Fuel tanks: comedy of errors

[DD (CA)]

Bear with me whilst I vent a bit...

Just spent the last two hours trying to connect the drivers side elbow between crossover and fuel tank. I think the rubber hose sleeves might just be on now. I'm also trying to use the original wire clamps.

List of maladies:
Fuel level sender: was crusty and stuck but now pivots fairly freely. Was going to remove cover and freshen inside servo. But, I've learned just about anything I try to crack open has ended up with me having two or three more things to fix. So I installed it. Did not meter test it either. Dumb. Also did not replace gasket there seemed ok. Also bent little arms on metal gasket cover. Not real convinced it's tight enough. Left it.

Crossover pipe: epoxy coating type stuff under the exterior paint also covered all the threads for pickup connection. Took wire wheel to them. Probably altered something no doubt. Total pita to install with grommet water and dawn combo helped.

Tank holding brackets: for some reason both pieces are bent tweaked and it was a pita to semi lift tanks in order to use end bolts. Could barely bolt to trunk sides. Missing bolt each side and imperial flathead is crap. Loosen tighten loosen etc. no reason for this. A number of blasted and re painted parts do not fit well any longer. Perhaps warpage.

Rubber hose connectors: followed install note from another site maybe TU. Soap and water helped slip on, but by time elbow aligned the sleeve wouldn't budge. Oh lookie, special tank coating also coming off. Does not bide well for inner tanks. Wishing hadn't done that coating but not goin back at this point. Hoping fuel filter will suffice for large qty of peeling expected. BS.
Those doing this for a driver... New clamps would be so much easier to deal with. If I do end up backtracking, good worms are going on.

More than a little bit put off as of late. When I get an hour I want to make progress not move backwards.

So, need to go back and leverage another wire clamp over a coupe cm. should take an hour or so. Then these things will be installed. For now. But probably temporarily argh

 

[norm1]

Just finished mine, cleaned, coated on the inside, painted on the outside and reinstalled. Used new hoses and the original clamps.

No problems, no leaks.

 

[Warren]

Moe

DD, you don't strike me as the Moe type, maybe Curly. But you will most likely be saying Doh when you hit the ign. and the fuel gauges quivers then goes nuck nuck nuck. It is very crudimentrary, n comes apart easy and it's little rheostat is most likely crusty like Moe's burnt white toast. Moe had a tapeworm who didn't deserve much better but you do

Feel the force you can do it!

 

[DD (CA)]

whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop

+ many "s" at the end...

Is the most common routine here.

And a double finger to eye poke to norm1...for his nonchalance.

Warren are you suggesting that I actually remove the level sender and perform QC?

lol. Let's just try it and see... what could possibly go wrong... I'll know if there's fuel in there anyway.

 

[norm1]

It only takes about 30 seconds to pop the cover off and look at the contact bar to clean or be sure it is clean and less than another 30 seconds to test the resistance from empty to full.

 

[Warren]

Never Never curse guys

Saying anything with take X amount of time moves the powers that be into the land of WTF just happened. Breaking the little tabs off, getting overzealous with the small brass wiper and cleaning. Some suggest dielectric grease as well on contacts.

Be careful as I think its a NLA part. I have a spare if you get in a pinch,


I hear the only time estimates allowed to be made are by Duke and others with their version of I can R n R that drive train in X hours.
Also know as name that tune for Tiger high HP addicts

 

[DD (CA)]

example of time commits...

Norm,
the outside casing of the sensor is (was) very crusty. I could carefully remove the two screws. But, the cover did not just pop off. I did not wish to use a small screwdriver or lever to pull it off, for fear that I would bend the cover, rendering the seal forever 'iffy.' I took a wire brush to the outside and was able to remove a lot of the crust. In so doing, the arm which also had been sticky, began moving very easily. I then proceeded to move the arm and feel what must be the inner Cu arm on contacts of the servo. Figured at that point, I'd probably do more damage. And I was definitely more than 30in into the effort.

By all means, I'm definitely more a 'take it apart, learn from it, make it better' type, but I'm trying to ween myself away from some of that.

EX: blower motor. Very rusty at brackets. Also had radio brackets attached and rusty. And had pine needles, spores and other contamination inside the housing. So I needed to remove it, for clean and repair... but the rusted screws stripped and needed to be removed / drilled / sawed off. This in turn broke the bakelite around a screw or two, therefore cracking the entire housing. Then I started to look more deeply at the motor and would have pulled that thing apart had Bill not stopped me. Had I simply tested it first, and turned it upside down, I'd have a less than spotless housing, but a working system and more than a number of hours worth of labor and concern.

This time, I'm trying the opposite tack. Try it. If fail, remove it. heh

"I oughta'.... (actually test this stuff...)

 

[67tiger]

What did you have the inside of your tanks coated with, I have mine for complete dipping and stripping due to the inside coating coming completely off and so much so it stopped fuel flow. I'm hesitant to have any coating on the inside of these tanks..Is that a problem?
Have no interest in revisiting what I just finished dealing with...Thanks

 

[Warren]

Why coat them?

What did you have the inside of your tanks coated with, I have mine for complete dipping and stripping due to the inside coating coming completely off and so much so it stopped fuel flow. I'm hesitant to have any coating on the inside of these tanks..Is that a problem?
Have no interest in revisiting what I just finished dealing with...Thanks

Motorcycle guys despise the classic bikes that get a epoxy job. I have had many a bare metal tank and I can't imagine the cheap Japan steel of the 60's was any better or worse than UK steel and after cleaning I just try to keep em full. You can also zinc them by reversing polarity when doing the battery charger cleaning method, but I have never bothered. I stay away from alcohol blended fuels and leaving vehicles parked overnight outside.

 

[DD (CA)]

67...epoxy?

What did you have the inside of your tanks coated with, I have mine for complete dipping and stripping due to the inside coating coming completely off and so much so it stopped fuel flow. I'm hesitant to have any coating on the inside of these tanks..Is that a problem?
Have no interest in revisiting what I just finished dealing with...Thanks

I did lots of research here. And lots of other research. And then asked my guru. Went with his recommended shop. They had lots of previous tiger tank experience and they weren't cheap.

But the moment I got them back I kinda questioned the results. Looked odd. Shiny gloss surface over the black exterior. But guru insistent they've never had an issue with the coating.

Could be my fault but doubt it. When installing I used a water and dish washing soap mixture to lube the rubber hoses. The next day I could see the black peeling up where the solution had been in contact. Strangely, the metal surface still appeared shiny under the rubber like black paint. Figured the sealant was under the paint and the interior of the tanks and pipes were not painted so no big deal. But... When installing the elbow last night I could chip off a large chunk of the clear sealant from the interior. Sigh... It is possible the sealant chipped due to pressure I was exerting on the end of the elbow with the hose opening. I'll never know. Sad if Dawn and water killed it.

Lesson learned: A: I don't know a thing. B: trusting the people that DO know things is still no guarantee that their people will meet prior performance.

I'm running into concerns with motor shop I was referred to as well. And some other maybe bigger issues in the paint dept may be revealed later. Or not.

Definitely losing faith here...

I'm not the right guy to ask about this. My extensive research found one or two coating processes that seemed reassuring. And then feedback from folks on here that claimed problem or no problem.

 

[0neoffive]

Don't Loose Faith, BUT.

I did lots of research here. And lots of other research. And then asked my guru. Went with his recommended shop. They had lots of previous tiger tank experience and they weren't cheap.

But the moment I got them back I kinda questioned the results. Looked odd. Shiny gloss surface over the black exterior. But guru insistent they've never had an issue with the coating.

Could be my fault but doubt it. When installing I used a water and dish washing soap mixture to lube the rubber hoses. The next day I could see the black peeling up where the solution had been in contact. Strangely, the metal surface still appeared shiny under the rubber like black paint. Figured the sealant was under the paint and the interior of the tanks and pipes were not painted so no big deal. But... When installing the elbow last night I could chip off a large chunk of the clear sealant from the interior. Sigh... It is possible the sealant chipped due to pressure I was exerting on the end of the elbow with the hose opening. I'll never know. Sad if Dawn and water killed it.

Lesson learned: A: I don't know a thing. B: trusting the people that DO know things is still no guarantee that their people will meet prior performance.

I'm running into concerns with motor shop I was referred to as well. And some other maybe bigger issues in the paint dept may be revealed later. Or not.

Definitely losing faith here...

I'm not the right guy to ask about this. My extensive research found one or two coating processes that seemed reassuring. And then feedback from folks on here that claimed problem or no problem.

Even the best & brightest of experienced Gurus will have a bad day. I have a very firm "walk away" rule in the shops. No strings attached, and, when (not if) things are going poorly or you don't agree with procedure, walk away. This keeps the quality up and allows a return to a project with better attitudes.

 

[Paul4223]

What I did….

A close friend who helped me with the restoration of my car had extensive experience in his dad's business, which was restoring old airplanes and selling them for big bux.

My buddy insisted that I get the gas tanks zinc plated after having them stripped and "boiled out" because that's what they did to airplane fuel tanks.

The exterior of the tanks were primed then lightly sprayed with bodyshutz.

It's been over 20 years, and so far so good.

 

[Paul4223]

Zinc Plating: An Observation

Today, while filling the gas tanks, the sunlight was such that I was able to see clear into the bottom of the tank. It is as clean and shiny as it was over 20 years ago when we first had it plated. There was no sign of sediment of any kind.

YMMV

 

[DD (CA)]

FWIW...

I really prefer the 'take it back to bare metal and just keep it filled' approach. Have a feeling this is going to become an issue. I should have taken a pic before reassembling the elbow, just to share. But was frustrated.

Now trying to replace all fuel and brake lines. classic tube. Mostly sorta teh same shape, but not entirely... sigh...

And thinking, gee, of the coating comes off, at least it'll be stuck up inside this brand new shiny line. (dumb-dumb)

RE: Zn plating. Read a number of articles, sounds feasible. Also glad to hear its working well in your system. Course, I also believe most on here have R&R'd their cars and are now driving them, not allowing bad fuel to rest for decades. so, this will help.

 

[Paul4223]

I really prefer the 'take it back to bare metal and just keep it filled' approach. Have a feeling this is going to become an issue. I should have taken a pic before reassembling the elbow, just to share. But was frustrated.

Now trying to replace all fuel and brake lines. classic tube. Mostly sorta teh same shape, but not entirely... sigh...

And thinking, gee, of the coating comes off, at least it'll be stuck up inside this brand new shiny line. (dumb-dumb)

RE: Zn plating. Read a number of articles, sounds feasible. Also glad to hear its working well in your system. Course, I also believe most on here have R&R'd their cars and are now driving them, not allowing bad fuel to rest for decades. so, this will help.

RE: Zinc plating. I was simply following the instructions of my pal. I'm also glad it worked out- but I figured if his dad was doing it to airplane fuel tanks it would also work well for the Tiger. I don't remember what plating cost, but I don't think it was "expensive". I drove the car a lot more when we lived in Cali. Now, winters are long and wet, so the car sits for months at a time, unfortunately. But no, no decades.

Good luck with your project. When it's all finished, and you're driving the car, the hassles and setbacks are all worth it!