how do you remove liquid plastic coating?

[mikey's250sx]

my gas tank had that dip-seal liquid rubber stuff on it instead of paint. well i bubbled a bit where i had a hole in my tank and i managed o pull off half of it but the stuff on the front half of the tank wont come off. i had been pulling it off in sheets.
i've tried a torch to heat it but it was so soft it pulled apart and i tried a hairdryer but it wasn't hot enough. then i tried kwik paint stripper because it says not to come in contact with plastic and i hoped it would melt the stuff so i could scrape it off.

nothing worked yet and i am out of ideas.

please please help a fool fix a tank

[bigredhead]

what the hell is that?

covered from the outside???

[mikey's250sx]

it is a liquid coating you normally dip tools into to give rubber grips.
it was this way when i bought it. actually really durable and the color was a perfect match to the fenders.

this whole mess is my handlebars fault. i went out to rotate them up.
then i threaded my shock collar all the way down.
then i pulled the front wheel to put the brakes on.
then i pulled the air cleaner to wash it.
then i pulled the carb and cleaned it out and replaced the bottom gasket which was done.
then i put on a new front brake lever after noticing the broken bolt in the old one.
then i sealed my gas tank.
then i noticed a little bubbling in what i thought was the paint (actually rubber).
now i am stripping the outside of the tank.
then i washed the filthy thing.
next i will figure out the electric start.
and i charged my battery.
and i pulled off my exhaust and re-painted it.
then i pulled off the battery box and rear fender supports and painted them.
then i pulled the airbox and washed it.
now i am finishing everything up at once.


all because of my handlebars.
thanks bigredhead. it's all your fault!!!!!!!

[bigredhead]

Grip Dip !

Phew good luck.. that stuff is like rubber cement and then some.

Maybe try and freeze it ( got a big deep freeze ? .. careful for gas fumes and food tho.. don't wannt ruin a good steak ! ) . since you've already tried the hot methods..LOL....

How thick is that stuff ?

[ScottZJ]

Put Goo Gone or something like that on it. Leave it for a few minutes. Then whipe it down with some throw away clothe. Do this as many times as it takes. Dont get this stuff on your carpet or your mom/wife will kill you. Oh and it makes a nice sticky mess too, so have plenty of that orange hand cleaner............peace

[83185s]

can i have the money behind the goo gone?? lol..good luck gettin that stuff off

[hrc85250r]

ok....this is what you gotta do.....get a couple gallons or so of lacquer thinner, zylenol or something equivalent...pour them in a good size metal container that your tank will fit in and fill the container up till the rubber stuff on the tank is completely submersed....let them sit for a day or two and it should start coming off with little or no effort, as far as i know this is the ONLY way to get this stuff off, good luck with the pain in the @$$ mess.....

[Oldshell4481]

aircraft remover is reaaaaal good stuff for removing materials, warns not to come in contact with plastic too. just dont get any on hands it burns like a mofo.

[twgranger]

Goo Gone is not worth a trailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro! I have found lacquer thinner to be the best at removing things like that.

[ScottZJ]

Goo Gone is not worth a trailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro! I have found lacquer thinner to be the best at removing things like that.

Maybe you need to drink some to clean that mouth up! Hahaha
Seriously Googone is good, but its mainly for sticker residue, I didnt read the post all the way thru good enough, cuz it would take awhile to get it all off with that.

[twgranger]

Maybe you need to drink some to clean that mouth up! Hahaha
Seriously Googone is good, but its mainly for sticker residue, I didnt read the post all the way thru good enough, cuz it would take awhile to get it all off with that.

ok dad

[mikey's250sx]

i ended up using a 4" window scraper to basically chisel it off. took 2 days of off and on work. little here, little there. when i got off the first half of the stuff i saw they scuffed the tank to make it stick. looks like they used 36 grit sandpaper. figured i couldn't make it any worse and i knew i already had to sand it. got it primed and a few coats of paint on it tonight. should finish it up by tomorrow. no solvent or chemical i had on hand had any effect on the rubber coating.

[83185s]

hey i got my 200x tank today..didnt take pics but it looked like crap!! really i think they tried camoflaging it with black and primer..lol..and they didnt cover up the oem honda decals!! i took the drill and wire brush to the hole thing..too the paint off the stickers so i could see them and got the rest to bare metal..took about an hour to hour 1/2 ...i took off the stickers cause they were crap and im goin to buy new ones..theyre 10 bucks from dennis kirk!!! i matched them up with what was on my tank and bam..exact same so im buying them..anyway..2 coats of primer grey and 2 coats of white..it looks really good..im going to put another white coat on tho to make sure it doesnt look like crap later down the road..uhm..how do u get rust out of the tank??theres some in mine and im not liking it at all..sry if i stole trailprotrailpro thread but its the same thing really..i didnt try to if u think i did..sry

[mikey's250sx]

i got a motorcycle tank sealer kit from por-15.
it's a 3 part process.
cleaner,metal prep, sealer.
seems to work great. it was easy to do too but time consuming.

[83185s]

whats that tank sealer stuff called?..o yea i got to take the pet cock out of my 185 tank and put in the x tank..will that work?? the c petcock is all f'ed up..no lines and the little nipple is broke..its crap