Prep to fit new fuel tank

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vasimone

vasimone

Active Member
Posts
197
Location
Accra, Ghana, West Africa
Hi All,

Finally I got the new fuel tank shipped to Ghana :) this weekend I will fit it.

Any recommendations on the prep to fit it with respect to:

1- washing the inside of it before putting in the diesel
2- whether to paint it over the standard black paint that it comes from Bearmach
3- what to put between the tank and the stone-guard to avoid having mud and water getting stuck in the middle potentially creating rust
4-anything else you think it's worth doing

Thanks a lot,

Simone
 
vasimone said:
Hi All,

Finally I got the new fuel tank shipped to Ghana :) this weekend I will fit it.

Any recommendations on the prep to fit it with respect to:

1- washing the inside of it before putting in the diesel
2- whether to paint it over the standard black paint that it comes from Bearmach
3- what to put between the tank and the stone-guard to avoid having mud and water getting stuck in the middle potentially creating rust
4-anything else you think it's worth doing

Thanks a lot,

Simone
Click to expand...

Where the cradle (stone guard) sits around the actual tank, if you look between the metal, can you see if it is painted? Mine was not, it was bare metal! I sealed mine up leaving a small hole, then I filled it with Dinitrol with the Schutz gun with the applicator pipe. If you don't deal with this somehow you will be replacing it in a couple of years.

Use a PU sealant to seal between the metal so you can then over paint the lot - give it a rubdown first as the paint they use is not actually usually very well adhered to the metal. I also fulled encapsulated mine in fibreglass, so really I have a fibreglass tank with a internal metal skin!

Unless it is full of rubbish I would not worry about washing it out.
 
Thanks so much @discomania for your suggestions!

The tank and cradle came separate - the cradle will be fixed to the tank with 4 screws - but when you do that there is a little gap between the two. What is Dinitrol as I will have to look for an alternative here in Ghana for it? With it I just seal the open ends or you think is best to cover the entire bottom of the tank and then place on top the cradle?

What paint you reccomend that I use to paint it up? It's painted now but it's already chipping off.

How did you create the fibergladd around it? The purpose of that is just to keep the dirt out i assume?
 
vasimone said:
Thanks so much @discomania for your suggestions!

The tank and cradle came separate - the cradle will be fixed to the tank with 4 screws - but when you do that there is a little gap between the two. What is Dinitrol as I will have to look for an alternative here in Ghana for it? With it I just seal the open ends or you think is best to cover the entire bottom of the tank and then place on top the cradle?

What paint you reccomend that I use to paint it up? It's painted now but it's already chipping off.

How did you create the fibergladd around it? The purpose of that is just to keep the dirt out i assume?
Click to expand...

The Dinitrol I used was the cavity protection stuff, it's very thin like diesel so it runs into all the small gaps and crevices. You could possibly find under-seal like Waxoyle or something.

The paint I used was a black epoxy spray paint - any black automotive or metal paint would be good, or even better stone chip then paint. I didn't use stone chip as I coated the whole lot in Fibreglass.

The idea behind the Fibreglass was to create a complete shell all the way around the metal to prevent water getting anywhere near it, I made it pretty thick so to be honest the tank is really almost a fibreglass fuel tank now - this was probably excessive.

I think before you fit the cradle if you lightly sand the whole tank and paint it with paint or ideally stone chip, let it cure for a couple of days, I assume it will be pretty warm there so it should set nicely, then put a big bead of polyurethane sealant all the way around the cradle and seal it to the tank then it down. Make sure there is no where water can get in as water could then obviously get trapped. You can smooth the PU sealant down smooth then let it set.

Once set it the tank and the PU a top up of good paint or stone chip, if using stone chip I would paint over it too - you really want to make the tank bombproof if it is to last well.
 
vasimone said:
Cool - when you mean stone chip what do you actually mean? is a paint like that one: http://www.halfords.com/motoring/pa...torers/hammerite-stonechip-shield-black-600ml
Click to expand...

Yeah, it is a flexible polyurethane paint that goes on quite thick (compared to normal paint), the idea being a stone hits it and it will bounce off the sort coating rather than a hard paint. You can over paint it too (well all the ones I know) so everything looks the same. If you take a little time to prep, seal and paint this tank you should get many many years service from it.
 
To summarize what I should do in order is

1. Sand paper
2. Paint tank and cradle with stone chip paint
3. Paint tank and cradle black with epoxy spray paint
4. Apply under-body seal between tank and cradle
5. Apply polyurethane seam sealant all around cradle to close all cavities to the tank
Correct?

In terms of products, here in Ghana, there is little to nothing so I will buy these products in UK and ship out.
I found these online, can you tell me if they fit what’s required or suggest the link of what’s best?
Thanks a lot @discomania
Simone
 
Last edited:
I made some pics of the tank and cradle so you see how they are and the gap between the two.

WP_20170601_19_24_01_Pro.jpg



WP_20170601_19_23_52_Pro.jpg

Rather than Dinitrol or Waxoyl what do you think of the METALMORPHOSIS:

http://www.landroverblogger.com/land-rover-monthly-5-star-rating

Would appreciate if someone could confirm the steps i mentioned before and the materials suggested to be used :)
 
vasimone said:
To summarize what I should do in order is

1. Sand paper
2. Paint tank and cradle with stone chip paint
3. Paint tank and cradle black with epoxy spray paint
4. Apply under-body seal between tank and cradle
5. Apply polyurethane seam sealant all around cradle to close all cavities to the tank
Correct?

In terms of products, here in Ghana, there is little to nothing so I will buy these products in UK and ship out.
I found these online, can you tell me if they fit what’s required or suggest the link of what’s best?
Thanks a lot @discomania
Simone
Click to expand...

1. Yes lightly sand it, try and get some marks back into bare metal so the new paint will adhere to the metal - if you REALLY wanted to, I would take a sander to it and strip it bare, but that is over the top - but I do over the top.
2. I may suggest going for a decent primer or etch primer first, unless the stone chip you have found specifically says it can go direct onto bear metal - then stone chip.
3. Yes - this just really need to be a top coat to seal everything in - 1 decent coat or many if you like.
4. This stage needs to be reconsidered, because the PU seam seal wont stick to the under-body waxy stuff. If you can treat the two parts independently, so paint the tank all over, then paint the cradle all over, lots of good well applied coats of stone chip and paint, then you could just build the tank up and seal the 2 bits together - then give the whole lot a final coat of paint once the PU has set.

This is probably a better sealant: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PU-Seam-S...305230?hash=item1a05d9bc0e:g:yjUAAOSwDFNWE6gD

The Hammerite stuff is fine - but I don't think you need it if you do lots of good stone chip and paint.
 
Great thanks @discomania ! Much clearer now!
Finally, after a lot of research in Ghana I have found some products
teroson.PNG

So in your last recommendation basically you say to use the sealant only around the cradle-tank gap (as you can see in the picture) which goes all around tank + around the fuel-drain bolt ? so there will be in the middle a space of air between the cradle and the tank - is my understanding correct? Would the air here become hot or very humid and lead to other problems?

A pleasure learning from you all, thanks so much!
 
I would be a little nervous about trying to get a seal between the tank and the guard. If it was me I would make sure there was plenty of good quality paint on the two and give it a regular hosing down to get the crud out.
 
vasimone said:
Great thanks @discomania ! Much clearer now!
Finally, after a lot of research in Ghana I have found some products
View attachment 125612
So in your last recommendation basically you say to use the sealant only around the cradle-tank gap (as you can see in the picture) which goes all around tank + around the fuel-drain bolt ? so there will be in the middle a space of air between the cradle and the tank - is my understanding correct? Would the air here become hot or very humid and lead to other problems?

A pleasure learning from you all, thanks so much!
Click to expand...

The Underbody Seal looks good, the Gravitex is perfect stuff, I would etch prime or prime the tank first before applying this.

So to summarise:

Sand whole tank + cradle.
Etch prime or prime - 2 coats I would give it, let it dry for 24 hours.
Lightly sand the primer, min 220grit or above, I tend to use about 400grit but it depends on how much it cuts into the primer, you only want to key it to get best adhesion in your care, not a high quality smooth finish.
Get your Gravitex and paint the tank (I would keep away from areas such as the sender openings etc - the gravitex could mess up your seal) and the cradle.
Let that set - technically at this point the whole tank is protected perfectly.
I would paint the tank and the cradle with your black paint at this point - however, if you are going to seal it, I would put a big wide bead of your PU sealant all the way around the cradle and seal and attach it to the tank - if you PU seal it well enough nothing will ever get in there, the PU sealant is used in the marine industry for tanks and sealing against pools of salt water and all sorts.
Once assembled like that, let it all set then give it a final coat of your black paint.
I would personally not use the underbody seal anymore. I would just do the above, but for total belts and braces you could then paint the underseal onto the bottom of the tank to give it an even heavier coating but I really think that would not be needed.

As for your black paint, I don't really know what you have out there, could you buy a litre of UPOL, Lechler, DuPont etc. back satin 2 pack or something - are you happy to use 2K paint? If not get a good quality 1pack paint from an automotive paint place and just them you need a decent paint to go over your gravitex.
 
@discomania you are fantastic! Thanks a lot!

All clear and understood. I will leave out the underbody seal then - what's the purpose of this material normally?

I am not clear what you mean by 'for total belts and braces you could then paint the underseal onto the bottom of the tank to give it an even heavier coating but I really think that would not be needed.' --> what are the belts and braces?

So the black paint is just a normal paint that is normally used to paint cars? If there are no specific characteristics it needs to have then I'll find one for sure.

Last question: how do you suggest to dry it since whatever way i turn it there will be a side that will touch the floor and the paint won't dry well...

I owe you a gallon of beer!!
 
vasimone said:
@discomania you are fantastic! Thanks a lot!

All clear and understood. I will leave out the underbody seal then - what's the purpose of this material normally?

I am not clear what you mean by 'for total belts and braces you could then paint the underseal onto the bottom of the tank to give it an even heavier coating but I really think that would not be needed.' --> what are the belts and braces?

So the black paint is just a normal paint that is normally used to paint cars? If there are no specific characteristics it needs to have then I'll find one for sure.

Last question: how do you suggest to dry it since whatever way i turn it there will be a side that will touch the floor and the paint won't dry well...

I owe you a gallon of beer!!
Click to expand...

'Belt's and Braces' is phrase to mean double security - so if you wore a belt and braces there would be no chance your trousers would fall down. So in this context the underseal would be probably over the top because you have already Gravitexed and painted the tank so underseal really is not needed now.

Underseal tends to be for painting on the chassis rails, anything in the under-body area of cars etc. it is not a factory product, it is aftermarket, easy to put on, will stick to anything really and can be applied by brush or spray gun. It's a good product but it is not as good as actually cleaning the metal up, painting it with stone chip (Gravitex or similar) then painting it which is what car manufacturers do and it works pretty damn well. Because it will go onto anything and even sticks to oily metal it is very popular.

To properly paint the whole underside of a car with the proper stuff would be a nightmare and all the surfaces need to be prepped properly or it may not adhere properly - so it would be a waste of time.

For your paint are you going to brush or spray?

For the tank and cradle suspend it from something, put a piece of wood between two chairs or ladders or something so the parts are hanging like they do in paint shops:
1-powdercoat-application.jpg
 
Thanks so much @discomania ! today I went in town to get all that was needed and found almost everything!

Got the gravitex and also a spray shop who has the specific gravitex gun to apply the orange peel look!
For the rest I have 4 questions:

1-Found also a PU sealant (took me 2 hours in the market!): is this one --> http://new.adb.co.th/index.php/en/products/sealant/item/43-adb-pu-sealant/43-adb-pu-sealant --> it's a brand from thailand....hopefully is good - shall I go for it or rather buy the one you suggested and have it shipped here?

2-With respect to the primer the shop suggested to go for the wash primer because they say the tank is already treated and painted from factory -
http://www.colorbank.mv/store/item/8722500172569/
you think that's appropriare or shall i stick to the Etch prime/prime as you suggested?

