Author Topic: Removing resin from inside petrol tank  (Read 743 times)

iansoady

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1663
Removing resin from inside petrol tank
« on: September 30, 2020, 03:42:00 PM »
Some bright spark previous owner has sloshed fibreglass resin around the tank of my mighty Francis-Barnett. It's in big lumps floating about. I've managed to wangle some out through the filler hole but a couple of big chunks won't go through.

Any suggestions as to what might dissolve / soften it?
Ian.
1952 Norton ES2
1986 Honda XBR500
1958(ish) Grumph.....

CrazyFrog

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1398
Re: Removing resin from inside petrol tank
« Reply #1 on: September 30, 2020, 03:51:41 PM »
Ethanol is said to be a solvent for fibreglass resin Ian, but I'm not sure where you could buy it in quantity...
2023 Royal Enfield Meteor 350
2021 Honda CB125F

johnr

  • Regular
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1372
Re: Removing resin from inside petrol tank
« Reply #2 on: September 30, 2020, 06:23:02 PM »
acetone. you can buy it by thee gallon, its essentially thee same stuff as nail polish remover, but its potent stuff, so keep it from your paintwork. but if the previous owner has used a petseal tank liner (petseal is  fibre glass resin based) that isnt capable of coping with ethanol (petseal isnt) the ethanol will cause it to break up and flake off. its a ferkin pain, but all you caqn do is add acetone and leave it to do its job, keep swilling it round to get into the crevises and work its way through. i put a litre at a time in and after a week i tip it out into the garden burner and set it alight, theres no other way to dispose of it, and pop some more in. it will take you a couple of weeks to get rid of it all, but it will do it.

themoudie

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 4645
Re: Removing resin from inside petrol tank
« Reply #3 on: September 30, 2020, 06:43:47 PM »
Agree with John. Laborious, messy and screws up the paintwork, but the acetone will disolve the resin in time. Same with the disposal method and if the neighbours get huffy, do it after dark on a wet night when they are all packing their faces with "Let's Eat" etc! etc! this bit could easily turn into a rant! :-X :-X :-X

The alternative is to make the remains of the swilling an offering for the local bonfire ignition in November! ;) WOOOOMPH! Up she goes, along with a few eyebrows! ;D

Good health, Bill

Moto63

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3816
Re: Removing resin from inside petrol tank
« Reply #4 on: October 01, 2020, 06:54:33 AM »
Same with the disposal method and if the neighbours get huffy, do it after dark on a wet night when they are all packing their faces with "Let's Eat" etc! etc! this bit could easily turn into a rant! :-X :-X :-X

Good health, Bill
Sounds like you may be speaking from experience there Bill?..did make me chuckle tho👍🔥🔥😉

iansoady

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1663
Re: Removing resin from inside petrol tank
« Reply #5 on: October 01, 2020, 10:39:17 AM »
Many thanks all. It seems I can get a litre of acetone for round about a tenner which seems a lot....

As for ethanol I suppose I could chuck the half bottle of Lagavulin I have in but it seems a waste.

I'll try brute force and ignorance for a while. If I can break some of the bits off the large chunk I could probably get it out through the filler hole but my gynaecological skills are somewhat lacking.
Ian.
1952 Norton ES2
1986 Honda XBR500
1958(ish) Grumph.....

themoudie

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 4645
Re: Removing resin from inside petrol tank
« Reply #6 on: October 01, 2020, 11:00:13 AM »
Morning Ian,

Try a visit to your local nail and beauty salon, there must be streets full of them in Brum,  ::)  see if they will sell you a litre or two. Also have a look at Fleabay with the search "Acetone 5l" can be had for ~£4-95 per litre or an industrial chemical supplier.

"As for ethanol I suppose I could chuck the half bottle of Lagavulin I have in but it seems a waste."  :o  Surely not that bad?  I know my palate may be "Odd!", but a touch of the Leapfrog from an adjacent distillery has always been good.  ;D

As for your "gynaecological skills", you know there is a vet'nary in you just wanting to give it a go!  ;D  Mr Herriot!   ;)

Good health, Bill

mthee

  • Posts: 1884
Re: Removing resin from inside petrol tank
« Reply #7 on: October 01, 2020, 11:14:12 AM »
Can I just add Poundland to Bill's list. A quid a litre in pink bottles in the beauty section - if yer man enough...!
Fear of the unknown does not mean the unknown needs to be feared

iansoady

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1663
Re: Removing resin from inside petrol tank
« Reply #8 on: October 01, 2020, 03:25:23 PM »
Brute force and ignorance seems to have done the trick. After a great deal of swearing and juggling I managed to catch the big bits with one of those grabbing tools like this: https://www.ebay.com/c/1379203524 then clamped the mole grips on and used a hacksaw blade to slim it down so it would go through the filler hole. I had to do that with 3 big chunks so sweating a bit now. There's some dust and odd bits left inside but I'm sure I can flush them out.

It does call into question the mentality of somebody who'd try to fix a 2 stroke tank like that given that the inside will have a liberal coating of oil.... And of course it may well now have a leak.

Now where's that pregnant ewe?
Ian.
1952 Norton ES2
1986 Honda XBR500
1958(ish) Grumph.....

themoudie

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 4645
Re: Removing resin from inside petrol tank
« Reply #9 on: October 01, 2020, 11:33:13 PM »
Aye Ian,

Those grabbers are the ram's testicles, I have a slim model and a more robust version! Not sure where my Dad obtained them, but always handy especially if your drop a wee fiddly thing inside an engine bay with an undertray that has those plastic fasteners that are a nightmare to remove!

As for the two stroke oil? DOH!

I pop that Briggs and Stratton fuel saver into the tank and also a 50:1 drop of chainsaw two stroke oil and give it all a good swill around before draining the tank. With SRX tanks, they have to be syphoned due to the untapped panniers either side of the tank below the central tap. Bloody designers! A case of aesthetics ruling over common sense. ::)

I am sure the Lagavulin has restorative powers. ;)

Good health, Bill

iansoady

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1663
Re: Removing resin from inside petrol tank
« Reply #10 on: October 02, 2020, 10:06:27 AM »
Yes, had a wee dram as a nightcap last night which calmed my frazzled nerves somewhat.
Ian.
1952 Norton ES2
1986 Honda XBR500
1958(ish) Grumph.....