To Kreme or not to Kreme

[uncledj]

One of the other bikes in my stable...rarely gets ridden...is my 85 Honda Nighthawk CB700sc. She hasn't been out for a couple of years now and I'm figuring that I'd better go over her soon or she'll start having bigger problems.

About 6 or 7 years ago I'd dropped her on the trailer, severely damaging the tank as it slammed against the angle iron railing. So...I replaced the tank with a used one that had a leak. I silver soldered over the leak(s), then filled, sanded and coated the inside of the tank with Kreme.

It was good for a few years, then started leaking again, and that's when she last was on the road. I must've done something wrong for it to leak again, but I remember when I did it that I wasn't very comfortable with where the fuel petcock and strainer that goes into the tank were. I had to plug the threaded fitting when I used the Kreme, and I didn't feel I had very good adhesion at that point, as I removed some of the coating when I took the plug out, right around the edges of the threaded port. I figured gas probably got between the coating and the metal and eventually ruined the coating....???

Anyhoo

I found a decent replacement tank with nearly no rust inside, and I'm going to have it painted and have the oem decal put on then clear-coated.

Considering that the inside of the tank is in pretty good shape, with no signs of rust / leaks where these tanks usually go bad, I'm thinking that it'd be best to go ahead and paint without trying to Kreme. If I'd had better experience with the stuff I'd probably just go ahead and do it,.,...but I'm thinking not.

 

Opinions?

 

[RDawson]

Dang, you sucked me in. I thought we were going to Krispy Kreme for a meet and greet.

[MiCarl]

I'm not a fan of Kreme. If it's not installed perfectly it can come loose and I'm not sure how well it ages. The MEK in it will instantly ruin paint (so if you were to Kreme it, do it before paint). Also, it won't fill holes.

 

I prefer epoxy liners. If installed properly it'll still hold fuel if the tank rots away. It will fill and reinforce pin holes. If you want the insurance of a liner I'd go that way (I'd still do it before painting).

[cowpuc]

Having been in the restore business I have tried many many different methods for restoring tanks including electrolisis, acids, sand and bead blasting, rattling bolts in a paint shaker for rust removal/prep for sealing.. Best of the best I have found for prep is White Vinegar - straight strength - filled to the brim and let the tank sit for a week.. Rinse good with water and dry with a heat gun or sit it in the sun.. I welded pipe for years, both Tig and Savick and also did a fair amount of shop tigging/shear work and applied those skills to both restoring tanks and building new. Unfortunately,, with vintage tanks, repairing and repainting takes away from their value.. I learned many years ago the Kreme Coating was not for me. I got pretty good with the stuff but had serious failures with tanks lasting out past 10 years.. The coating would always separate and cause issue with leaking again and get really ugly.. I did a bunch a tinkering with inventing my own coating and had good result using Seal All (yellow tube) as a base and MEK as a suspention/liquifier.. I actually had much better results long term with my homemade coating than I ever saw out of Kreme Coat.. Then I discovered Red Kote ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/Red-Kote-Quart-Coat-Gas-Oil-Diesel-Fuel-Tank-Sealer-Liner-Patch-Hit-Miss-Engine/131533413846?hash=item1ea0009dd6:g:mb4AAMXQ1PNRauxA ) and WOWZY,, my tank restoration/repair process was changed for ever.. This is some SERIOUS stuff that I have used very successfully for many years!! Because I never did have access to the Zinc process that large manufacturers use to protect the inside of the new tanks found on all modern steel tank bikes (what happens when a bike tank rusts from sitting is the inside of the tank that is coated with Zink looses it zink, this is why after you acid a tank out to prep it it rusts again very quickly - IMHO of course) I always strove to get the tanks as rust free as possible for adhesion of the coating.. I discovered that this was not necessary with Red Kote.. A simple handful of bolts in the tank, shake it some to knock off the stalagtites,, a quick rinse with vinager and rinse with water, dry with heat gun,, apply the Red Kote and its done.. Complete job in just a couple hours. ANother extremely valuable thing about Red Kote is that it actually makes a tank within the tank and this is HUGE.. NO more patching/welding needed as the coating fills the holes/leaks so you can keep the OEM paint job intact.. I now have bikes out there that I built/restored using Red Kote with +25 years on them and still going strong!! Thats all I know about that Unc!

Puc

[zagger]

Then I discovered Red Kote ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/Red-Kote-Qu...4AAMXQ1PNRauxA ) and WOWZY,, my tank restoration/repair process was changed for ever.. This is some SERIOUS stuff that I have used very successfully for many years!!

 

I also used Red-Kote to line the inside of my gas tanks. My Honda Sabre 1100 has two extra tanks that I made to extend the range on long trips and both needed Red-Kote to protect the bare metal inside of the tanks. It is good stuff but a little thick coming straight from the can. I diluted it a somewhat with a solvent (the can says to use methyl ethyl ketone(MEK) or acetone) so that it would flow easily into all of the small, tight areas. Then I let it vent for awhile to let it set up solidly. I did this about 10 years ago and everything is still good.

zag

[bpate4home]

Dang, you sucked me in. I thought we were going to Krispy Kreme for a meet and greet.

 

I was right there with ya brother.

[uncledj]

A simple handful of bolts in the tank, shake it some to knock off the stalagtites,, a quick rinse with vinager and rinse with water,

 

 

I did the nuts and bolts thing....shakie, shakie, shakie.....plugged the outlet and put 4 gallons of white vinegar in it and now I'll give it a week, then off to the paint shop.

I really didn't get anything more than dust out of it. No rust flakes or chunks. It really isn't bad at all.

[vzuden]

After the vinegar and resulting drying, I like dump in a little 2 stroke mixed fuel and slosh it around. The oil helps keep that bare metal from flash rusting

[tufftom4]

Years ago I had a V45 Sabre that had rust in the tank and way before the internet I read an article that said you could go to the store buy some bb's put them in with acetone close all the openings and shake it to clean it and sure as heck it worked and I never creamed it.