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Cooley gas tank saved

chuck hahn

chuck hahn

Forum LongTimer
Past Site Supporter
Well I just got done welding the holes in Frank Zs spare cooley tank. I migged all the holes shut and then soldered over the entire area to do a seal to it. With a little body work over the areas to smooth off the marks from the die grinder she will be good as new. Heres the before and after pictures..


Before



After

 
When he sends it to Larry, Larry will have to do a bit of fine tuning but at least the tank is saved.
 
Man of many skills. Thanks, Chuck H. This tank will look good on the next S fo sho. Now for a little sealer and a trip to Larry!
 
Your welcome Frank..It takes some time and patience but it can be done. Glad to be able to slavage it for you. There arent any other signs of rust or bubbles on the tank so I dont think Larry will find any other surprises. A little skim of bondo and noone except us will ever know.
 
Nice work there Mr One hand! ;)

(I really mean it, nice work Chuck!)
 
Dale..I even tried to keep the little "gutter" that runs up on each side intact. I was shooting for keeping the shape as unmolested as I could.
 
And it looks like you did a fine job of keeping it as unmolested looking as possible.
 
Thanks guys...Ive been wondering why this tank rusted thru so high up. You usually see the lower edges or back corners trashed before the upper sections.
 
chuck hahn said:
Thanks guys...Ive been wondering why this tank rusted thru so high up. You usually see the lower edges or back corners trashed before the upper sections.
Click to expand...

Guessing that it was hung like that (front edge down) in someone's shop/garage for years?
 
Thats what i mentioned to Frank when i was at his place..Front must have been down and leaning against wall or something?? Very unusual place for a rust thru.
 
chuck hahn said:
Thats what i mentioned to Frank when i was at his place..Front must have been down and leaning against wall or something?? Very unusual place for a rust thru.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of people hang them by the rear mount holes.
 
Once I get the liner kit in it it will never rust again. We decided to go with the liner also as a extra security measure against any possibility of even the slightest leak.
 
Nice work there chuck!

I strongly advise you guys to fully strip that tank and derust it inside and out. With the paint removed you will see spider web corrosion all over the place. Plus, there is going to be a good deal of corrosion inside the tank. Send it to Larry after you derust it.

What derusting method do you you chuck?
 
I like the Etch And Prep from Lowes. Oovernight and its done. Gonna get the Caswell 2 part liner kit for the inside. Any surface spider webbing on the outside isnt an issue right now..It will be at Larrys soon enough.
 
chuck hahn said:
I like the Etch And Prep from Lowes. Oovernight and its done. Gonna get the Caswell 2 part liner kit for the inside. Any surface spider webbing on the outside isnt an issue right now..It will be at Larrys soon enough.
Click to expand...

That Etch and Prep sauce looks like a great choice. Didn't see that stuff last time I looked in the store. I'm going to pick some up.

I've also used phosphoric acid for derusting tanks, only in my experience it takes longer than overnight. At any rate, sounds like you are on top of the project...although I'd still derust it on the outside before sending it off for repaint. Rust loves to live down inside pits in the metal and painter guys, even good ones, don't typically have the cycle time to perform the same level of rust removal someone like you would.

Good luck
 
Prep and etch is what I used on my tank as well, it actually coats the metal as well, you just have to turn the tank ever so often, I added about 20 large hex nuts in mine, to aid in any rust removal, but probably wasn't needed. Pretty cheap at H-depot, afterwards I rinsed it well with water to remove and neutralize the acid, then dumped some denatured alcohol to absorb any water, then poured in some WD40 to prevent any flash rust, dumped and filled with gas. Sounds like a bit of a process, but it's worked very well for me on even the real rusted up tanks. I use the left over solution to dip old tools into that have laid around the garage a long time, rust gone, leaves a black coating behind.
 
welding tanks.....

welding tanks.....

hi guys about 4 years ago before i was lucky too buy a mint condition 1981 gs1000s red/white tank i went to see a boilermaker aged 70 he was always busy welding etc in his shed ... my old tank leaked along the left hand lower seam pin holes ever where and around the seams near the seat ,,i learnt a great lesson ,,,,,,never get a bridge builder /welder to weld a bike tank ,,, this old guy plated the seam ,, pored alot of heat into it ...and it looked absolute crap,,,and then i found pin holes around the filler cap.. now it sits under my bench ... the gs1000 tanks are only .75 of a mm ... my xs650 tank is heavier ,,, regards oldgrumpy :)
 
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