waterproofing water tanks

[Laurie]

A friends Leisure 27 has 2 tanks under the starboard and port saloon berth/seating, around which the boat it seems, was built. That is to say, they are not coming out. These metal tanks are zinc plated? are appear to have one or two pin hole leaks which are only going to get worse.
Are the paints advertised for painting therein up to the job, or does anyone have any advice or thoughts?
I would reiterate however; the owner is adamant that the tanks are not coming out.........

In hopeful anticipation, thank you!

 

[vyv_cox]

Depends entirely on access to the interior. If the tops come off it should be possible to carry out proper preparation, prime and epoxy paint. If the only access is through a small inspection hatch it would be very difficult to do the job well and it would almost certainly fail fairly quickly.

 

[Tranona]

Think he will have to face up to the fact that they have a finite life and at some point will have to come out. Water and mild steel = rust, and once it starts is difficult to stop. An alternative is to put a flexible tank inside them, but if they are any size they will probably have baffles, making lining a difficult job.

 

[Laurie]

My thanks to you both: most of those option had been long considered, and one way or another, some year or another...the tanks WILL be removed, I'm sure!
However in the meantime, they have been painted inside with a special 2 pack epoxy paint.
It remains to be seen what the effective result will be, but it is looking surprisingly good?
Once again, thank you for your responses