De-stinking Penelope

[rustybronco]

Chuck, I planned on using MEK (not MEK substitute) to strip out the liner. If I can't find it, I'll use acetone instead.

Oh, There's no way in heck you'll ever see me putting this tank on the barbi!

[chuck hahn]

Dale ..Etch And Prep will do the derusting but since it comes in a plastic jug, i suspect it wont touch the liner. The Kreem site says to use MEK and aggitate from time to time. Ive used the MEK solution but be warned it will destroy the paint. Since your gonna be throwing some flame thats not a consideration for you. Back in the day, we would have a camp fire and put our old rocker covers off cars on for a solution to remove paint and old stuck on crap inside them. Get everything set for the patching but dont out them in. Throw the tank on the open barbie and cook it out is always an option too. Rinse out the soot and derust.

[rustybronco]

Ed, I can live with the metal color looking like that after the white is removed.

I might go with Chucks suggestion to use 'Etch And Prep' on it.

[Nessism]

This photo shows what phosphoric acid does after about four days - this tank was heavily rusted. Had to work hard to remove the whiteish deposits on the metal (shaking the tank with a load of aquarium rocks).

[rustybronco]

Ed, I'm undecided at this point what to use. The first hurdle is getting out all the old liner from the tank. After stripping the liner I might think of using dynamite to clean it out.

In order to make sure all the old liner is removed, I'll probably bring home the bore scope to peer inside the tank afterwards. If the right rear corner is anything like the area around the petcock hole, it will have a small puddle of liner in it and as you know, it all needs to be removed to obtain the best results. I only want to do this once.

All kidding aside, I'll probably use vinegar as phosphoric acid will turn it black and I rather have it looking like shiny ('ish) metal instead. I'll do a test run on some old rusted piece of metal and then decide which method will look the best.

[Nessism]

Dale, What method are you going to use to derust the tank after repair?

[rustybronco]

I may have cut an entire rectangle out and fitted new nuts to the inside of the repair patch...then did as Dale did.

Chuck, you don't know how close I came to cutting the section out of the unaltered tank and using it to repair Penelope's tank.

Rodger the flatness thought. I'm hoping to keep the heat from the torches down so there will be the least amount of flattening to do afterwards.

[Nessism]

Looks good to me. I've blasted down hills at 50 mph on bicycle frames I brazed together. No worry.

[chuck hahn]

Dale..Im sure youve thought of this too. But just a reminder. Be sure you get the seating area for the petcock gasket as absolutely flat and even as possible to prevent any leaks.

[chuck hahn]

I may have cut an entire rectangle out and fitted new nuts to the inside of the repair patch...then did as Dale did. Few tack welds just to hold it till the brazing was done, grind smooth, retouch any imperfections and resmooth. Another benefit to the rectangle would be that it allows a thicker guage metal to be used to weld new nuts too. And I would mig the nuts as braze can sometimes release from a twisting pressure such as tightening the bolts.

We will make a boilermaker out of you yet Doc.
Now pay attention people, there is a perfect example of the difference between a good build and a stunning build, attention to detail.
How many people would have just brazed a square patch over the whole shooting match and called it done??????
Awesome work Doc.

[rustybronco]

I started repairing the extra holes in the fuel tank this evening on a fuel tank I bought a year or so ago off of Ebay. By the way the holes were modified, it looked like the tank might have been used as a drag tank, judging by the way someone added the extra holes for an aftermarket petcock or add on fuel tap. You can see how much metal they hacked away by comparing it to the un-alterated fuel tank on the left side of this picture.




I started the repair by taking my die grinder to the spot welded in place wiring loom retainer and ground away at the spot weld until it could be removed.

The loom retainer will be welded back in place when I finish welding up the 'extra' holes.





Next I took the die grinder to the holes in order to make them a bit more symmetrical and make it easier to 'fit up' a metal repair plug to each hole. After I straightened out the holes needing to be repaired, I beveled the edges to allow the repair plugs to fit flush with the tanks surface and to keep them from falling into the tank as I weld.

The repair plugs will have a similar bevel on their undersides.





I started making the repair plugs by cutting a 1mm thick piece of metal to the approximate size and ground it down on my bench grinder until it was very close to the needed size, then finished fitting it to the hole by hand with a file. I also beveled the edges of each plug to match the bevel on the two 'extra' holes in the tank.

I made a pattern so that I can remake the correct size fuel tap hole after the extra holes are repaired.





Here are both plugs properly fitted in place ready to be hard soldered in place.





More than likely I won't get a chance to 'hard solder" (braze) the plugs until late Saturday or Sunday afternoon. I'll take pictures of the completed repair and post them up as soon as I can after it's finished and the new opening for the tap is cut.

[Wallowgreen]

Ok Dale, caught up at last... phew!

Ah Chuck, this is Africa a hundred bill sorts out any problems one may have with the law.

[chuck hahn]

I saw Dales other thread..let me remind you that perjury is a felony.