Fuel tank assembly and some strip down

The fuel tank was finally ready with a gorgeous new looking paint coat. I could clearly see my face reflected in the paint. Using those sponge brushed was a great idea, and they are worth every cent.

I fitted all the rubber mounts, and the fuel neck foam. Also I sanded the gasket surface of the fuel sender and install it with a new gasket. I did not use any sealing paste, as usually the cork gasket should be enough for a good sealing, but I am worried that in the near future I have to take down the fuel tank and fit a new gasket the that colour sealing  paste.

The fuel neck originally was nor painted, it was just a metal tube with some king of zinc coating and finish, that was starting to have some light corrosion in some places. So I sanded all the tube and gave a coat of a standard zinc spray.

The fuel cap is the original, and the chrome is just in perfect condition. The key cap protector was very hard, so I just lubricated it.

Ahhh, Of course I cleaned the metal spade of the fuel tank sender, to ensure perfect contact. A dremel with the small wire wheel is the perfect handy tool for this jobs.

I removed boot tail lights that where in a very poor state. Some cracks on the plastic lights and dry glue and lot of dirt on the chrome parts. The boot had several used original Lucas and Unipart plastic lights, so I choose the best ones, to make new tail light assemblies, and cleaned with solvent the chrome parts and finally used some magic cotton. Fitted new gaskets as the original ones where dry and cracked. Finally the right light assembly could be restores to possibly  95% original condition, with the chrome parts nearly perfect. The left one could reach only 60% of originality, because the chrome has some pitting and marks I am not able to remove with the magic cotton. Anyway, I will need to polish all the plastic lights to restore the colour.

Original situation

 

Inside

Chrome full of glue

I also found on the boot a used original spare SU fuel pump. The one installed in the car is working, so I will leave it there for the moment and will not touch it, so I can concentrate on other important things, unless it suddenly fails. But I have strip down the spare pump as I was thinking in ordering a new rebuild kit. I opened the pump and removed every parts. Found some dirt on the fuel filter, and all the rubbers where completely dry and perished. Meanwhile, I will clean the metal body to remove rust and paint it, and clean the aluminum top with the sand blast. Then I will think when I order that rebuild kit, as I am trying to give priority to the most important parts and taks for time and economy reasons. Just wondering if when I order the rebuild kit, I just stay with the original contact system, or I should update to the newer electronic system. This car will be used not daily, but weekly all year round, so should not suffer from points corrosion found on cars that are stored all the winter. Money will tell me what to do......

Fuel tank finish and some chrome cleaning

Today I had some time to finish painting the fuel tank as last weekend I only had the time to paint one side.

The paint I am using, por15, is getting a little bit too dense, so I needed to add some solvent for thinning the paint. So I got from ACM Restauración a solvent bottle, specially formulated for all por15 products. I didn't want to use an universal solvent, just in case it had any issue with this special paint. I also got 2 sponge brushes, which I really wanted to try after reading they give the best result, nearly as a spray finish. ACM is the sole spanish por15 provider. Their prices are almost the same as other retailers in Europe, but with the bonus of no international shipping costs.

So first I have a light 400 grit sanding to the paint I gave last week, and gave the first coat to the other side and 2 hours later a second coat to all the fuel tank. Tomorrow it should be dry and will fit all the rubber parts, fuel sender with new gasket and install it into the car.

Just wanted to comment how happy I am with the sponge brushes. They are awesome, and give such a nice and very fine glossy finish. See the next video and you will understand:

 

Next I moved to my right side lamp. Some time in the past, the glass was broken, and someone with great ideas, instead of fitting a new glass, he fitted a hard plastic film, glued and painted to the chrome bezel

 

Just in case, I ordered from Moss a complete flasher unit, a reproduction unit made in these days. Quality is good, specially for the glass and the rear holder. But the new chrome bezel has a very poor fitting, and sides are very poorly finished and may cut your hand if you are not careful.

 

So I thought about re-using the original chrome bezel which looked to be in very poor condition.

But ........ after cleaning first with solvent to remove the old glue and silver paint, and some magic cotton used to clean silver and other metals, I ended with an almost new chrome bezel. It is incredible to see the quality of these old chrome parts, which is fantastic. Fitting is perfect, and finish is great. Of course the original rear bulb holder, I will keep it in my original bits box.

Painting all day long!

This has been a weekend of painting work.

The original situation was a solid fuel tank, with very little inside surface pitting, so I decided to reuse it. Last post I mentioned how I cleaned the inside, so now it's time for the out side

Using a angle grinder with a wire wheel, I removed all the rust and old paint and debris. It is a slow progress, loud and unpleasant..... working at 4pm in summer in Spain, makes the angle grinder get really hot, so hot, that I had to stop from time to time as I really could not hold it (I had no gloves). Wearing a mask is a good idea as rust dust is not nice to breath. Of course, it's necessary, lets say mandatory to wear goggles for your eyes. You don't want to imagine what a wire that is spinning at 10.000rpm, can do if it hits your eyes... but if you want to know, just click.


After some two hours of work I finally ended cleaning the fuel tank. It is very important to clean throughly the metal surface to get the best key for the paint. I first used a sanding sponge, that I have to say are great. They are very cheap, and easy to work with and adapts very nicely to all surfaces. I used a course sponge and finally cleaned all the surface with clean rugs and white spirit.

To paint the fuel tank I used POR15 black paint, which should give a very tough and hard finish. In my case, the two metal halfs of the tank, where separated in some areas, although the weldings are in perfect condition. Such gaps can head to rust do to water and mud getting trapped. So I took great care to get the paint inside to encapsulate the gap.

Final result is great, better than new!



Following, I moved on to the wire wheels. I used a fine sanding sponge, about 250, to remove all the dust that the primer had. When finished, I cleaned them with water, and let them dry. I used 2 can for the four wheels. It was just enough, but I think a third can would be better to give a thicker layer of paint. It was just enough for two thin layers.

I used a special wheel paint made by DupliColor called CAR'S. This paint has very positive posts on restoration forums, but it's not cheap, about 14 eur per can. I have the doubt if I should give a coat of clear lacquer on top. The specialist at the auto paint shop told me not to use it. His customer usually don't use it, and have never had any issues.

 

Two or three days to fully cure, and then I will take them to the wheel shop to fit new protection bands, new tubes and new tyres.