No Products in the Cart
Today on the blog, we’re talking about gas tank liners for your Honda Shadow. Are they necessary? How’s it done? Which are the best brands? We’ll answer all these questions and more, so let’s dig in!
- - -
Trying to determine whether or not you need to line your Honda Shadow’s gas tank? Well we’ve got your answers right here!
The purpose of a gas tank liner is to prevent rust and corrosion inside your Honda Shadow’s gas tank. If your current tank isn’t lined, you’re going to notice the gas eats away at the tank over time. Lining a tank (and lining it well) prevents this.
We’re not gonna lie. It’s time-consuming to line a Honda Shadow gas tank. You can do it yourself but be forewarned—it’s not simple and it takes a little practice. It is doable, though!
- Fuel Tank Liner (we recommend Red-Kote)
- flexible gooseneck flashlight
- lots and lots of time!!!
Start by pouring the tank liner into your gas tank. You’ll need enough to fully coat the lining of your gas tank (see instructions on tank liner label). We recommend Red-Kote for this step. A flexible flashlight will help you see inside your Honda Shadow’s gas tank to ensure everything visible is coated. Once that’s done, close up the gas tank and rotate it quite a bit to make sure every surface inside the tank is covered.
Hang up the closed tank, letting all the lining liquid collect in the front, then drain the excess out.
Babysit your tank for the next bunch of hours! Take it to dinner, to the movies… wherever you go, because you’ll need to rotate it every 15 minutes or so to make sure the tank liner doesn’t pool up. (If the liner pools, it creates a hard shell over the puddle—but the pool under the shell remains liquid. THIS IS BAD because eventually that shell is going to rip through and you’ll have liner mixed in with your gas! That’s very bad!
You’ll know it’s dry when you stop smelling that pungent “gassing out” smell. The drier your climate, the faster it’ll cure. Putting heat (e.g. hair dryer) on it won’t help; it needs regular drying time.
Red-Kote and other tank liners are not an epoxy; they’re actually elastomers. This makes them very stretchy. You could technically line right over rust with it, but we don’t recommend doing so. If your Honda Shadow’s gas tank is rusted, we recommend filling the gas tank to the top with a mixture of CLR and warm water. Let it sit, rinse it out, then do it again until the rust is nearly gone.
Some people also recommend putting nuts and bolts and pieces of chain in the tank and shaking that around. If you have serious, heavy flaking, this might be a good option for you, but you’ll need to do a lot of shaking!
It’s also worth noting that if your tank’s really that bad, it might be time to just get a new one.
Lining your Honda Shadow’s gas tank will give your gas tank a long, happy life. Without the lining, you risk rust and corrosion.
Bottom line: just line your gas tank! Red-Kote is TJ Brutal Customs’ liner of choice for Honda Shadow gas tanks. It’s resistant to gas, high temps, corrosion, etc. Try it out and tell us how you like it!
For more info on lining your Honda Shadow’s gas tank, check out this video:
