zinc plating fuel tanks

madass140

madass140

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was just down at my electroplater getting some of my new fender stays zinc plated, they had an old fuel tank which looked like it was off some Russian or Czech bike, they zinc plated the inside for the owner , I had seen them do this many times before, If I had a not to rusted tank that needed painting, I'd definitely go for it even if you still wanted to use a tank sealer. zinc plate inside would cost about $8 here I reckon.
any zinc plater could do this, just put an anode inside.
 
Might ask plater how it tolerates spiked gasoline. The times they have changed

http://www.keytometals.com/page.aspx?ID ... ktn&NM=162
Alcohol. Pure alcohols are considerably less corrosive than water, but mixtures of water and alcohol are more corrosive than water alone. As a result, zinc-aluminum alloys are not recommended for alcohol-water mixtures, such as found in various beverages.
 
thanks Steve, after I zinc plate the inside of my tank, I'll make a point of not running the bike on a alcohol/water mix, I'll leave that to my stomach.
 
Funny guy we like our ethanol inside us too but not diluted by water, which fish you know what in. Vodka is like plain tea all the ice melted in for instance. Just a heads up on the zinc coat if boozed punch is a factor in your area as any ethanol in gasoline means its grabbed onto some water and looking for more. Zinc is very common effective protection is all the conditions that don't involve exposure to alcohols over time. What color does it buff out too, might be neat to do some exterior finishes.
 
Oh my Dances are ya itching for a run around with me? I was so depressed about the polyester resin tanks I now look up solubility - comparability on coating or metal protection. For your edification [aka rub ya nose in it] on poking hobot, Ms Peel does indeed get pickled inside not by booze but by Zinc-Phophate-Strominum, so can find her in the dark with Gieger counter.
This ain't ya gramma's ZADP niether. Maddass is in the Phiopine IRRC so may not have booze in their gas as the naitves would likely be distilling it out on the cheap. Actually now ya make me think [owe] maybe Peel OIF should get this done inside, hm.
 
Water can be dangerous to drink, so I take precautions:

I first boil the water, then I carefully filter it through ground coffee beans, which are much more efficient than charcoal.

It tastes great after that.
 
The Zinc acts as a catalyist to improove performance , reduce valve recession , and increase engine life . :p
 
On Ms Peel's initial tires touching pavement and reaching my little village there were a gaggle of locals under a big shade tree all grinning ear to ear so I stopped to absorb their ambiance and was handed a mason jar when shook only very tiny bubbles formed so knew it twere't creek water - but 190 proof, so I took a glup and popped Peel's cap and gave 'er a good shot too. This was my first rebuild and first time on a Commando in like 5 yr so was takening it very very easy and had no idea what performance was lurking till another 1000 miles thinking I'd a nice quaint touring cycle to be rid of to get a real hot sports bike, ha fooled me good.

Peel's OIF gets surface reacted pickled preserved to lower rust potential inside though zinc plated would be even better if I knew where and if it could be done inside a frame. One more frame welding session to go so must wait to pickle Peel.
 
hm 5 or 6 holes are accessable from the outside so all oil filled tubes could have a wire inserted, but I gotta to get on with the show and the oil itself has rust protection quality and no alcohol to deal with. Any way sounds like its standard process for gas tanks there so should work a treat.
 
I've often seen 15 or 20 used tanks at the electroplater for zinc plating internally only, one of the countries biggest bike dealers refurbishes older bikes and flogs them off at a low price , here not everyone can afford to pay $1200 for a new 125.
 
In damp climates or with moisture around, zinc heads towards becoming a white powder. ?
I'd be checking the fuel filter to see if any gets that far.

In old time bikes, the steel used for the tank was tin plated.
Some of those have survived very well....
 
The ethanol, that the government dictates to be added to our gasoline, absorbs water so we do in fact have that corrosive mixture.

That said, still sounds like a good idea to me, better to have sacrificial zinc than steel. Heck, maybe it will help the "octane rating."

I wonder though about the consistency of the interior plating. Plating irregular interior shapes with an even layer would be hard to do.
I imagine that the anode would have to be moved around to get zinc to stick to the nooks and crannies and for even coverage; and then the cleanliness of the tank interior has a bearing on coverage too. How do they get those deep narrow bits clean to plating standards?
 
well they dip items in some chemicals for cleaning pre zinc plating, for me I would probably get inside with a small sand blaster , even a hose on the end of the nozzle, I'm not really sure how successful it is, if my tank wasnt in good condition I would probably use a liner inside after zinc plating, sounds counterproductive.
 
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