glass flexes and cracks the gelcoat. All body parts had cracks everywhere. The front fender had chunks missing and was completely warped from breakage. When I got the parts from him he said, "Don’t think you can save that fender but it’s okay I have another."
I fooled him. I made a wooden box which corrected the shape. Then I glassed it from the underside for extra strength, then fixed the cracks like the other parts.
After I sanded all the parts, I used Duratec, a high build gray primer. That filled all the cracks, which can’t return because the parts are now thicker glass. Then I sanded parts smooth and handed them back to John. He has a favorite painter who does all his OSSAs.
The tank/body was a mess with 50 years of grunge. This is how John got it back. I charged him $275.
“Race gas” ate one of my old tanks
February, 2025
Paul Pardini from Franklin, TN, returned an SXR tank all covered in bumps. It was made with ethanol resistant resin but something horribly corrosive attacked it. I don’t know what’s in race fuel but I advise you to stay away from it.
My repair will be simple. To protect the tank long term the inside will be Caswell coated. Below is the tumbler and medium (motorcycle ice screws) I use to rough the interior. Then I’ll sand and polish the outside. Black is a miserable color because it shows minute imperfections. I’ll have to sand/polish several times to make it perfect.
My tumbler roughs the inside to anchor the Caswell coating
The Costs
- Cost varies based on the problem.
- The minimum is $295 unless it’s a tiny problem like plugging small leaks which I generally do from the outside. This fix is about $100.
- Most major repairs with Caswell anti-ethanol inside coating will fall into the $450 to $550 area.
- If you are looking at a tank with a rolled lower edge, like an OSSA, it could nudge into the $700 area.
Obviously, this service applies to rare tanks and tanks with no NOS/replica option.