gasoline-resistant epoxy?

[evanwebb]

Hi, does anyone have recommendation on a gasoline-resistant epoxy that I can use as a sealer for cracks, leaks, etc.? Thanks.

[Eagle7]

Aren't JB-Weld and duct (er.. racer) tape the solution to every problem known to man?

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Marty Doane
ITS RX-7 #13
CenDiv WMR

[lateapex911]

I don't know about JB Weld, but duct tape and gas....euuuu! What a mess that'll make!

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Jake Gulick
CarriageHouse Motorsports
ITA 57 RX-7
New England Region
[email protected]

[Eagle7]

Originally posted by lateapex911:
I don't know about JB Weld, but duct tape and gas....euuuu! What a mess that'll make!

Sorry about that. I didn't actually mean that they BOTH would solve every problem

I'm pretty sure I sealed the fitting carrying my fuel pump wires into the fuel cell with JB-Weld.

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Marty Doane
ITS RX-7 #13
CenDiv WMR

[Banzai240]

There are several two-part epoxies that work well... One of which is usually available at your local autoparts store and is kind of like a putty that you mix together and make a patch with...

I also did a quick Google search on "gas tank" + seal and here's the first thing on the list:

http://www.caswellplating.com/aids/epoxygas.htm

Good luck!


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Darin E. Jordan
SCCA #273080, OR/NW Regions
Renton, WA
ITS '97 240SX

[dyoungre]

For what it's worth, we always used an epoxy named 'DEVCON' to install thermocouple probes in cylinder heads at the OEM dynamometer lab. The machinists swore by the stuff.

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Dave Youngren
NER ITA RX7 #61

[dickita15]

actually Devcon is a brand like Duro-Loctite.

they all make a gas resitant epoxy. any auto parts and most hardware stores should have it in a liquid or putty. just check a few labels

back it the 50's my uncle put a hole in his willy's wagon gas tank on the Al-can highway. he drove it up a banking to get the hole high, took a cotton hankerchief and some old fashion indian head gasket cement and made a patch, lot of coats. hoped it would get him to a town. 4 years later he solt the willy's and had never done any more to fix it.

[JohnRW]

Is that banjo music I hear ?

[gsbaker]

evanwebb,

There are many excellent adhesives out there these days, and some are becoming rather specialized so you can probably find just what you are looking with a little research.

For something like plugging a hole you could use most anything, but be careful about specific applications because these products can vary greatly. The adhesive we use for our helmet mounts, for example, looks identical to another formulation that is only 1/3 the strength. Same container, same color, everything.

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Gregg Baker, P.E.
Isaac, LLC
http://www.isaacdirect.com

[m glassburner]

What type and where would I find this glue for my helmet?

[gsbaker]

Originally posted by m glassburner:
What type and where would I find this glue for my helmet?

As mentioned above, you can find something for gas tanks at most auto parts and hardware stores. They could be either one- or two-part products.

Most of the really strong stuff is a "binary" adhesive, and has a few practical drawbacks: requires good surface preparation, sets up very fast, has a definite shelf life, gets expensive, and stinks to high heaven. What do you get for your efforts? One square inch of the stuff can lift your race car.

The adhesive we use for helmet mounts is not available in consumer packaging, but it probably will be in the near future. We buy individual containers in bulk.

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Gregg Baker, P.E.
Isaac, LLC
http://www.isaacdirect.com

[Dick Elliott]

I think thats a pig you hear squealing.

Originally posted by JohnRW:
Is that banjo music I hear ?

[lateapex911]

An interesting aside here regarding the JB weld stuff.

When I first assembled my ITA RX-7 car, I followed the advice of the gurus and blocked off a hole in water pump housing with JB weld.

Well, I now know:
A- how important that mod is, and.....
B-The stuff doesn't last forever in the heat of the cooling system...at least not on my car!

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Jake Gulick
CarriageHouse Motorsports
ITA 57 RX-7
New England Region
[email protected]

[Eagle7]

Jake, don't know if this is related to your question, but I followed the "pipe thread plug" advice, and it worked fine. Expensive tap for minimal use, though.

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Marty Doane
ITS RX-7 #13
CenDiv WMR

[evanwebb]

Hi, thanks for all the info. I just wanted to see what people had actually used or if there were specific products that didn't work as well as they were advertised. So, it sounds like JB Weld is the best standard epoxy to use for general-purpose stuff, but I'm still not sure if it is appropriate for continuous immersion in gasoline? Most of the gas tank sealer stuff is pretty "runny" so you can swish it around in a big tank, but I was thinking of something a bit more viscous like a typical two-part epoxy...

[lateapex911]

Marty-

Are you kidding? Expensive?? At $8 bucks it would be cheap insurance against dropping out of a race! I did it at the time because I couldn't find the right tap in the available time frame, and was a dummy not to revisit the situation later. Clearly it is not a situation that needs to be leak proof, but failure over time isn't acceptable. The plug is now mechanically installed!

As for JB and gas, well, I don't know how long it would last, but the upside to its use would be twofold: one, you'll know if and when it ever leaks, and two, if it does have a few little pieces float free, thats what fuel filters are for!

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Jake Gulick
CarriageHouse Motorsports
ITA 57 RX-7
New England Region
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by lateapex911 (edited September 16, 2004).]

[Eagle7]

Originally posted by lateapex911:
Are you kidding? Expensive?? At $8 bucks it ...

I think I paid about twice that. But that's also why I usually avoid that store.

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Marty Doane
ITS RX-7 #13
CenDiv WMR

[Ron Earp]

JB Weld is your product. Used it on three different motorcycle tanks, one of which I owned for 8 years after sealing, with nary a leak. Good stuff. Did better than the Kreme Tank Sealant stuff by far. If it won't fail in a cycle with all that vibration going on it won't fail.

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Ron
http://www.gt40s.com
Lotus Turbo Esprit
BMW E36 M3
RF GT40 Replica
Jensen-Healey: IT prep progressing!