R1150R Fuel Tank Rust/Bad Liner Repair (extremely detailed)

[chasecolby]

I've got a 2003 BMW R1150R and recently noticed the liner inside my fuel tank was coming off in big flakes and some areas were rusted. I decided to fix the tank myself rather than have to wait a week for my bike to be repaired. (Let me say now, if you can find someone to do the work for you for a reasonable price, do it.) The BMW service place said they would do it for around $250, that's totally worth it.

Thought I'd share my lessons learned with the forum...

Before you get started get the following:
-Plenty of beer or your beverage of choice.
-A new fuel filter.
-Kreem Tank Prep and Liner. http://kreem.com/fueltankliner.html
-One gallon of Methyl Ethyl Keytone (this will remove any existing primer or paint inside the tank.)
-Three gallons of phosphoric acid from the hardware store, it's an industrial cleaner. I believe it's the same stuff that is the main ingredient in Kreem Tank Prep A.
-Two 100mm 4in Expandable Stops and some gasket material. These are red plastic with a wing nut and a black rubber seal. Available at Home Depot and Lowes in the plumbing sections. These can form a good seal in the bottom of the tank and the intake port with a good strip of gasket material around them. They will save you a ton of time and effort in trying to make a good seal that wont leak. Seriously, get them unless you find another way to make a water tight seal on the tank ports.
-Chemical resistant rubber gloves and Eye Protection
-Three 5-gallon buckets.
-Dish soap.
-A bunch of old beach towels or mats to set your tank on.
-Pinch clamps to replace the factory ones that you'll have to cut off. If you can't get them just use regular hose clamps.
-Painters Tape and Duct Tape
-Inspection mirror (may make your life easier.)
-Magnet (for retrieving bolts or hose clamps from the tank.)
-Nuts and Bolts to shake inside the tank to help remove rust/liner.
-Card board box to map out and place the bolts you remove from your bike.
-Torx set.
-Some new fuel line if you need to replace your old ones. You may benefit from replacing one of the older lines with a longer one. It was a pain to get the overflow line reconnected because it was so short.
-Getting new compression nuts to replace your old ones may be a good idea. Some of mine were bad.
-A good flashlight.
-A funnel.
-Garden hose with spray nozzle.

Other Pointers:
-Once you've taken the tank off, check your battery to see if it needs replacing (or may soon.) Probably worth doing it now rather than having to do the work again later.
-Here's a good video on how to remove your tank. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXbNYhDNpkg
-I recommend taping your tank off with a few layers of good painters tape to protect your finish since you'll be working with some harmful chemicals.
-If you have any remaining liner inside your tank, purchase some Methyl Ethyl Keytone (same stuff in Kreem Tank Prep B) and it will remove the liner quickly. It's better to get the liner completely out before doing the rust-remover/etch so that you can move quickly from one step to the other when using the Kreem sequence so that you can avoid any flash rust.
-Example of bad quality control on fuel tank liners. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaLCth4WIZw

Now for the instructions:
1.) Remove your tank as shown in the video referenced above. Pay attention to how you remove fuel lines so that connections are obvious when reassembling.
2.) Remove the lower tank access panel that houses the fuel pump and filter.
3.) Remove the top locking lid and internal roll over valve.
4.) Tape the tank with painters tape, then a couple layers of duct tape on any spots where the tank will be placed down.
5.) Empty your fuel into an appropriate bucket.
6.) If you have any primer or existing liner inside your tank pour some Methyl Ethyl Keytone into the tank. It works better than Acetone or Mineral Spirits. Add loose bolts to your tank if you've got heavy rust. Let it sit for a bit and rotate the tank around to get all the liner out. When finished, pour it into an appropriate container and flush your tank.
7.) Pour the three gallons of Phosphoric Acid in your tank and add water to fill the tank. Let it sit for a while. Inspect it for progress, it shouldn't take long. This stuff works better and faster than Tank Prep A. It will likely remove all of your rust and etch the tank nicely. It wouldn't hurt to let it sit overnight. You'll come to a freshly prepared tank in the morning.
8.) Flush with soapy water to remove any chemicals or grease.
9.) Use Kreem sequence as instructed.
10.) When using the Kreem Liner, I found it impossible to remove any from the tank on the R1150R when I was finished. One bottle should coat your entire tank well, you have to rotate it constantly and watch where it's going. Don't let it pool or drip funny as it hardens. I used 1.2 bottles of the Kreem Liner and probably could have gotten away with only using one bottle.
11.) Let your tank cure for 24 hours.
12.) Replace your fuel filter and any old hoses.
13.) Have fun trying to get the fuel pump and hoses reconnected to the lower access panel and upper roll over valve and overflow (it's a pain). I found it easiest to use a good piece of string and tie it to the hoses while installing the lower access panel first then fishing the hoses out to connect them to the top port.

Good luck! And remember, if you can pay someone else to do this for you, it's definitely worth it.

Happy Riding.