Don't let this happen to you!!!

[Traakon]

Well, it appears you live and learn.

The new paint on the wife's Fatboy was awesome. (you can see the pics in the "Fatboy" section) The bike went back together well and the initial tests showed nothing to worry about. Then I pulled the two lower screws on the tank cover to add a new tank bib she bought. Retorqued the screws and we went away on a weeks vacation. On arriving home, the wife said "Honey, the garage smells like gas"... with multiple projects sitting in there in one stage of completion or another it generally does a little bit. On checking, I looked at her bike and missed it at first nut then touched the tank bib and it was "wet". Bad sign. On further inspection I noted some bubbling at the edged of the bib.

Well, long/short, here is what a small leak can do when left for a week to soak into a leather bib.



Headed back to the painter today and see what my mistake is going to cost to redo.

Lesson:
Double, triple and quadruple check and don't go away for a week after a fresh rebuild.

Oh, and I broke the regulator housing when pulling things apart again so the second lesson...don't let stress cloud your disassembly finesse.

[rickr01]

Awe Man I feel bad for you just looking at that. I feel your pain. Sorry that happened. Do you think it had to do with loosening the screws to put the bib on? To prevent that from happening when you put it together the next time, purchase a can of Gasgacinch. I buy it through my J&P Cycle Catalog. You put a very thin layer of Gasgacinch on the gasket and on the tank and let it set up then assemble normally. It wouldn't leak even if you took all the screws out and yet it comes off easily when the time comes to disassemble again years down the road. Great stuff. Good luck and again, I'm sorry that happened. Looks like a real nice paint job.

[alex_bwls]

if the painter did not use a product like KREEM to prevent this form happening, it very well could be his fault. Every time a tank is painted this must be used, as fumes will cause bubbling. But from the looks, it does look like a personal mistake. Sorry, and best of luck. Just a thought for you to ask the painter @.

[claydbal]

soft paint for sure. good post , you may save lots of others the same grief. so the fuel weeped past the gasket, or did it come from the overflow tube and the hose wasnt connected well? hopefully the painter will hook ya up. good luck.

[kustom_flames]

Whoa - that is NOT, no way the painter's fault!

I actually just bought a tank off ebay from a dealer, and that same area was completely lifting on an HD CUSTOM PAINTED tank - turns out they forgot to put the gasket on and it leaked. Clearcoat is not impervious to gasoline, and if there is the tiniest pinhole and gas gets in there it will wreek havock on the paint...

[Traakon]

Rickr01 - Thanks for the suggestion, I will look into that.

Kustom Flames - you are right. (from your posts I have read, you either know or know of the painter)

As for it being "My Mistake" I admit that because I did not follow my instinct and use a sealant when I reassembled it as I would have with any other project. Bikes are new to me, classic cars and 4wd are my norm and everything gets sealed. In this case, I followed the "manual" and while it stated to replace the screws and gasket, nothing about sealant. I figured Harley wouldn't miss a chance to sell a 3oz tube of sealant for 50 bucks if it were part of the process.

Now the manual is propping up a leg of my work bench.

As for the painter (They paint for Harley and Indian factories which is why the wife chose them over the others we interviewed) not his fault except for perhaps not mentioning or reminding me to seal it. He was really sympathetic when he saw it and was kicking himself for not at least making a passing comment about using sealant on the gasket, especially where the seam is. He was going to have the guys get right on re painting it and back to us in a week or less.

As for the cause, we spent some time looking at the tank carefully and the impression in the gasket and found that where there is a ridge in the flange at the bottom, where the two halves are welded together, there was a gap that the gasket alone could never seal. It seeped there ever so slightly; with the full tank and with the leather bib there to suck it up it just held the fuel right in that path on and then under the soft, new paint.

I checked the tank that came off the bike and this seam ridge is there but it had been smoothed much more than the factory fresh tank we had painted. Perhaps the tank I bought was a factory blem (would explain getting a boxed factory tank for 50.00 bucks) but we will never know.

In the end, if this will help someone else keep this from happening, price paid.

Remember, when in doubt, use sealant!!!!!!!!!

[rickr01]

Originally Posted by kustom_flames

Whoa - that is NOT, no way the painter's fault!

I actually just bought a tank off ebay from a dealer, and that same area was completely lifting on an HD CUSTOM PAINTED tank - turns out they forgot to put the gasket on and it leaked. Clearcoat is not impervious to gasoline, and if there is the tiniest pinhole and gas gets in there it will wreek havock on the paint...

Thats why I removed my tanks sending unit and gauge too many problems with leaking . I was so careful when I made the new gasket for the plate that covers the hole where my gas sending unit was. I custom made the gasket out of a sheet of automobile gasket material imprevious to gasoline, then coated the gasket and sealing point with Gasgacinch contact gasket sealer. The next day I sealed all of the screws on top and ran a bead of gas and fume proof sealer around the edge of the plate as well for good measure....Nothing getting out of there! Thats pretty heartbreaking to see new paint trashed before you have time to enjoy it...Again, I'm sorry it happened to you.

[kustom_flames]

Wait the tank seem in the middle was smoothed? Like it was shaved down or filled over with bondo? I never, ever touch that seam, and never grind down any seams or welds. If the customer wants to forego the tank bib, then I have smoothed out with filler, but that seam should not have been grinded down. When you bought the tank was it in paint or primer? Sounds like it might be a defect...and now you had to learn the hard way...not even your fault it sounds like....

[Traakon]

The tank was a new. factory painted, tank in a puke raspberry/peach combination and new in the factory P/N box. The seam was not touched and I think that may have been the issue. The seam in question is at the point indicated by the arrow in the attached pic. There is almost a 1/16 ridge where one half meets the other right at that point under the tank panel and with the flatness of the gasket and the screws being equally spaced either side of that point, there was no way to compress the gasket enough to seal that difference in height. A small leak and the leather of the bib acting as a wick over a weeks time and whala...what you see in the pic

I checked the tank that was on the bike and that spot is nearly level which would make for an easy seal. It was just bad luck and a missed oppertunity to correct a problem before I put it all back together. I am sure that if I had used sealant, or lightly smoothed out that ridge, it would have filled the gap and been fine. I never thought to compare the old tank to the new one and look for factory blems. Again, lesson learned.

We bought the new tank because the bike has/had the glacier pearl anniversary paint and wanted to save the original tank/tins for later use or future sale as a set.

[kustom_flames]

That totally sucks about the tank. PM me the painter name...I'll tell ya if I know him.

[Traakon]

Yea, but you live and learn and hopefully someone else will read this and take heed.

The things you learn the hard way are the things you never forget.

Learned:
-Sealant is your friend
-Manuals don't tell the whole story (Harley manuals at least)
-Just because it is factory fresh does not mean it is install ready.
-Curb your excitement enough to remember the above.

[rickr01]

You know, you may have just saved me to. I recently pulled a troublesome gas gauge and sending unit out of my tank, which is sealed like yours, but on a Dyna, and replaced the sender with a solid plate. No more gauge. Although I'm sure that won't leak, I changed my gas cap while at it to a 1996 black powder coated cap instead of a 98 chrome cap. Since it screwed down ok I felt it was good. After viewing your situation, I went home and thoroughly checked my cap and found if I shook the bike back and forth the cap leaked and would have leaked under the dash where I couldn't see it....so long story short thanks! The pitch on the threads was different on the 96 cap creating a gap at the bottom area of the filler hole despite the fact that it screwed in. It did not screw in square to the 98 filler. I guess I will just powder coat my old cap this winter. I just hope the little bit of gas that did dribble under the dash when I tested my theory won't damage anything....There is an air gap and nothing holdiing the gas dribble to the tank...should evaporate I think.

[Traakon]

Hey rickr01

Nice catch. It just proves that diligence is required when we make changes to our rides to rule out what would seem to be implausible.

[Traakon]

Picked up the repainted tank today and it is every bit as awesome as before.

JC and the guys at AJs custom motorcycle painting are just as awesome. They actually turned the tank around in 3 days and have been exceedingly kind and understanding with regard to the entire situation.

My thanks to JC and AJ's Custom for a great working relationship.

[kustom_flames]

That's great! Nice to hear good stuff about painters...