Harley-Davidson Fuel Tank Conversion - Hot Bike Baggers Magazine

EFI To Carb Fuel Tank Conversion
When it was time for a paint upgrade on our project Lonely King, we hit up the swap meet for a nice fuel tank to send out with the upgraded sheetmetal. The tank we found was straight and looked like it just came off a bike, so off it went to paint.

The only problem was when it came back from getting layers of flake, candy and pinstriping on it, the tank we bought suffered from a case of mistaken identity. The bike is a carbureted '97 Road King and the tank that we scored at the swapmeet was for an EFI model. What's the difference you ask? The bottom of the EFI tank has no provision for a petcock and it has a huge hole in the top of the tank meant for the fuel pump and the fuel gauge sending unit.

Thankfully, the top of the tank was not that big of an issue since we just ordered a new tank canopy and bolts from Harley-Davidson, which fit just like they were supposed to.

The bottom of the tank was a different issue all together. We were a bit upset at the thought of having to drill a huge hole in the bottom of the tank and ruin the killer paint job that Airea 5150 did for us, so we went in search of something that could convert the tank. While asking around and probing the Internet for a solution, we went to Pingel's website and to our surprise, found a conversion kit readily available.

With the parts from H-D and Pingel in hand we thought our troubles were over until we started looking closer at the inside of the tank. While peeking around inside we noticed a few microscopic hairline cracks and some peeling in the OE tank liner and bits of rust hidden under them. Knowing that this should be taken care of well before the tank would be used, we had to find an easy to use kit that would be kinder to the paint than other kits. We found a Stampede tank lining kit from MC Advantages and decided to give that a shot while we still had the tank on the bench.

(1.) The OE carbureted tank (Right) has the fuel level indicator in the left side of the tank whereas the EFI tank has a large hole in the center in which the fuel pump and fuel level sender are located.
(1.) The OE carbureted tank (Right) has the fuel level indicator in the left side of the t
(2.) The underside of each tank shows the carbureted tank with a single outlet for the petcock, while the old style EFI tank has two smaller ports.
(2.) The underside of each tank shows the carbureted tank with a single outlet for the pet
(3.) To fix the issues of the rust in the tank as well as the EFI to carburetion conversion, parts from Harley-Davidson, Pingel and MC Advantages were used.
(3.) To fix the issues of the rust in the tank as well as the EFI to carburetion conversio

(4.) Inside the tank there were bits of the OE tank liner peeling as well as a few spots of rust that needed to be eradicated.
(4.) Inside the tank there were bits of the OE tank liner peeling as well as a few spots o
(5.) To the rescue was the Stampede three-part tank liner kit, which is designed for unpainted tanks, but with care we tried it on a painted tank.
(5.) To the rescue was the Stampede three-part tank liner kit, which is designed for unpai
(6.) We started the inner-tank cleaning process by inserting pieces of chain into each side of the tank and rattling the tank around for 30 minutes. This did a great job of breaking up any loose and lingering bits of old liner and rust.
(6.) We started the inner-tank cleaning process by inserting pieces of chain into each sid