Steel Interstate Tank

N0rt0nelectr@ said:

Deets55 said:

So I am here, wanting to use a discontinued that's not recommended to coat a gas tank with an existing mystery coating inside it that resisted a chemical stripping

Pete

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With so many auto companies going to plastic radiators I haven't found a shop close that can clean mine. Closest is 40 miles away.

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Did't expect that problem. How about a chrome shop? They might have a dunk tank they use to clean parts.
Pete

Hello all. I have not finished my tank or side covers yet as I just started working on them this weekend. I test fit every thing when I received them and am happy with the way they all fit. The filler cap is a little sloppy and will need some work to make it move correctly as it is very lose with the original cap and pin. I have sandblasted the side covers and they are built with very good clean steel. I would like to know if everyone has striped the grey paint off the bottom of the tank. If not how well did the paint/primer bond to it, and were there any issues? I have not done anything with the "red coating" inside the tank but may try to remove it myself or take it to someone and have it removed before I start any work on the tank. I am still debating if I should paint everything myself or have a professional do it. I will do all the prep work and have everything ready for them to spray the final pant if I decide not to do it myself. Also I still haven't decided about painting the pinstripe and logos or just going with vinyl decals. I do know if I go with vinyl I will not be clear coating over them and they will just go on after the paint is complete. I will keep updates on my progress and any problems that may occur. I am happy to see that everyone that purchased one of these tanks are happy with them and I didn't recommend a waste of time and money for everyone. Thanks.

Hello again. I was looking in my garage for my jug of MEK to test on the red coating inside the tank. Of course I couldn't find it so t tried a few other products I had lying around. First I tried regular carb cleaner and it worked a bit with some elbow grease. Then I tried some stuff called "Mopar Combustion Chamber Conditioner" that I purchaced at my local Dodge dealer. I used it to clean my old worn out Amal carbs befor I bought the new premiers. This stuff appeared to remove the red coating with ease. I could feel it braking down the coating and removing it with my finger and a rag as I lightly applied pressure. I have not tried to rince out the tank with it yet but my first impression is that it might work well. I will post some photos of the test that I did.

MSDS for MCC

http://selkirkchryslersafety.weebly.com ... tioner.pdf

I will do all the prep work and have everything ready for them to spray the final pant if I decide not to do it myself.

I had this same idea myself for a project years ago. When I approached the painter, he hated the idea, and told me he could not warranty the work if he hadn't personally seen what I had done. Basically refused to do it unless he could do, or at least oversee, the whole process. Which makes sense.
Might wanna check with the paint person before you put a lot of work into it?

To update my previous comments: The stripper cocktail I put in the tank didn't do much in the few hours I left it in there, so I flushed it out. I left the tank for a week while I had other things I had to do and a week later the corner blobs of red coating had fallen free of the tank. I probably should have left the stripper cocktail in there for a week and it would have worked better....

So anyway, I washed the inside out with acetone a week later and some red flushed out with the cleaning, so I called it good enough. I painted the tank as I detailed in my other response to you in the other thread. I removed the screens on the petcocks and I have clear fuel filters in my fuel lines so I can see if any crud is traveling toward the carbs... and so far there's no sign of any red flakes or crud of any sort... The tank worked out good IMO, but I spent a lot of time messing with it rather than pay money for someone else to mess with it... It's good enough for me...

I just got an Interstate tank from India. On line it looked good but I am fortunate in that I have a genuine Interstate tank for a bike that I'm working on that was supplied by the owner.
Here are some pictures of the two tanks side by side. The Indian tanks sides aren't as rounded and it doesn't come as far forward and the genuine tank.
It was supplied by SK Exports. Very well packed and delivery was very quick. Here are pictures.

N0rt0nelectr@ said:

I just got an Interstate tank from India. On line it looked good but I am fortunate in that I have a genuine Interstate tank for a bike that I'm working on that was supplied by the owner.
Here are some pictures of the two tanks side by side. The Indian tanks sides aren't as rounded and it doesn't come as far forward and the genuine tank.
It was supplied by SK Exports. Very well packed and delivery was very quick. Here are pictures.

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Correction, the tank was supplied by royalspares out of India. The tank is about 1-1/2" shorter than a correct tank.
Hope this doesn't turn out to be a prolonged fight, just need to return the tank and keep looking for a correct one.
John in Texas

I got my tank from India as well. You should try and find the same vendor as me. A few others also purchased from the same vendor as me and appears everyone is happy with them. The construction and quality as well as the fitment is very good. The tank I got is a tiny bit smaller then my original glass tank but unless you measure them I don't think anyone would notice when installed on the bike. There are a few other threads that also have links to the vendor as they are on eBay with a few different user names. I also got a set of steel side covers as well and I am also very happy with them.

