metal tiki torch repair ideas?

I picked up several old metal tiki torches at a yard sale for a couple of bucks. All were extremely rusty. My 4th of July project was to sand 'em off, spray em with that rustoleum stuff that stops rust and then spray them black. Simple.

Anyway, a couple of them sanded right through in spots. Litlle tiny spots, but holes none the less. That means the inside is all rust too. So I'm wondering... Is there any point in trying to salvage these? Is there some sort of stuff you can pour in and roll around a that will harden and be able to hold fuel and not melt (the idea of choice, but what do I use?). Should I just pretty 'em up, wire them for electricity and stick flicker bulbs in 'em?

I thought of skinny little plastic bottles inside to hold the oil and wick, but was hoping someone here would have a better idea.

They make a fuel tank liner for motorcycles called Kreem that you pour into the tank and roll around until you've got an inner liner. But it sounds like the torches you're working with are probably shot. The fact that they've got a lot of surface rust and are rusted through in places would indicate that the remaining metal is going to be very thin when you're done. I would suggest cleaning them up as best you can and paint them with Rustoleum, then I like your idea of converting them to flicker bulbs, that would be cool!

Here's a link to a place that sells Kreem:

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/4/72/7407/ITEM/Kreem-Fuel-Tank-Liner.aspx?SiteID=CSE_GBase&WT.mc_ID=80003&zmam=88421133&zmas=1&zmac=2&zmap=7407

[ Edited by: TikiTres 2008-07-04 15:46 ]

Hey thanks Tiki Tres! Have you ever used this stuff? Does it form a sort of hard shell inside the tank? I'm thinking I could bondo the little holes or something and then use the Kreem. I'm using the rustoleum rust stopper as a base before I paint. Maybe I could just shoot a lot of that inside and then use the Kreem? Hmmm...

No problem! I have indeed used it, but it's been many years ago (on an old Honda 750 tank). As I recall it didn't form a hard shell, it was more like a rubbery liner when it was done. You're supposed to get all the scale out first, the chosen method back then was to throw a bunch of BB's in and keep rolling them around inside until no more scale came out. Should work on tiki torches too! Then rinse it and apply the liner. Motorcycle tanks back then were notorious for developing scaly rust inside the tank, so the purpose of the liner was to stop the progression before it rusted through. I think you probably wouldn't want to do the Rustoleum inside as the liner is intended to bond directly to the metal and I believe it has it's own rust inhibitors. But the rest of the process you describe sounds good (Rustoleum on the outside, then bondo or 'glass the holes and do the liner on the inside). You may start a new trend towards tiki torch restoration here, you should post pics of the whole process :)

Not to go all off-topic here (sorry spy-tiki!), but does anyone know where to get NEW (or good used) metal tiki torches, plumbed up for use with natural gas like you'd see in a Hawaiian/Tiki hotel or condo? Like the current fuel crisis, natural gas has gotta be cheaper than citronella, and definitely more convenient.

Yes, these guys have several gas versions:

http://www.buytikitorches.com/category/gas-torches

You can but a lot of citronella for what one of those costs though :wink: