Thinking about fixing pinholes in gastank.

[Blarfnugle]

I recently derusted my CB360's gas tank and noticed that there appear to be pinholes in the tank. I've repaired rust spots on other bikes but not a gas tank, here's what I plan to do.

1. Strip all the paint and rust off of the outside of the tank.
2. Pour some 2stroke oil and gasoline into the tank, no more than 2 cups. I do this because I have them on hand but otherwise I'd use some dye, plus the oil helps coat the inside, preventing rusting.
3. Mark where the leaks are with sharpie.
4. Drain the gasoline and wait at least 1 day for the gasoline to drain out.
5. Use my solder gun to heat up the area around the tank that has holes, melt the solder and glue on with pieces of washer.
6. Test to see if there are any leaks still.

Is this a good way to patch a tank? I've done this for metal roofing and cars but never for something like a gas tank and I'd rather not have a fire the first time I try to start the bike.

 

[The Lloyd]

Heating a tank with fuel vapours inside is not advisable, you need flush and clean the tank.

for a quick long lasting fix there is JB Weld tank repair kit that does holes up to 1/4 inch and cracks 4 inches long.

pin holes can also be fixed by lining the tank, but this can go badly if you do not prep the tank properl.

you can detect leaks without striping the paint of the whole tank. Or dripping gas everywhere , If you have acess to an air compressor, after the tank is drained and off the bike leave the cap on, open the petcock or remove, blow air into the tank thru the petcock hole or the petcock itself, you are slightly pressuring the tank, not blowing it up so not a lot of air is needed, then spray the outside of the tank down with soapy water and look for bubbles.

 

[oldjeep]

Make sure you flush tank before using compressed air, static from the air can cause a spark.

 

[oldjeep]

For my tank, I sandblasted it to find all the holes. Then used solder to fill them, then used casswells tank liner.