Petcock pickup tube length??

[kxpower?]

Hey guys and gals quick question for someone who has a petcock laying around somewhere...What is the length for each of the pickup tubes on the petcock? Both my petcocks had the tubes broken off, last time I put it together I just stuck a piece of 1/4" teflon tubing in the "run" side and let reserve pull off the bottom of the tank. Obviosly my carbs fill up with crap every time it goes on reserve.

So now I've got some copper tubing and I was going to have reserve come up about an inch above the bottom of the tank, and maybe 2.5 inches for the run tube? Is that close to stock? I just want to avoid a reserve much different from stock, and as big a pain as it can be to drain the gas tank and pull the petcock off I'd like to get it right the first time.


THANKS!!

[flitecontrol]

The upper tube is solid brass for 8 cm, topped with a 3.5 cm (including plastic base) filter screen. The reserve tube is a similar filter screen to that above pushed onto a fitting in the petcock.

If you aren't going to clean the tank (recommended), which it sounds like is the source of contaminants, you ought to consider adding a transparent inline fuel filter so you can see when it gets clogged up. http://www.amazon.com/Visu-Filter-In...068296&sr=1-14

[kxpower?]

Originally Posted by flitecontrol

The upper tube is solid brass for 8 cm, topped with a 3.5 cm (including plastic base) filter screen. The reserve tube is a similar filter screen to that above pushed onto a fitting in the petcock.

If you aren't going to clean the tank (recommended), which it sounds like is the source of contaminants, you ought to consider adding a transparent inline fuel filter so you can see when it gets clogged up. http://www.amazon.com/Visu-Filter-In...068296&sr=1-14

Perfect that's the measurement I was after. Part of this project was cleaning and red-kote-ing the tank, sediment in the tank shouldn't be any trouble now. I'll probably run a nice glass in-line filter as well.

[flitecontrol]

I urge everyone who wants to seal their tank not to use Kreem, Red Kote, POR-13 or any other "flexible" liners. Too many of them fail and then you have a worse problem getting the failed liner out. I speak from personal experience here.

Caswell epoxy tank sealer is what you should use. Once dry, it is impervious to fuel and water in the tank. It won't fail if the tank is properly prepped and applied according to instructions. http://www.caswellplating.com/restor...nk-sealer.html

[kxpower?]

Originally Posted by flitecontrol

I urge everyone who wants to seal their tank not to use Kreem, Red Kote, POR-13 or any other "flexible" liners. Too many of them fail and then you have a worse problem getting the failed liner out. I speak from personal experience here.

Caswell epoxy tank sealer is what you should use. Once dry, it is impervious to fuel and water in the tank. It won't fail if the tank is properly prepped and applied according to instructions. http://www.caswellplating.com/restor...nk-sealer.html

Most of what I cleaned out was some kind of hard epoxy sealer, it was flaking off like an orange peel. Took a ton of work to get that all out using a length of chain an lots of soap and water. One coat of red-kote took care of every leak in the tank except one near the front seam, it worked fine as long as you didn't fill the tank up. With a second coat it seems to be holding perfectly. But time will tell.

[flitecontrol]

Not sure what was in your tank, but doubt it was Caswell. If applied properly, it isn't coming off. It actually adheres to light rust better than a perfectly clean tank.

I bought a bike that the Kawasaki dealer had convinced the PO needed to be sealed, so they Kreemed it. In less than a year, it was rusting under the Kreem, which was a pain to get out. I cleaned the rust out and the tank never has leaked. The stealership could have done the same thing, but decided to stick it to the PO instead by telling him it needed to be sealed. If a tank isn't leaking, it doesn't need to be sealed.

[baxtc1]

You could always buy a new tank, in the U.S. you only pay about $700-$800. Here in Australia they want $1,380. :-)

[kxpower?]

Originally Posted by flitecontrol

Not sure what was in your tank, but doubt it was Caswell. If applied properly, it isn't coming off. It actually adheres to light rust better than a perfectly clean tank.

I bought a bike that the Kawasaki dealer had convinced the PO needed to be sealed, so they Kreemed it. In less than a year, it was rusting under the Kreem, which was a pain to get out. I cleaned the rust out and the tank never has leaked. The stealership could have done the same thing, but decided to stick it to the PO instead by telling him it needed to be sealed. If a tank isn't leaking, it doesn't need to be sealed.

I'm sure you're right it probably wasn't caswell, it was done a good 10 years ago and wasn't stored properly since.

Originally Posted by baxtc1

You could always buy a new tank, in the U.S. you only pay about $700-$800. Here in Australia they want $1,380. :-)

I have a grand total of about $300 in this bike if you count the gas I burned to go pick her up. And I have 2 more ugly leaky tanks laying around, if this red-kote job holds up for a while I'll probably seal these other 2 tanks.

Hmm, wonder how much to ship one to Oz for you...