Derust & painting my tank

Bucky · Nova Slayer Joined: 16 Mar 2009 Karma :

Got up today armed with wet & dry and primers to tackle the rust on my petrol tank.
As soon as I got outside took the cover off the bike, started chucking it down! Evil or Very Mad

So I'll research the next step while rain stops play.

I've got some Upol Acid Etch Primer & some Halfords White Primer.

I'm thinking of ordering some White Base & Silver Pearl spray cans from Specialist Paints.com. Anyone ever used / heard anything about them? Good Quality?
Unless anyone knows where I can get my hands on the specific pearlescent white paints for a 1999 Suzuki GSX-R600 (SRAD)?

The rust on the tank is where the riders seat has rubbed the paint off the tank & 2 rust patches have appeared one either side. Am I right in thinking...

I'm going to add some rubber to the seat edge to stop it stripping paint again.
Since its the bottom rear of the tank & not a highly visible area it's also gonna serve as a test area before I repair my scuffed fairings. Smile

Any tips would be appriciated Thumbs Up

____________________
"You know, they say that, the wheel is the greatest invention ever. But I think it's probably the second wheel, because . . .
Have you ever seen a guy on a unicycle?..."

Robby · Dirty Old Man Joined: 16 May 2002 Karma :

I can't help with painting advice, my painting is terrible, but I can with the rust. Don't paint something over the rust, sand it back to bare clean metal then get the etch primer over it.

Bucky · Nova Slayer Joined: 16 Mar 2009 Karma :

Removed the seat to get a better view of the rust...
https://img7.imageshack.us/img7/8181/rust1u.jpg
https://img824.imageshack.us/img824/5640/rust2.jpg
https://img851.imageshack.us/img851/7428/rust3t.jpg
____________________
"You know, they say that, the wheel is the greatest invention ever. But I think it's probably the second wheel, because . . .
Have you ever seen a guy on a unicycle?..."

Bucky · Nova Slayer Joined: 16 Mar 2009 Karma :

Thanks Robby! Thumbs Up

I've sanded of the rust with P240 Wet & Dry, was the most coarse paper I had. Do I need to ruff up the surface with some coarser stuff to get the best adhesion with the etch primer?

https://img694.imageshack.us/img694/2271/removed0.jpg

Getting there...
https://img855.imageshack.us/img855/7379/removed1.jpg
https://img189.imageshack.us/img189/7875/removed2.jpg

More sanding plus cleaned up...
https://img23.imageshack.us/img23/529/removed3.jpg
https://img845.imageshack.us/img845/3657/removed4.jpg

That was last night todays been high chance of showers & the weekends looking no better, not good painting weather! Evil or Very Mad

Also theirs slight pitting to the metal on the LHS so more sanding is required.

So I've left a film of oil over the exposed bare metal to protect it & the whole bikes back under cover. Now the waiting game. Sleeping

Anyone got any idea if Halfords be able to mix up some '99 GSX-R600 Pearlescent White paint for me? I hear its about 3 different layers of paint for the effect.

All the info on the paint I have is...

Also I've been told just to Acid Etch Primer. I'll keep my can of 2K White Primer for my fairings Smile

____________________
"You know, they say that, the wheel is the greatest invention ever. But I think it's probably the second wheel, because . . .
Have you ever seen a guy on a unicycle?..."

ZRX61 · Victor Meldrew Joined: 05 Nov 2003 Karma :

finpos · World Chat Champion Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Karma :

With the proviso that what you've done is probably good enough, you've not got all the rust off. All the black stuff has to go, including the bits around the edge of the paint - the rust creeps outwards and under the paint so I'd guess you've still got another few mm to go. Poke the paint with a sharp screwdriver near the edge of the damage and it'll flake off. It'll stop flaking off when you reach sound metal.

The trouble is you've been rubbing it away with sandpaper and it's not getting any better, that being because the rust in now in pits. You can either use a dremel with a fine pointed tool to get it out or keep dousing it in rust killer and use a small wire brush (it will a very boring couple of hours to do that). I'd be a bit wary of using a dremel on petrol tank in case it's perforated.

Halfords will unfortunately look at you blankly if you give them bike paint codes!

f.

