Which is the best?

[northwoods]

So it looks like I'm going to have to clean and put a liner in my tank. What's my best choice? Kreem? KBS Coatings? I've seen a few out here but not sure if they're all pretty much the same or if there's one in particular I should stay away from. Let me know.

[catbed]

Por-15 seems to be pretty popular. i used kbs-coatings and i love it. holds up well.

[chuckycheese]

RedKote

This has always been a popular subject. About 7 years ago, I had my GS750L tank lined with RedKote (which I believe is now blue). It appears to be in just as good a shape as it was the day I had it done. The guy who did it told me he'd never had a complaint. As catbed points out, there are no doubt a number of good ones. Based on the anecdotal evidence, I'd sure avoid Kreem.

[coltrain]

I have used KREEM before.. I heard good things about POR-15 too. I didn't really like the whole do it yourself home kits and they didn't work well either.. Liner can come deteriorate and get in the petcock or block it, especially if you miss a step or dont follow directions closely.

I made some calls around to local radiator shops when I got a salvage tank from a junkyard. I ended up finding and ol radiator shop that removed the rust and lined it for $65. No mess for me.. I think thats what the kits cost??

[catbed]

my kit was 36 bucks.

[Ozmiander]

Do you have any holes in the tank? If not, skip the coating all together. It's a pain in the ass to do and will create even more work if you don't want to wake up every hour and flop the tank around to spread the liner.

[J_C]

I found a massive amount of rust in my tank. I think I'll need to get it coated for the long term health of my bike. Can these kits or a radiator shop do this work without ruining the paint? I have a relatively new paint job and do NOT want to risk it...

[Ozmiander]

I found a massive amount of rust in my tank. I think I'll need to get it coated for the long term health of my bike. Can these kits or a radiator shop do this work without ruining the paint? I have a relatively new paint job and do NOT want to risk it...

It all depends on how careful you/they are not to spill the cleaner/acid on the paint. But try some muriatic acid and nuts in the tank, swirl it around and then rinse and repeat until it comes out clean. If it doesn't leak after that just throw an inline filter on and ride.

[J_C]

The tank doesnt leak at all. I used phosphoric acid on it about a year and a half ago, everything was coming out clean by the time I finished. But I'm getting a lot of "flake" build up around the petcock, and I just had to reclean the carbs. Installed an inline fuel filter last night; I'm hoping that will keep things clean for a while.

[Nessism]

There are several different good coating products available but the coating job itself will only be as good as the preparation; as much rust as possible needs to be removed and the metal prepared (etched) to allow the sealer to bond permanently.

In my experience one key to doing the prep work is coming up with a robust method of sealing the tank openings – I wound up using a rubber stopper on the main opening and a metal plate with rubber gasket over the petcock hole.

To remove the rust, seal the tank and dump in your favorite rust-eating solution; Evapo-rust is my favorite but phosphoric acid, or oxalic acid (deck cleaner) works well. A bag of aquarium rocks in the tank also helps break up the rust as you agitate the solution around.

One key element is to rotate the solution to keep the different sides of the tank wet; cleaning the tank properly may take several days. Hardest area on the tank to reach is the curved upside-down U shaped section that straddles the frame backbone. If you use a phosphoric acid solution there will be a chalky residue left behind. The aquarium rocks really help break up this stuff but you will have to shake the tank aggressively to get the rocks to contact the U shaped area.

In terms of what material to use to seal the tank, I’ve used both Por-15 and Caswell epoxy. The POR material is very thin and the Caswell stuff is very thick. I recommend using a larger quantity of sealer than recommended and pouring off the excess. This allows the entire surface of the tank to be covered before the sealer kicks off and hardens – that upside-down U area is hard to cover with the standard amount of sealer.

Hope this info helps someone.

[northwoods]

Thanks, that's some good info. Are any of these coatings available in store? I've seen them online but don't know which parts store chains carry any of them.

[bwringer]

Thanks, that's some good info. Are any of these coatings available in store? I've seen them online but don't know which parts store chains carry any of them.

The only one I've ever seen in a store is Kreem. Unfortunately, it's also completely useless junk.

Dunno why this crap seems to be everywhere when there are far better alternatives, but I suppose one could ask the same question about Budweiser.

I don't know of any retail sources for Kreem or the others, so I think you have to order online. If you're paranoid or wanted by the feds, get a Visa gift card and use that.

[northwoods]

Ha...no I'm not paranoid...just didn't want to have to wait the shipping time. But, I'd rather wait for good stuff than go and buy bad stuff.

[crag antler]

I ordered POR15 to do my Concours tank.
Just sealing it not removing rust.
Ordered it for around $45 and got it 3 days later.
Worked out well and coated nicely.