A65 tank

[MITCHELL]

Hi,  I've kindly  been given a tank for my a65 rebuild which on first glance appeared to be in much better condition than my original,today I took off the badges and rubbers and had a good look at it. It looks to me as though it was originally painted red and has been chromed there's some surface dust  a possible brazeing repair and a sealer coated to the inside. There's one small dent which will require attention. The questions are, which is the correct order to carry out the repairs? Would it be better to buy a new tank instead? How difficult are the repairs should I go down that route. Any advice would be very welcome. Dave.

[chaz]

first problem, is the paint covering any damage?
secondly, the internal coating, probably not ethanol proof so may in time peel and block fuel supply.

so, need to strip out the internal coating and re do with new. due to the heat involved curing the product, best to do before painting as can bubble the paint, dont ask me how I know!!

really depends on how solid the tank is, rechroming will be expensive, but might last longer than the newer Indian ones. Some people are happy with the new ones, all I can say is in my experience its ot as thick as UK plate.

the paint isnt as much as a problem.

[Spaceman]

As indicated previously, chrome plating tanks is very expensive (£250+) which is why a new Indian tank could be cost effective if this is the look you are going for.

If you were going to restore the tank, the starting point has to be to remove the internal sealant and see what the metal is like underneath. I may be wrong but, from what I can see, this looks like a tank that has been given a coating of sealant without getting rid of the rust first which would not be good news. In principle, you can restore most tanks provided the internal rusting is not too deep and pin holes have not started to form.

[AdrianS]

First job as said is to strip the tank inside and out. You can then assess the condition of the whole structure. Probably need to get the tank acid dipped to achieve this.
Dents can be repaired next, some may require an access hole cutting in the base and later welded.
Re chroming is not really an option if you have had to knock out dents and use a smear of filler before paint. It is not cost effective to rechrome a repaired tank especially for a common model like an A65.

[Spaceman]

The chrome panels on my A65 tank had dings in it but these were easily removed to produce a perfect chrome finish although this added £50 to cost if I remember correctly.

[Mike Farmer]

 

I've got a couple of Indian tanks. They are OK, probably not as good as the original but better that repair and chances of pinholes etc.

If you go for an Indian tank it may be a good idea to buy paint of the same colour from the dealer cos you are unlikely to match it for your panels. I did just that with no problem, I think it cost an extra £30.

One of my tanks the inside lining was bad after a year or so but the tank itself remained sound

Mike

[johncarter]

I'm currently rehabilitating a structurally solid but cosmetically horrible tank off a plunger a7.  I live in an area where I can get ethanol free petrol so was thinking I'd give the tank a good old clear out with Jenolite or similar but not line it. If the tank is sound and I don't use ethanol based fuel is there a case for a lining?
John

[Spaceman]

Like all bare steel, the tank will rust over time if not treated because there is always moisture in the air. As a matter of course, I always line the inside of my tanks using POR-15 but you have to de-rust them completely first otherwise the rust will lift the sealant over time.

[DAVE BRADY]

Hi,

I would go for the POR-15 liner/sealant and a kit is available from Frost with the rust remover etc. in it.  If you have two tanks then do them at the same time as there is enough sealant and it is wasted otherwise.  I used this on a '51 Flash tank that had developed a very slight weep.  The sealant fixed it and I know that, because it is slightly flexible, it will prevent further weeps in the future.  It is essential that the instructions are followed.
Sealant is not necessary because of the ethanol in fuel unless a fibreglass tank is being used but as Spaceman said, tanks will rust a bit anyway especially when bikes are not used regularly so it is worth doing along the rest of the tank restoration.
Also, if your A7 is an early one with a rigid mounted tank then it is prone to getting slight weeps so again worth doing.

Dave.

[bikerbob]

Going back to the original post, if money is not a problem there are companies that advertise in the classic magazines who restore tanks back to original new condition but they are expensive the last I heard was that to take out dents rechrome and repaint you are looking at a cost in excess of £500 depending on amount of work required. I mtself on my A65 have an Indian made tank fitted but it did not come without problems nothing major but did require some work. The center hle for fiting the tank was slightly out of position so I had to realigm the chrome strips the hole itself was too tight afit so had to be ground slightly bigger  . The holes for fixing the knee grips were in the wrong position so I had to modify them tofit. The petrol tap bosses were in the wrong position they were in the position for twin carb models not my single carb model so had to make new petrol pipes to suit. I also had to respray the tank as I could not get one the correct colour, but the tank has been on the bike now for about 3 years with no other problems. I di seal it with POR15 which I can recommend.

[idie]

I have been so lucky then, all my Indian tanks have been ok. The only thing that I have had to do was clear the threads where the petrol taps go.

[Spaceman]

The other thing you need to take into account getting a tank professionally restored is that the £500 will almost certainly not include de-rusting the inside of the tank and sealing it! 

[MITCHELL]

Thanks everyone, the surface rust doesn't look to bad, not the sort that would be causing pin holes I'd have thought. If I could get the dent sorted I could live with the chrome and the paintwork is going to be black so no matching problems so it looks like get the dent sorted first then derust and seal then paint,thanks all for your input, anyone know a dent removed in the Birmingham/ Midlands area? Cheers. Dave.

[Mike Farmer]

 

Best way I've found to derust it----Put it in a tank of a water/soda mixture and use a battery charger to braek it all down and float the C--p out.

Some pics here somewhere in the archive of my tank being done a few years back.

Mike

[chaz]

Dave
there is a system of dent pulling that may work. I used to have a unit next to a guy who did paintwork on parts some of which were dented.
basically, a plastic stick is mented onto the dent and a specialpuller goes on and you pull the dent out bit by bit using a few more sticks. the melted plastic pulls off with no mark. a similar system uses metal welded pins, but these have to be ground off so would ruin the chrome. he had a professional kit, here is a budget one.

https://www.vevor.co.uk/dent-repair-kit-c_10316/60-car-body-paintless-dent-removal-tools-dent-puller-lifter-bridge-kits-bag-p_010645208037?gclid=Cj0KCQiAmpyRBhC-ARIsABs2EApvljs38rQ_ZFfIxZvbydeJqI4WzAgDNKxwDT8fzdciTeXdLb1SCjMaAituEALw_wcB