3-With respect to the paint, I found one with is zinc-rich normally used for painting external steel beams on buildings and also for covering welding repairs to machinery, the finish looks like galvanising once dried... is that good or should I stick to a normal 2k black paint?

4- Last question in relation to your recommendation to use Gravitex, then put the PU sealant all the way around the cradle and seal and attach it to the tank then paint: To attach the cradle to the tank i need to put bolts, but if i put the PU sealant and paint, then when I have to fix it to the chassis I will have to remove the bolts and this might lead the seal to crack? what are your thoughts?

Thanks so much!

Simone
 
vasimone said:
Thanks so much @discomania ! today I went in town to get all that was needed and found almost everything!

Got the gravitex and also a spray shop who has the specific gravitex gun to apply the orange peel look!
For the rest I have 4 questions:

1-Found also a PU sealant (took me 2 hours in the market!): is this one --> http://new.adb.co.th/index.php/en/products/sealant/item/43-adb-pu-sealant/43-adb-pu-sealant --> it's a brand from thailand....hopefully is good - shall I go for it or rather buy the one you suggested and have it shipped here?

2-With respect to the primer the shop suggested to go for the wash primer because they say the tank is already treated and painted from factory -
http://www.colorbank.mv/store/item/8722500172569/
you think that's appropriare or shall i stick to the Etch prime/prime as you suggested?

3-With respect to the paint, I found one with is zinc-rich normally used for painting external steel beams on buildings and also for covering welding repairs to machinery, the finish looks like galvanising once dried... is that good or should I stick to a normal 2k black paint?

4- Last question in relation to your recommendation to use Gravitex, then put the PU sealant all the way around the cradle and seal and attach it to the tank then paint: To attach the cradle to the tank i need to put bolts, but if i put the PU sealant and paint, then when I have to fix it to the chassis I will have to remove the bolts and this might lead the seal to crack? what are your thoughts?

Thanks so much!

Simone
Click to expand...

Hi Simone glad you found the bits.

1. That PU will be fine - you are painting over it too so it gets an extra protective layer.
2. You are going to sand the tank down a bit and key it down to the metal - I would still etch it, you want a chemical bite into the tank - you are not just going over the original paint.
3. That paint is fine, you could always use any standard black metal paint over the top of it if you want it to be black - but otherwise fine.
4. The PU won't crack, it's pretty serious adhesive and has a slight flex to it anyway.

We hope you will post lots of photos!
 
sure, plenty of pics - I will document every step along the way, so this shall be useful for whoever comes next :)

So to close off the bit on the prime, since I will sand-paper until most of the original black paint is gone (which Gr sand paper you recommend) is best if I find a proper Etch Prime (which I understand comes in 2 bits - prime and another component to be mixed onto it) rather than using the wash prime the car-sprayer recommended.

Once you confirm I will proceed :)
 
vasimone said:
sure, plenty of pics - I will document every step along the way, so this shall be useful for whoever comes next :)

So to close off the bit on the prime, since I will sand-paper until most of the original black paint is gone (which Gr sand paper you recommend) is best if I find a proper Etch Prime (which I understand comes in 2 bits - prime and another component to be mixed onto it) rather than using the wash prime the car-sprayer recommended.

Once you confirm I will proceed :)
Click to expand...

To be honest for all you will need UPOL Acid #8 would be fine. I use Upoxy Super Etch - but I do a lot of painting and spray stuff a lot so I just buy in litres of the stuff.
 
Thanks, I can't find UPOL Acid #8 here but anyway you reccomend to use a Etch Primer rather than the wash primer - is my understanding correct?

What Gr size of sand paper would you use to take away the original paint from the fuel tank?

I am looking forward to starting with this job :)
 
vasimone said:
Thanks, I can't find UPOL Acid #8 here but anyway you reccomend to use a Etch Primer rather than the wash primer - is my understanding correct?

What Gr size of sand paper would you use to take away the original paint from the fuel tank?

I am looking forward to starting with this job :)
Click to expand...

Yeah just a decent branch of etch will work

You're just wanting to scuff up the old paint, you don't need to remove it all, scratch marks into the metal is good as that means the etch can bite into it well. 120 or 240 grit would be fine, whatever you have really.
 
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