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The PE tank I am trying it in was one I was running with mixed fuel so we will see but so far so good. I did rinse with acetone until it was coming out clear

OK, here is an update since it has been a while:

I have been running my PE plastic tank now for some time using the new 10% ethanol gas and have not seen any sign of failure from the POR 15 "Paint" so far, still shinny black. I opted to use the Black color POR 15 inside the yellow Suzuki tank so I can see if there are any failures. And just a note when I put the POR 15 in the tank it took two coats to make sure I had good coverage which I would not have been able to see if I had used the "Clear" POR 15.  

And remember Mike Winters and I are talking about POR 15 "Paint" not the POR 15 "Tank sealer" two different products. Mike has been using it on fiberglass tanks and I am trying it on Plastic Tanks.  Also make sure the tank is clean, I rinsed with Acetone and sheetrock screws until it was coming out clear and clean, and it did take a while to get to that point.

Forrest

I like this idea of having a Registry for the Penton Wassell's

I have W-492ST

Forrest

Let me chime in here and give you what I have found so far: This might get a bit long winded.
I own an Auto body/Street Rod Construction shop and have been painting for over 40 yrs now and have been restoring old bikes for a long time also.

I think Mike Winters is on the right track using the POR-15 "PAINT" not their "tank sealer" for Fiberglass tanks. These are two different products from POR-15 so let's make sure we are talking about the POR-15 PAINT.

Here is what I have done/tried over the last few years trying to find something to seal plastic & fiberglass tanks:
I do use the POR-15 "gas tank sealer" in metal tanks and have never had a failure, but POR-15 does not recommend their tank sealer for anything but metal.

I had called and talked to a rep. about a product called "Blue Lightning" and was told it was specifically made for plastic and fiberglass tanks. Well here is what happened the first time gas was put into one of those tanks with "Blue Lightning" it came off in sheets. So I called the rep back and asked what now...no reply. I also asked how do I get it out of the tank, well that turned out not to be a problem as the main bike I ride the sealer ended up being completely dissolved and burned with the gas....yeah worked real good. So how do you remove "Blue Lightning" tank sealer? Just run it with gas it will dissolve.
Ok so then just figured I would drain my tank after each ride which for me is a good thing since I never know what bike I will be riding next.

So then we were doing some coating in some doors and were using a plastic Coke bottle to put the POR-15 Black Paint into so I coated the entire inside of the plastic Coke bottle let it dry for several days and then put gas with the 10% ethanol into the bottle and have been letting it soak for abt 4 months now and the POR-15 is holding tight and you can even flex the plastic bottle and it is still holding tight. I have just finished coating a fiberglass Maico tank that was leaking with the clear POR-15 "Paint" and we will see how it does.

And as others have said here prep is the key and you have to get the oil out of the tanks, I have been rinsing them a couple times with "Marine Clean" first then I use "Acetone" and keep rinsing until it comes out clean. And on plastic tanks I add sheetrock screws while I am rinsing to try and get a little something to help the POR-15 to hold.
I do agree that if you have a good fiberglass tank don't coat it just drain it after each use. If you have a failing Fiberglass tank you have nothing to lose by coating but cleaning is going to be the hard part, keep rinsing until the Acetone or thinner comes out clean. This can take a while.
As far as getting the coating to stick to the inside of a fiberglass tank, the glass tanks are pretty rough inside so coatings should have plenty to grab onto.

Like I said I am just starting to use this on the inside of the plastic & fiberglass tanks but with the results from the plastic Coke bottle test I think this is the only product that has a chance at this time. Also when coating you need to make sure you put plenty inside to roll around to coat every bit of the tank, if you miss any area it can allow fuel a way to get under the coating.  

Forrest

Humm....yeah not sure either. I was just going to run the ones that you can get from "NFieldGear.com" but they appear to be rolled on just one end, but the picture is really hard to tell. There steel fender has the roll. You might try calling them and asking, their number is 1-800-358-0938

Let me know what you find out

Forrest

Started up the 79 KTM 175 for the first time and rode around the yard last night in the dark, hopefully will get a chance to ride it this weekend in the daytime.

Forrest

I have one of these Penton/Wassell or "MudLarks" as they were called. They were all built in England by Wassell over a couple years in the early 70's. From what I have read Wassell built around 2000 of these bikes and around 700 of them were purchased by Penton to get the Sachs 6A & 6B motors out of them. This also gave Penton a place to use the "iron barreled" Sachs 5A motors that he had, which were a better Trials motor anyway. Some of the 5A motors were bored at Penton to 152cc and they put Penton tags on the side covers on these. Mitsubishi also bought around 1000 of the Wassells and sold them as Tyran's.
So the bottom line is you have a rare bike to restore and definitely worth restoring as there were only around 700 Penton/Wassell out there. I have over 30 vintage bikes most of them are 70's vintage motocross bikes and when I show someone my collection the Penton/Wassell always get a comment.

Forrest  

That 79 KTM 175 that was dropped off at my shop a month ago in a box is all back together now with everything but the gas tank. I am still working on repainting it. Should have the tank done next week and then it is time to ride...... It is always fun when you get a bike in a box, it's like a puzzle putting it back together and this one was missing the swingarm pivot bolt so had to have one machined, we made it out of an old Rolls Royce axle.
I would post a picture but can't seem to figure out how on this site

Forrest

Just had a KTM dropped of at my shop that the guy thought I needed. Ran the numbers (frame starts with 901- and motor starts 9-521) and it looks to be a 1979 KTM 175 GS80 from what I can tell. The motor is all together and seems to be in good shape with great compression, the frame is clean and in great shape, the rest is in a box but looks to be all there. Should be easy to get back together and running again.

Forrest

I think 16L is Wes Plunkett. I was talking with him there and he is from Napa CA. And yes he was talking about his fuel petcock or lack of... it would not shut off. He also had a Penton 125 there that the tank was painted black on that he was also racing.

Forrest

I was on the other side of the track when that happened so did not see who all was there. You were lucky he did not take you down with him. I heard he broke it pretty good, thats not a good thing.
I was walking back towards the finish line and they were red flaging the race until they got him out of there, so knew it was not good.

Forrest

I was there watching and got to watch you race. Looking good I must say, and your Penton was cooking around that track. Great job. And I must say this was just my second year to go watch and it is a blast. Got to talk with a couple Penton guys which is always fun. Did not run into you in the pits but will watch for you at other races and come say hi.

Forrest

This is my first post here and I can not seem to figure out how to attach pictures, maybe someone can help.

I just finished restoring a 73 Jackpiner 175 and am getting ready to restore my 72 Wassell but still having to much fun riding it from time to time. And I want to thank Al for all the parts for the resto on the Jackpiner, and also lots of the parts for the Wassell so far.

And this last weekend I just finished painting a 71 125 Six-day gas tank that is now on my shelf with some other vintage gas tanks.

Forrest