POR 15 on a new South African extend fuel tank ?

[maco70]

Hi,

I will receive soon my new South African extend fuel tank, which come with no paint on it.

Does somebody can tell me, please, if it could be a good idea to paint it with POR 15, to protect it for a while, even there is no yet rust on it?

... or any other product to suggest as a strong paint to protect it?

Many thanks in advance,
_________________
Martin from Montréal

1986 Vanagon GL full camper westfalia
(brown/tan interior)

[Red Beard]

Could you have it powder coated, since it is presumably nice new metal without any rust?

In my area, you could get something like that powdercoated with a nice thick industrial coat for $150.

[Farfrumwork]

I've been using Chassis Saver (satin finish) on my refurbished suspension components. It is thin enough to be easy to use and cures rock hard.

You can paint over new or seasoned/rusted metal (no aluminum - not sure what material your tank is). I bet PO15 is similar (only ferrous metals).

For my rusty parts - I had them sandblasted and then I painted them. Excellent results.

For new metal they recommend blasting or sanding to rough up the surface for better bonding.


1qt = $38 (way more than you even need for 1 piece)


PC would eb good too - butmore $$ (again, probably your best bet if the tank is Al)
_________________
sold -> '85 Wolfsburg Syncro / 'Built' DOHC EJ25 (a great machine!)
'07 Legacy spec.B, road tuned stgII
'17 4x4 Sprinter, stone grey, SMB pop-top, on 33"s

"Blood stains, speed kills - Fast cars, cheap thrills - Rich girls, fine wine - I've lost my sense, I've lost control, I've lost my mind"

[maco70]

thanks Guys!
Already good feedbaks.
_________________
Martin from Montréal

1986 Vanagon GL full camper westfalia
(brown/tan interior)

[Timwhy]

Martin when I got my new BD gas tank. I primed, painted and undercoated both sides several
times before I installed it. POR15 is great stuff but it is also expensive. The top of the gas tank seems to be
the place for some added protection.

Going on four years later the tank from ubderneath still looks great!
_________________
'15 Audi A3 Quattro
'09 VW Tiguan (dead)
'87 VW Westy
'91 Tin Top
'90 Cabby
What the Westy wants the Westy GETS


http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php?search_author=Timwhy&show_results=summary

http://www.youtube.com/user/TIMWHY2?feature=mhee

[Terry Kay]

The best possible rust solution for fuel tanks is laying a heavy coat of Bedliner on them.

It's urethane, it tough, it'll last a long time under the Van.
_________________
T.K.

[randywebb]

any rubber or plastic inside that will be harmed by the baking for powder coating?
_________________
1986 2.1L Westy 2wd Auto Trans.

[joseph928]

[Terry Kay]

The key word here is "Urethane"

It's impervious to gasoline.

You can make your own selection of where it's coming from, but the duplicolor will melt right out from under the gas.
So will POR-15.
So will Chassis Saver, Chassis Black,Chassis New, Chassis Renewer, The Bullet whatever.

All that stuff is, is cyano / acrylic hardened thick black enamel.

FYI;
Morton's spray can stuff is Urethane.
Gas won't melt it.
_________________
T.K.

[BillM]

What ever coating you use make sure that you pay attention
to where the metal tubes run across the top. Dirt likes to
get trapped in between the metal pipe and tank which then
holds moisture causing it to rust.
I wouldn't bother using Por15 to coat the tank. That stuff is really
over rated and over priced for what you get.
_________________
Bill M
87 Westy

[Farfrumwork]

I wouldn't coat a tank either, but I live in a rust free zone. My original tank on my '85, which has been a CO vehicle its whole life, looks much like new - inside and out.
_________________
sold -> '85 Wolfsburg Syncro / 'Built' DOHC EJ25 (a great machine!)
'07 Legacy spec.B, road tuned stgII
'17 4x4 Sprinter, stone grey, SMB pop-top, on 33"s

"Blood stains, speed kills - Fast cars, cheap thrills - Rich girls, fine wine - I've lost my sense, I've lost control, I've lost my mind"

[Phishman068]

Wurth Rust Guard trumps POR15. It has a built in etcher/converter and dries crazy hard. I have used it on pieces on my winter bus and found no rust through. I painted a fuel tank with it a few years ago, and it's still glorious looking.
_________________
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=559766&highlight=winter+rust
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482402&highlight=sunroof+syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=569774
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6864936#6864936

"Along with the ability to go fast, one looses the desire to hurry."

[Terry Kay]

The trick here is not to have a hard as nails finish on the tank--other than having it re-zinc, zinc chromate, or zinc nickeled.

The hard as a rock, self applicated stuff won't take a hard wack, moisture, or condensation as good as the Bedliner which is plyable and will stop a good hit from anything---and it will prevent rusting in from the outside.

This is one of the good reasons a tank rusts--the zinc gets wacked a couple of times the water attacks the exposed area's, the seam gets wet & holds moisture in it and it rusts.
Same with the frame paint & rust converters.

Stop the hits, stop the H2O and your in the ballpark, and will have a long lasting tank.

It would have to rust from the inside out--

Powder coating is a good idea, but it's way too brittle.
_________________
T.K.

[Wellington]

Martin, who still sells SA gas tanks?

[Downtown Brown]

[ShootingFish]

[maco70]

I bought the last SA extend fuel tank from Peter at Van-Cafe.

He said that he will maybe have others, not sure.

Maybe you could ask to Peter, so he will see that there is a demand for it !

About the paint, following the suggestions, i believe that i will go with the Urethane. Many thanks.
_________________
Martin from Montréal

1986 Vanagon GL full camper westfalia
(brown/tan interior)

[JPrato]

Powder coat is some times not the best stuff to use where corrosion is a concern. Oh sure nothing is going to get through a proper thickness of the coating itself but any sharp corner or edge does not get the full thickness of the coating. It is due to the electrostatic process, electric fields and sharp corners. It is easy for the sharp edge to get a nick during installation or use. As powder coating is applied over bare metal, rust will start and slowly creep under the powder coat until one day a whole chunk of the power coating will fall off leaving a very nicely corroded surface underneath.

There are fair amount of powder coated pieces on cars now a days. Here in the rust belt you will see rust spots all over on painted parts where as the powder coated parts look great, except for the large chunks that fell off and the rusted sections underneath.

In drier climates where stuff hardly rusts anyway I don't think it would be a concern.
_________________
Joe

87 Syncro Tin Top project
84 Westy, 2.5L Subaru power
06 Subaru 2.5 turbo in waiting
46 Cessna 140

[nemobuscaptain]