I stumbled upon a problem that did not make me sleep for a few days, but luckily I was armed with patience, ingenuity and passion, to solve this problem.

I have always removed the fuel from the tank tt2, but apparently the resins of those distant times, they were not coated, and the modern gasoline has completely liquefied resin structure of the glass of my own, (in my opinion) very precious piece of Italian history.

Precise, I have never used gasoline racing, and I think it is a problem to be reckoned with.

The gasoline has infiltrated into the glass fibers soaking irreparably.

My dear friend Giampaolo Succi, the company "EUROPLASTSUCCI" cut the canister from underneath, redoing has small pieces, the epoxy resin, and then close the whole making a treatment inside the fuel tank.

Then I came on the scene, doing a difficult and painful cleaning of the paint, completely softened by solvents of unleaded petrol.

Now the tank is from my painter, we decided that all the times that he will turn on the oven for painting, he will put in my tanks for gases of gasoline to evaporate.

Previously I stripped, I discarded with sandpaper, and then I sandblasted with glass beads, and then I washed the tank with degreaser, and now we will keep it in the oven for many times by my painter.

As soon as we dried perfectly gases of petrol fumes, I paint it with fiberglass resin, to restore the plots of fiberglass that are detached from the tank.

I will pass even sandpaper to smooth again.

Then we will make a layer of metal epoxy putty, and he will begin to do the grouting to restore the harmonious to the tank tt2.

I believe that at this point will remain only the coating.

Surely it was easier to buy a new fuel tank, but I would not have slept peacefully.

When I am faced with a problem so severe, with a bike importantly, I believe that we should not look at the time and has Denare that will serve to restore the object in place.

I must do what I did, for the respect of those who designed and built these bikes fantastic, I can not throw away a piece of history.

As soon as I have new photos of the tank, I will be sure let you see.

That crazy Carlo Leoncini.

foto.

photo

Ok Carlo, now I cannot sleep till you are finished! Fiberglass is light but fragile with these fuels. I have to do the same thing with the original tank on my Harris. It currently has an aluminum tank, but the original came with the bike (tank on the bench) and I would prefer it. Good luck Carlo, I am sure it will turn out beautiful. Lou

Dear Lou, this morning morning I went to my painter to control the tank inside the painting oven.

was degreased with solvent degreaser, and then it was in the oven at 70 degrees for about an hour, now we'll let stand two or three more times in the oven.

The old resin has found again his smell, the smell of gasoline is almost gone.

I am confident of the result, whatever the cost.

Your harris is beautiful! I have an old friend, who has a Ducati TT2 with the aluminum tank.

He told me that despite the fact that the tank is made of aluminum, he has dealt with internally, to remove all doubt of corrosion, although it is made of aluminum, he says that it can oxidize the same, he did an epoxy treatment to ' internal.

This my friend, is an engineer in a shipyard, and he told me that he treated his tank in fiberglass, with an epoxy resin which is used in shipbuilding.

He says that the tank is made of any material, (fiberglass, or aluminum) must be protected with epoxy.

I think he is right.

Since you have a Harris? is a new purchase? How nice it would be able to stay with you in the garage after dinner!

Soon new photos.

What would you have done about it to my tank?
I hope I do not sound like a fanatic.

The harris is fantastic! Ciao Grande Lou!

Ciao Carlo,

Your repair is very good.
I think your idea of putting the TT2 tank in the oven is a sound idea to get rid of the fuel fumes from the fibreglass.
I did similar to a 450 RT tank which took a long time to get rid of the fuel smell by cutting it open and grinding the inside then laying it in the sun.
After the fuel smell was gone I grinded it again and coated it with Novalac Vinyl Ester resin and light wieght powder cloth.
Then another light coat and put it together. Then poored more vinyl ester resin inside to seal the seams and tipped out the excess.
After it dried I coated the inside with Hirsch tank sealer.
I hope it lasts ? It was a lot of work for just an RT tank and I would not do it again.
Your method looks better to me. Good luck.







graeme

I agree with Graeme, looks like you are doing the right thing drying it completely. Steve Munro and others swear by this stuff called Caswells to line the tank after it's repaired. The instructions tell you to clean the tank with acetone before using the Caswells. I acquired the Harris in a trade for a TT1 replica I am building. It is a very original racer that was well taken care of and not crashed to death and rebuilt a 100 times. It has a GPM dry clutch, 18 inch Campy wheels, 750 NCR motor, and I was lucky enough to get it from the original owner/racer Dr. Dave Kieffer. It has not been touched since 1990 and was put away properly. It is just as I found it in a garage in Laramie Wyoming. Yes it would be fantastic if all our Forum buddies lived close by and could come by at night for some coffee. I have yet to touch the Harris as I am trying to finish other stuff. When I start to work on her I will post some pictures. Just a service, she's too original to fuss with. Lou

Ciao Lou, la tua Harris è bellissima!!!It has a charm all its own, I'd love to have it in my garage!

is very fascinating to see all the original components stored in an optimal manner.

is in excellent hands!

Hello to you, Graeme! I am sure that you have done a great job, and that your tank will have no problems, today I painted for 4 times the tank with resin.

Monday we will spend sanding pad, and we will become dull the glossy surface, but without sinking a lot, ensuring the actual layer of fiberglass resin.

Then we will give gelcoat, and he will begin to reshape sinuous shapes of the GREAT original tank TT2.

When the Ducati TT2 was presented at the Bologna Motor Show, a famous mechanical engineer, I do not remember his name, said words: a motorcycle is fantastic, because every piece is designed to serve the purpose to work perfectly, regardless of its forms, and its forms have become unique in its kind.

I will save my tank. carlo.

sorry again friends, since my TT2 does not have a tank, remove the valve cover of the magazine is a breeze!

I'll show you the distribution DESMO, I think you will please.

I anticipate that I'm going to completely disassemble the engine block and to do all the photos for you to see how the inside of my engine block SAKAMOTO.

I hope you enjoy it.

All this in a bit of time.
But first let's save the tank!

   Hello friends. carlo

gelcoat!! twice!!