Painting a plastic fuel tank with truckbed liner?

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bigbutterbean

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I have an old Yamaha tank, its all scratched up from scraping off spraypaint after it bubbled, cracked and peeled. I was wondering if I bought a can of bedliner spray at walmart or wherever, would it also crack and peel, or would it breathe like the plastic of the tank does?
 
those paints are rubberized so i'd guess it wont crack....kind of a wrinkly finish too arent they? My Ranchero has herculiner in the bed area and I wouldnt use it on anything other than that or a step plate
 
The gasoline fumes actually leach through the plastic. If the bed liner you plan to use isn't gasoline resistant it will do the same as paint. That's why the factories didn't paint those plastic tanks; because of the leaching. Eventually almost any paint or coating, unless it's formulated to be gasoline resistant will be damaged. Primers won't help, nor will sanding or surface prep. The attack is from the inside out. Even paint made for plastic, if it isn't gasoline compatable, will eventually be effected.


Tom
 
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the rattle can stuff doesent have the same properties as the roll-on or spray gun applied stuff.the roll on stuff is quite tough if left to cure.
plastics ,i'm not sure about,but a couple coats of epoxy primer would give you a base to apply it to .
i used some roll on stuff,tough as nails and even stuck to chrome.gas resistant-yes,after curing.for extended periods,i dunno.im betting it would stick to the tank very well,but it might be an expensive experiment. that stuff aint cheap.
 
Yeah, I remember the first plastic tanks on motocrossers. Suzuki use stickers that lasted about a week. Then when my race buddies used octane booster or racing fuel, the yellow tanks turned brown and the Kawasaki green would turn olive drab. Couldn't keep stickers or paint on them.
 
Just to say it. I've successfully used bondo crack filler to fill in small scratches on plastic in the past. Would definately second the suggestion to sand the tank.
 
This topic comes up from time to time and from the online "research" I've done, no one seems to have a good solution for painting them. Even fuel tank sealer on the inside will eventually allow enough seepage to bubble the paint.

MHF
 
Sometimes a heat gun helps to bring the color back to fairings and tanks that have faded. wash out the tank first with water if you do this.
 
water wont remove petroleum products,add a little dish soap to break it down.

i have used a propane torch to restore plastic fenders on atv's many times.
just enough to bring color back,too much will blister surface.
 
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