How much to paint fuel tanks

[pilbeam_mp62]

OK - can somebody just guesstimate what it would cost to have the two tanks etch-primed and then painted - I am wondering whether to have that done, rather than do it myself - just wanted an opinion from someone that may have had similar type of work done, as I don't have a clue...

Thanks very much,
Regards

Kelvin

[738 driver]

Depends on the paint finish you are after in the range, matt- solid gloss- metallic to full pearl?
Labour wise 4 hrs max @ £25.00-30.00 plus materials @ £65-165 dependant on finish! Plus Vodka and Tonic of course!
Might be worth checking with the tank manufacturer that a bake cycle of 20 mins 80degC will not deterorate/delaminate the foam liners. (Ally expands a lot, foam does not!)

[J-K]

If I was building another I wouldnt bother, if you want to do anything I would just cover the underside with stone chip.
I went to great lenths painting the underside of mine, then I went to greater lenths to seal them in making sure no stones and dirt couldnt get to them. It was twice as much work as needed IMHO.
If its about cosmetics fair enough but the car I have now is 7yrs old and the tanks still look good.
Cheers

John

[Graham-P]

I covered mine in heat mat to keep the fuel temps down.

[pilbeam_mp62]

This forum is brilliant !

Within 20 minutes, I have good information and things to think about to help me decide what to do.

Much appreciated guys,
Cheers.

[GTR-TT]

I wouldn't recommend "paint" at all. Powder coat will hold up much better and remember that you don't want to redo the tanks at a later state when the paint starts to flake around the filler hose... Often powdercoating cost less than ordinary paint because they work in batch and putting another part in the owen together with 30 others doesn't cost them "anything". Make them semi satin black. Looks fantastic.

[pilbeam_mp62]

GTR-TT said:

I wouldn't recommend "paint" at all. Powder coat will hold up much better and remember that you don't want to redo the tanks at a later state when the paint starts to flake around the filler hose... Often powdercoating cost less than ordinary paint because they work in batch and putting another part in the owen together with 30 others doesn't cost them "anything". Make them semi satin black. Looks fantastic.

Hmmm.. there's an idea - do you have a view on whether the heat in the oven would have any effect
on the foam inside the tank ?

Thanks

Kelvin

[GTR-TT]

pilbeam_mp62 said:

GTR-TT said:

I wouldn't recommend "paint" at all. Powder coat will hold up much better and remember that you don't want to redo the tanks at a later state when the paint starts to flake around the filler hose... Often powdercoating cost less than ordinary paint because they work in batch and putting another part in the owen together with 30 others doesn't cost them "anything". Make them semi satin black. Looks fantastic.

Hmmm.. there's an idea - do you have a view on whether the heat in the oven would have any effect
on the foam inside the tank ?

Thanks

Kelvin

I had the same question when I was going to do mine. It was a few years back så I can't remember the degrees involved but it wasn't very high and nothing that would melt the foam.

[Steve_D]

I suspect powder coat will be way too hot for the foam but paint oven cure may be OK.

I covered the top and inner face with heat matt which does not tarnish and still looks good 4 years in. The other faces were aerosol can sprayed with stonechip paint. You cannot see them when installed so go for plenty of paint with little regard for finish/runs etc.

Steve

[738 driver]

Baked paint-finish max temps are 80'C /20 mins, these can be lowered to a min of 40'C and a longer bake cycle used. In my experience, the latter is preferred for aluminium and composite items.
I understand that powder coatings are baked in the range 160-220'C.
Both the above are panel/surface temp, the air temp may be considerably higher initially, both involve a fairly rapid cooling cycle at the end of the bake. Hence I would be concerned about delamination of the foam/aluminium rather than it melting. However I dont fully know how the tanks are constructed so its perhaps best to ask the manufacturer/factory if you do wish to bake them.
As Steve has said stonechip & heat-shield type aerosol coatings would be best and most cost effective.

[pilbeam_mp62]

OK - one last question - this time about etch priming.

I think I heard (or maybe I imagined it..) that when you have etch-primed with the U-Pol Acid-8,
that you have to overcoat it fairly soon after - like one day maximum...?

Does that sound right (hopefully not...)

Thanks again for any info,
Regards

[738 driver]

Yes as the etch properties between the acid and next coat (primer,paint or whatever) may fail. Its virtually impossible to hand-key it once its fully cured.
Acid etch primers are usually based on the wet-on-wet application process.....best to be overcoated as soon as touch dry! It provides the best inter-coat adhesion and minimises the risk of corrosion/tarnish on the etched surface.
All is not lost though, you should be able to wash off most of the old etch coat with a small cloth soaked in gunwash/standard celly thinners, back to a good metal finish and then re-apply before refinish.
Aluminium is probably one of the worst metals to get good paint adhesion on.
You see evidence of poorly prepped/cured etch on the lower parts of modern cars, regularly paint flaking/chippng back to the etch coat around the lower galvanised sections of body panels.

Key it with a scotchbrite, etch it and then stonechip it grey or black! You can overpaint stonechip with many different air-drying materials.
Have fun.

[pilbeam_mp62]

Thanks very much for that info Dave.
Regards

[San Diego GTR]

Graham-P said:

I covered mine in heat mat to keep the fuel temps down.

I second Graham's suggestion. I have my GTR out to 2 track days in the hot California sun and had trouble both times with heat in the fuel. My untreated tanks were absorbing way too much heat by the end of the day and I was getting vapor lock. Then I applied a silver self-sticking heat barrier and it works fantastic. Now I can drive it all day long and not have any trouble.

So if you're planning on using it on the track, I would strongly suggest some sort of barrier to keep the heat out of the tanks.

Paul