Royalspares asked me to send more pictures and I did that yesterday. Being halfway around the world it takes a bit of time to communicate.

Here are some of the new pictures I sent with their tank sitting on the bike with the other tank as a reference.

John in Texas

I reckon that's a good looking tank. Can't you just cut the seat retaining brackets off and re weld them in a new position ?
sam

I find this a very interesting thread...

If these tanks were from Norvil, Les would be receiving the slagging off of the century! If they were from any other usual supplier, I guess it wouldn't be much different either.

Yet, because they're from India, and because they're cheap, it's OK to put up with a shoddy product, that doesn't fit right, that doesn't look right, and requires sealing from new...

What price quality...?

Well yes, but rather a case of "what price availability?"
The reason we put up with the dodgy stuff is because that is all you can get.
I cannot in polite society tell you what I have paid for a good Interstate tank.

Onder said:

Well yes, but rather a case of "what price availability?"
The reason we put up with the dodgy stuff is because that is all you can get.
I cannot in polite society tell you what I have paid for a good Interstate tank.

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May I be impolite and ask how good it was , clean inside and paint perfect or no dents rider condition and needing an inside clean? And how mental was the price ? I have an original dent free tank but it has interior superficial rust and the exterior is fair, I might need to sell it and I am curious .

Jg



That doesn't look half bad ,might just paint the side panels I've got and keep it!

auldblue said:

That doesn't look half bad ,might just paint the side panels I've got and keep it!

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I would !!

Onder said:

Well yes, but rather a case of "what price availability?"
The reason we put up with the dodgy stuff is because that is all you can get.
I cannot in polite society tell you what I have paid for a good Interstate tank.

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Yes I understand that Onder, and I'm not knocking the tanks, or buyers per se, just find it interesting.

The irony is, if 'we' are all 'happy' buying such poor quality cos it's cheap, it certainly makes it less likely anyone will step up to the plate and invest in tooling to produce good but expensive ones... So we'll be stuck with the poor ones.

I have modified a Roadster seat to fit on an Interstate, and vice versa.

Not hard, especially if you are already rebuilding the seat (foam, cover, etc)

I bought an unpainted interstate tank. The price was $154. which included the price of shipping from India. That's an incredible price.

My hope was that the tank's shape would be close to an authentic interstate tank, that it would fit on the bike, it wouldn't leak, and the threaded parts would be good. The only issues I had with my tank was the filler neck roll pin hole was sloppy, and the tank had a red primer paint on the inside of it. I remedied both issues. I bought my tank from a different ebay vendor than "N0rt0nelectr@" did, and I'm satisfied with my purchase. I like to do stuff myself, rather than pay someone else to do it, so I wouldn't pay $1000. for a finished gas tank if I could pay $154. and do the finish myself...

I don't know if my interstate tank is short, but I am betting it's not. I actually cut down an old roadster seat and resewed the appolstry to make an interstate sized seat to fit up to the tank, so there is no gap between them. (yes, I'm frugal)

So, what is Auldblue's tank worth? $1000. ??? more? less??

Here's my tank that cost $154. plus about $100. in paint (I painted it 3 times, because I screwed it up)



IMO, the tank was a gamble. In my case, the tank's flaws weren't insurmountable and my efforts saved me money, but I gave up my time to get a good result. I've spent a lifetime developing my skills, (not making money to pay skilled people) so I can rarely afford to buy retail. Occasionally, I spend more than retail cost when I screw something up, but that's the gamble I take because of my skill set... My cast wheel conversion was a financial debacle, even though the finished result works excellently. My best friend always says that I'm fearless in the things I attempt to do myself, and because of that I'm going to eventually bite off more than I can chew. The only consolation is that I have a high percentage rate of success and I have to accept the fact that sometimes I'm going to fail...

FWIW
Working off of memory I thought I read somewhere on this forum that there were a couple of different size Interstate tanks made available throughout the years. They varied in width and length. This is one of the reasons that Corbin stopped making seats for the Interstate. I also think that CNW had a service where they would modify a Corbin seat to fit your tank. You would send Matt the tank and they would modify the seat accordingly. I'm sure Les has better info, hopefully he will chime in.

If you plan to recover the seat you can grind off the tab welds and then bolt them back on in the correct position. I did this to an Interstate seat when I fitted an Interpol tank.