Bucky · Nova Slayer Joined: 16 Mar 2009 Karma :

ZRX61 · Victor Meldrew Joined: 05 Nov 2003 Karma :

flumpy7 · Could Be A Chat Bot Joined: 31 May 2008 Karma :

finpos · World Chat Champion Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Karma :

Bucky · Nova Slayer Joined: 16 Mar 2009 Karma :

I'm now wearing a new fragrance... I call it Eau De Petrol!

Crying or Very sad

As I nearly finished sanding the right hand since completely back to bare metal none of the black areas seen before. I thought I'd make a start on the left hand side....
sand, sand, sand, blow off dust, sand, sand, smell petrol! Shit!!!! area being sanded starts to look wet very strong smell of petrol, Shit, Shit SHIT!

My tanks pissing expensive petrol very slowly out of a pin hole leak! Turns out it was rust holding together & sealing my petrol tank!!!
Panic stations! towel to soak up petrol, battery out, lent against a wall to raise the hole as high as possible while I speed read the Haynes Manual to remove the tank. Got the tank off v speedily, hopefully I can remember how to put one back on when the time comes! Drained the petrol to a jerry can and now letting any remaining fuel evaporate from the tank!

Are leaky tanks repairable or shall I hunt for a 2nd hand one? A brand new tank is £686.47 on Robinsons Foundry Neutral

Pics to come later, since she's now in such a state of disassembly I'm thinking of doing a major resto, rather than buying a cheap winter hack to learn bike mechanics on Smile

Silver lining is i've 9 litres of petrol (loads more than I thought I'd left) and the air filters in v good nik so one less thing to buy. Laughing

____________________
"You know, they say that, the wheel is the greatest invention ever. But I think it's probably the second wheel, because . . .
Have you ever seen a guy on a unicycle?..."

finpos · World Chat Champion Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Karma :

It was bound to happen Smile

The tank looks pretty good, you should try to fix it. When they are rusted all over they usually have dozens of pinholes waiting to let go.
You should also take a peek inside make sure it's not too rusty.

The easiest way to fix it is to use some petrol-proof epoxy or to braise it. If you're braising it make very sure indeed there's no fuel vapour inside.

f.

Bucky · Nova Slayer Joined: 16 Mar 2009 Karma :

UKRedwing · Trackday Trickster Joined: 15 Apr 2009 Karma :

Taking off and putting tank back on is not complicated lol..
One pipe from tap to crankcase (The thinner one, vaccum hose)
One pipe to the carbs (Obviously the thicker pipe with the fuel filter on it)
Then just the electric connection for the fuel pump.

Looks a very tidy SRAD btw Thumbs Up

Bucky · Nova Slayer Joined: 16 Mar 2009 Karma :

D O G · World Chat Champion Joined: 18 Dec 2006 Karma :

I once had that paint made up into rattle cans - not from Halfords but a specialist supplier.

It was a base, then a pearl, then a clearcoat ontop.

It did result in a nice match, but was rather a soft finish, and chipped easily. I suspect it will wear quickly on a tank.

ZRX can clarify, but maybe it may be worth painting with the rattle cans 1st to get the color right, then passing the tank over to a proper painters so they can put a hard lacquer on - i.e. properly 'baked' or whatever they do to them.

They may not want to, however, given the fact that they've not done the underlying paint job.

ZRX61 · Victor Meldrew Joined: 05 Nov 2003 Karma :

koolio · Spanner Monkey Joined: 08 Apr 2011 Karma :

You must have sanded too hard in one spot or there was a crack there already that you aggravated.

In hindsight I wouldn't have sanded the tank to get rid of rust I'd be using another method.

I was talking to a painter who does cars told me it's better to use a pro rotary sander lightly if wanting to strip the whole tank of paint for the very reason of what you did.

Let us know how you are doing I believe you will have to visit a welder.

finpos · World Chat Champion Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Karma :

I actually just lolled.

Bloke asks about how to go about removing rust and how to make localised repair to affected area. This its obviously insane because the correct way to fix this is to buy a new tank then send it to a professional shop for painting which would undoubtedly result in a better looking and more hard wearing finish. We can only speculate why he would not want to do that.

Regardless, the advice proffered:
1. Leave the rust.
2. Remove all the good paint.

F.

koolio · Spanner Monkey Joined: 08 Apr 2011 Karma :

finpos · World Chat Champion Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Karma :

I was being sarcastic about the new tank.

f.

koolio · Spanner Monkey Joined: 08 Apr 2011 Karma :