(https://i.postimg.cc/nrKtGStS/20250423-155026.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/RJ08MRhw)
The big brown goody truck came today and the prep began.
(https://i.postimg.cc/mkgSmtxx/20250423-171958.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/S2H8sQNV)
3 coats of seal mask paint protector applied with a paint brush. Tomorrow I will wrap the tank in glad wrap and tin foil per the instructions and pour in a gallon of stripper. I made a template from a junk petcock and cut a piece of inner tube to block the petcock hole using the junk petcock.
Following along :thumbs:
Oh my I have never seen a painted on paint protector. That's really cool!
Quote from: Striker1423 on April 24, 2025, 10:54:16 AMOh my I have never seen a painted on paint protector. That's really cool!
That makes two of us. Pretty cool! :pop:
Wow that is mad. Sounds like that stripper is some pretty serious stuff. What exactly does it strip?...like everything. Rust, corrosion and I'm guessing a previous sealing job?
Quote from: RDryan on April 24, 2025, 12:02:41 PMWow that is mad. Sounds like that stripper is some pretty serious stuff. What exactly does it strip?...like everything. Rust, corrosion and I'm guessing a previous sealing job?
The stripper is of course a problem, but the Caswell epoxy getting on the paint itself is the biggest issue. It will stick and screw up your paint in a quick way.
Also, I have a feeling is the paint protector a form of plastidip?
I've done Caswell's twice and it is holding up good. One is 15 years old.
My tank is solid but not very pretty. The owner before me sealed it and I believe they used Red Kote fuel tank liner but I'm not sure. Just based on my observation. It's light in the red color but kinda heavy in some spots and looks like it encapsulates what they left behind for surface rust. Looks solid but if I ever wanted a better solution I'm not sure I could ever remove it.
It is a slow process so far. I spent the day agitating it by hand. It says it can take as long as over night. We will see.
After two days of agitating and not much progress I boiled a big pot of water x2 on my shop stove and poured it into the tank. Finally some progress. I spent the afternoon grabbing what I could reach with the long needle noses and dragging it out of the filler hole.
(https://i.postimg.cc/d1QJdPS3/20250426-154253.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/v1jRFjyw)
Tomorrow's plan is to drain the stripper water mix into a bucket and hope all the liner comes out.
If it doesn't I will boil the mixture and try again.
I hope the paint protector is staying attached.
So far so good. We will see.
the process looks pretty involved, but interesting :clint: I haven't needed to etch and seal a metal tank since probably the late 1970's and the "go-to" back then was KREEM. I think Caswell was around for mostly fiberglass tanks? More recently I've seen people recommending POR? Nice that we have more choices these days :like:
ive done a lot of metal tanks with caswell.
So far so good on the paint protector.
(https://i.postimg.cc/2S6w0G36/20250427-174110.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/tYKWTh3Q)
Another pile of liner. I used mechanical fingers to grab the sheets and chunks along with the long needle noses to twist it into a knot and drag it out through the fill hole. I boiled the solution 3 times today and got nearly all of it out. I left the mixture in overnight. I hope to be done with the stripping tomorrow.
(https://i.postimg.cc/mD2Cr2Mr/20250427-180407.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/06FbWvVg)
My $25 FB Marketplace shop stove comes through again. I am so glad I put casters on it so I can roll it around easily. I moved it right next to the doors so the fumes from the boiling stripper don't kill me.
(https://i.postimg.cc/Z5JW5dWd/20250429-180644.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/6y1WHTLW)
Finally ready for new liner. 4 days of boiling stripper solution, prying, cutting up and dragging the old liner out through the fill hole. Flushed with water followed by a gallon of denatured alcohol and 2 hours with a hair dryer in the fill hole.
That paint on cover held up too! WOW I'm gonna have to look into that stuff.
https://caswellplating.com/caswell-seal-masktm-8-fl-oz.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqiV4ArOGpBvPMN586PV3s_DtLEP-8WaFv5fkysq39u2sNw6CkP
(https://i.postimg.cc/jdPgX1Qy/20250430-132435.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/rKyNyQHp)
I will never try and mix the sealer with a wooden paint stick again. $5 Harbor Freight. 3 minutes with the drill and poured it in the tank. It is 80 degrees today and 60% humidity so only had to rotate it for about 15 minutes.
(https://i.postimg.cc/59vSdCYV/20250430-143706.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/QV8TcVJ4)
Per the instructions the paint protector came right off with a micro fiber towel with water and dish soap.
(https://i.postimg.cc/Nf51p3BF/20250502-181349.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/F7XdKnfX)
All back together no leaks. :metal:
It was 85 here today. I put 20 more miles on. Still tuning but definitely rideable. Chasing a burble right off idle that will likely be worse at the Gap where the elevation is higher. So I may put the 37.5 pilots back in tomorrow and see or I may just load it on the trailer and do it when I get down there.
success :clap:
:clap: Congrats on a successful project.
Your documentation of the liner removal process has given me a little anxiety since I have a tank with a failing liner that I'll need to tackle soon.
I put the 37.5 pilots in and ran it. Airscrews are at 1.25 turns out. Not perfect but better. M in SC will lay hands on it and guide me to the final tune.
:taz: :metal:
I found the Caswell stripper will work if you mix it with boiling water. Save it as it comes out and do it over and over until the liners releases from the tank. It sucked. But it is done. Again the paint protector is the shit... it saved my paint job for sure.