From my query on this subject:

> Hi Vans Aircraft,
>
> I'm nearing my tank sealing and am acquiring the materials to do it.
> In the construction manual, naptha or MEK are suggested as cleaning
> agents to cleanse the parts before sealing. I also checked the website
> for the sealant and they suggest methylene chloride (http://flamemaster.com/wp-content/up...-rev-01-07.pdf).
>
> I'm in California and MEK is not for sale here. I cannot find naptha and
> cannot find anything labeled methylene chloride -- at least not by those
> names. In my internet research, it is suggested Coleman camping fuel is
> naptha -- I can get this but I don't necessarily trust the internet. I can
> also find a number of other solvents (acetone, denatured alcohol, etc.).
> Do you have suggestions for alternatives that might be available in
> California which would be acceptable for cleaning parts?
>
> Thank you,

And the reply:
The coleman camp fuel is most likely the best product you will find in your
state and is what most of us here would use on our own projects.

Thanks, I've seen camp fuel mentioned a few times as well. Does it clean up the wet proseal from the areas that need it too?

> Thanks, I've seen camp fuel mentioned a few times as well. Does it clean up the wet proseal from the areas that need it too?

Yes, I used it for that too. Acetone worked also. I felt both of those were superior to denatured alcohol for cleanup.

Thanks, I'll pick up a can and give it a try!

It works but may require a little more effort than MEK. I always have a quart of MEK available when sealing but will only use it when I am not making fast enough progress cleaning up the mess with "Camp Fuel". IF in the Peoples Socialist Republic of Kalifonia where MEK is not available, the MEK substitute will work but not quite a well are real MEK.

One thing I did was use the tubes of pro seal and took an ordinary caulk gun and ground down the plunger on a grinder until it would fit in the pro seal tube
Put a large washer on the nozzle that would fit in the retaining collar on the caulk gun and presto you have saved your self a hundred dollar bill from having to buy the professional Proseal gun

MEK is available in California. I bought a quart of it recently at Aircraft Spruce in Corona.

8A Fuel Tank Sealant Question
 

Got a question for all you guys with strong magic. I'm about ready to do the ribs on the fuel tanks this week and have read Rick6A's and everyone else's fantastic posts on pro-seal. Great words/pics. The plan is to do all five ribs at once. What I can't quite figure out is should all the required sealant be mixed up at once or in batches? Also, is it better to apply the sealant to the upper portion of all the ribs/skin (after the nose area is sealed/clecoed) and then cleco them all at one time and then seal the lower portion of the ribs/skin and cleco all of them? I live in Co Springs so the garage will be in the high 50s / low 60s this week when all this takes place so the working time will be around 1+30-ish. Hopefully this makes sense as I still get a bit of a helmet fire on this stuff. Thanks for your support!

I ended up doing it in 2 batches, just to be safe because I wasn't fully sure how much proseal to mix up for each. I put proseal on the entire rib, fit it, and clecoed a few on the nose, did the same for the rest of the ribs, mixed batch 2, finished up the last ribs, repeating the same process. Then I clecoed my way up one or two holes, then across the tank, then back up until I got to the top. When I did tank 2 I mixed it all at once as I got a lot more comfortable with the exact quantity needed.

Good luck, it's not as bad as it seems. On tank 2 I don't think I got any proseal on my clothes. You'll learn quickly.

I did all the ribs at once and didn't seem to have a problem with working time. I left the end ribs off just for better access and did them after the others were all riveted but it's probably not necessary. The sealant Van's sells has a 2hr working time IIRC so you should have plenty of time to do all the ribs.

I used the Semco sealant gun which was a big help but you can probably do the same thing with a Ziploc bag. Just butter up the flanges with a thin coat of sealant.

I buttered up the flanges of each rib one at a time and clecoed each rib to the top of the skin with about three clecos while the skin was open. Once they were all clecoed to the top I slipped the skin with the ribs into the cradle and put clecoes in every hole. I let it cure for several days then riveted when the proseal was basically cured. I didn't bother putting sealant in each hole when I riveted the skin to the ribs. Others recommend it but I found it to be more of a pain and the bucking bar kept getting sealant on it which made it hard to rivet because the bucking bar kept slipping. Then I encapsulated the shop heads and finished up the rest of the tank. No leaks.