Wanted: Fuel Tank for '81 Seca XJ550

Anybody have a relatively rust-free tank for an '81 XJ550? I just came back from the repair shop with the bad news that mine can't be salvaged. I checked with Chacal, and he has nothing available.

Thanks.

 

There's an '82 being parted out on eBay right now, I don't know if the tank ever sold or not. Both PaulT and myself bought parts from the bike, he's a good guy. Try his email: racer222a @ yahoo.com (take out the spaces) his eBay ID is partsall1.

 

Thanks bigfitz52! I'll give him a try.

 

Oh well, it was worth a shot. The guy sold it last week. Any others out there?

 

Out of curiosity, why can't the tank be salvaged? Why? Metal can be welded and repaired with other means. Assuming rust is the problem, you can get the holes sealed up and get it coated inside.
Don't toss it even if you find a replacement. I'd be interested in 'sperimenting on it if you decide it is junk.

 

I was just looking for some engine guards on ebay and found a guy that has a whole page of NEW tanks for a XJ550 for a little over $100 each. I believe they were around $140-something each. I looked under "Sellers other auctions" and found them. He had a butt-load of them. Sorry I can't remember who he was.
I just looked and found one for a a 82 for $20, ends in 1 hr and 42 minutes.

Ed

 

Saltracer, the tank is so rusty on the inside that the rust is flaking off in chunks. It makes me sick, because when my ex drove off with it a year ago (it was in her name), the tank had been cleaned and coated about six years prior, and was still nice. But somehow within the last year she managed to accumulate half a tank of water in the gas... and voila!... rustola. Not just surface rust, but scale. She left the bike outside all winter, probably with a half-empty tank, and the rest is history.

When it quit running and she caught two of the pod filters on fire, she decided to give it back to me. Now I'm picking up the pieces.

The tank's not leaking, but I guess I just hate using a tank with so much rust on the inside -- even though I have the petcock filter and an inline fuel filter. Am I just being too perfectionistic?

Hurst01, if you can find the name of that seller, I'd do a happy dance. I've been all over Ebay, and came up with one tank in decent shape, but the guy's "buy it now" price is $249! What's a fair offer for a good 27-year-old gas tank?

 

You should try to clean your tank, coat the inside and run it. no holes and it should be ok.

 

Hey SecaMaverick,

I still think it can be salvaged, but please tell me... you say it had been cleaned and coated? What was used to coat it? It sounds like perhaps the caoting did not adhere properly and you got rust growing underneath it.

My bike has been sitting up for 22 years and the tank had major crud and some rust. I just finished with the inside of it this week. Many washings, shaken a lot with BBs inside, followed by many more washings. Prepared and applied POR-15 tank sealer. It looks good now, but it is a lot of time and work. Obviously, if you can get a new one for ~$100, and want to swap money for time, then go for it. But DO spend the time to properly clean and prep and coat the new tank.

Let us know how it works out.

 

OK: I paid $225 for a clean, straight, PAINT AND GRAPHICS in great shape tank for my '83 Seca 550. (it was cheaper than a new paint job would have been.) I felt it was a fair price. The "new" tank (from a salvage yard) had been stored with a coating of oil inside and securely duct-taped up. I cleaned it with a mixture of sea foam, gasoline and aquarium gravel. (NOT the best idea, it was a beeatch getting the gravel back out.) Still seeing a bit of rust, I did the phosphoric acid flush (see the thread "is any rust in the gas tank acceptable") and am very pleased with the results. I'm going to hold off on any further cleaning/coating until I see if any more intervention is necessary. Of course, this is my experience you will have different requirements and different results depending on how bad the rust actually is. What is really interesting is that if you look at the tech bulletins in the Yamaha parts fiche for the 550 Seca there are a couple addressing rust in the tanks FROM THE FACTORY and how the dealer was supposed to deal with it PRIOR to delivering the bike to the customer. I suspect not many dealerships followed these...

 

Well, a local gas tank repair shop did the work of cleaning and coating, and they did a reasonable job (I felt at the time). I have my suspicions that my ex-wife made one too many enemies in the last year, and he or she dumped something caustic into the gas tank. That might also explain the consistency of the pasty gel I found in all four carb bowls.