an addition/revision to the VMX article on plastic tank resto

[mainline]

I just spent a few hours working on my tank after reading over the VMX article a couple of times, plus going over what's been said on here before and just wanted to add a bit.

The VMX article was excellent and the section on removing deep scratches using a stanley blade was spot-on. As a chippie I took for granted what LWC3077 meant about scraping out the scratches with a blade, and ended up giving the whole tank a light going over with the blade which really sped up the initial stages of the process ie. removing powdery plastic, paint, or in my case the initials of the f...wit who owned the bike in the past.

As I was doing it I had a vision of someone trying to use the blade like a knife to carve and flatten the deeper scratches out. So I thought I'd better clarify the blade part of the deal. Basically you have to use the blade like a cabinet scraper, hold it with both hands, and with the blunt (top edge) tilted slightly back towards you, drag it backwards (towards you) across the surface. If you're doing it right you should have a ultra-fine shaving coming off the tank.

My apologies to-

1. the author for my attempt to add to an excellent article
2. anyone who knew how to do it
3. everyone who is sick of hearing about plastic restoration

[LWC82PE]

thats alright. one hand, 2 hands what ever, just use whats comfortable for you. i hold the blade in one hand and scrape towards myself. end result is a big pile of plastic shavings that is a pain to clean up!

[mainline]

cool, yeah the blades small enough for one hand. As for the cleanup, think of the reduced laptimes as a result of the lightweight works-style tank 

[DJRacing]

This is the scraper I use.

[Freakshow]

who the little girls hand in the picture ?

hehe he ... not one nick or blister.

hehehe

[DJRacing]

only fools and idiots get blisters and cuts freaky  

[YZ250H]

And flower farmers 
Hey DJ - just finish off scraping that tank mate and I'll come over and get it 

Just back to the topic, the tank for the 250 is crazed - is that a sign of imminent death or is it still retrieveable ??  Does the crazing go all the way through.

Mainline - no need to apologise mate - all information is good information - even if it seems obvious.  Sometimes it isn't obvious to everyone 

[TonyB]

And can anyone add or go over the bleaching process, my kato tank is a dirty brown colour, I know there were posts on this using bleach??

[mainline]

Me again, I've got my tank soaking at the moment, so I'll let you know how it turns out.

[Doc]

Like foreman material I'll bet!! and it's mild on your hands for people like DJ..Madge 

 

[DJRacing]

Why have a dog and bark yourself Doc?      and Madge told me, four fingers and I would be soaking in it. But it was Mrs Marsh that said "see, it does get in"...



Did you get the colgate add with Mrs Marsh??

[Doc]

yes we had Colgate's Mrs Marsh but I had the hots for the McClean's girl..White is in style 

[LWC82PE]

i would really have to see the tank to make an acurate diagnosis of the crazing. is it just white and crusty on on top? is that where the cracking is in?, just that top layer? if so it can probably scraped/sanded out, but sometimes it goes right the way through. You can still do up one of these tanks and they will still look ok and not leak though

[YZ250H]

Thanks LWC - that has given me the information I was after.  I didn't want to spend a whole heap of time scraping and sanding only for the crazing to grow all the way through .  My time would be better spent on Ebay finding another one.  XYZ do a new version, but I don't think it is the right shape for the H.  I think they fit it to 465 and 250 so prolly a bit of a compromise.

Based on your advice I will persist with the tank I've got and pray that the crazing doesn't go all the way through.

Thanks again 

[mainline]

I'm about to order some Blue Lightning tank sealer from the states as both my tanks have a small amount of crazing/cracking that I'm not to happy with, plus I want the stickers to last more than 5 minutes.

I'll let you know how it goes.