>From: "jumpin'jan" <servaij(at)cris.com>
>... The only way to restore the tank is to take it to a metal
>cleaning shop where they can clean rusted metal. It will also remove
>all paint and crud at the bottom. The cost is about $50-$75 for a gas
>tank. The next step is to a radiator/gas tank repair shop ...
>they solder metal patches over the pinholes (mine had quite a few)
>and seal the tank with a tank sealer mixture (cost me about $150).
Many US radiator/tank shops will both clean and repair. I had my S.II
tank done around 18 months ago for about $100 which included boiling,
patching, sealing, and paint(exterior only this time). Once cleaned, I
was surprised at the large number of pin holes they found. I think the
shop was too, and probably would have priced it $20 to $40 higher if
they had realized how bad it was. I expect the going rate to still be
in the $120 to $160 range in the SW US. Material cost to etch, seal,
and paint the tank myself would have been about $50; likely more because
I probably would have still had to have the "crud" boiled out at the
shop. You can buy the DIY kits from Eastwood, J.C. Whitney, or half a
dozen other sources.
One recommendation on the sealer is to ask for the alcohol resistant
version. It is white rather than the yellow that's more commonly used.
It's slightly more expensive, but could save you some trouble from
alcohol fuel mixes or additives down the road. A bit paranoid maybe,
but figure it's a tough call on what will be available at the pump 10+
years down the road in different parts of the country.
I had the yellow stuff put in mine because that's all the shops in my
area were offering at the time. Today I'd probably opt to have the
shop boil and patch the tank then install the white sealer myself if all
they offered was the yellow variety.
Regards, Bob Douglas
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Sep 05 2000 - 10:44:23 CDT