While "de-rusting" the tanks on my 78 FXE using Metal Rescue (which seemed to work great by the way) I found a small pinhole leak in the RH side tank down by the front mounting bracket. Anybody had any positive or negative experiences with J-B Weld TankWeld or similar products? I am uncovering some products may not stand up to ethanol fuels.

 

I'd imagine that you will be refinishing the tank ... I'd see if you can get someone to braze it ... or stop at by a radiator shop and see what they say ... Most "Magic in a Can" products aren't what they're cracked up to be .. Of course condition of the tank will determine if it can be brazed ... Good Luck

 

Listen to Uncle Larry, radiator shop can pressure test and seal it up. If you have one hole, you may have more, good luck.

 

I have filled a tank with water and brazed a pin hole shut. Problem is if there is one there might be others down the line. The radiator shop sounds like a good idea. Will tank creme do any good?
If a tank s filled with water, flushing with denatured alcohol will displace any water remaining. Or the product Heat. Don't use bourbon.
Someone at Bonneville said "Gasoline's for cleaning parts, alcohol's for drinking, and nitro's for racing." They're nuts out there.

I just came across a gas tank sealer in JP Cycles restore catalog. $40-59. Might be worth a shot.

 

I guess I forget to mention tanks are in good condition, painted and hole is down low near front bracket. with no other leaks detected when filled with liquid - no pressurized. I was HOPING not to have to braze (and find somebody qualified) and repaint tank and trying epoxy based product method as first (and hopefully only) step. I'm heading out to shop to start sanding paint to see what it looks like bare. I'll post a pic.

 

depending exactly where the pin hole is a good brazer could save the outside tank paint and touch up the braze area

 

normally what you have is a stress crack in the fixture between the tank and the mounting bracket - as these old buckets do shake quite a bit - radiator shop is the only option

in the shop we would then seal it with the red coat -((( only ))) did i say only hope so

 

Thanks for the advice brothers. I know pic is huge but wanted to show detail. For orientation breach is it located on lowest inside corner just outboard of mounting flange of rightside tank. I got down to metal with Dremel and stopped when I realized it may be the seam of two pieces. When i probed inside that gap I can pick out some non-metal material which I can't identify.

 

Don`t try to braze it yourself unless you have the skills, especially with the thin tank material. It is too easy to burn a larger hole and make it even more difficult to fix it. Good heat control is imperative.

 

I have an old chunk of what was called gas tank epoxy - it's meant to fix exactly what you have. I might have used it on a car 20-30 years ago, but probably didn't keep it long enough to find out if it held up. Something to consider?