78 cutlass W-31 build
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Well this is a new one on me! And I guess on all of us. It's in primer or something inside and out! It almost looks like powder coating? It looks like they got good coverage and it looks thick. I think I'm just going to e-coat the sending unit before I put it in after it's I'll probably just scuff it with a red pad and tank tone it.
But that's a job for tomorrow morning. I got caught in the rain at work tonight and I need a hot shower and a hot meal.
But that's a job for tomorrow morning. I got caught in the rain at work tonight and I need a hot shower and a hot meal.
I put a new tank in my 71 LeMans last summer and it had the same gray coating on it. It was a Dorman brand tank.
I don't know what this one is it was the cheapest one I could find that came with the filler neck installed it was an fleabey listing. I was being as cheap as I could lol.
I’ll have to get a picture of the Spectra tank I bought. Swear it looks like plain bare metal, definitely doesn’t have that grey coating on it.
I didn't paint it. I just took it out of the box and bolted it in. I don't know how it will hold up long term in the real world yet, it's been in less than a year I only put about 300 miles on it, it doesn't get driven unless it's nice out and it spent all winter tucked away in my storage garage and I haven't had a chance to bring it out of storage yet this year.
Well I made a little progress this morning. First thing I did was scuffed up the sending unit and hit it with a little U-pol acid etch primer
I did the lock ring to because I don't trust whatever they put on it. Then I installed it in the tank with a little WD on the O-ring being careful not to get it everywhere.
Then I scuffed up the tank with some 400 on the da with a soft pad interface. I tried red Scotch Brite first but it did nothing to that coating. I didn't have any tank tone so on my way in I went to the orange big box store down the street from my house and got a spray can of something close and I think it worked out well
I did the top first and let it dry before I flipped it over and did the bottom.
That's when I realized I only had 3/8 and not 5/16 fuel line for the return so I started calling parts stores. I ended up going 20 miles south on the GSP for fuel line and that took up a chunk of the day but it did let the paint dry.
I had a hard time getting it in and scratched it in a few places but in this car it gets undercoating anyway so I'll touch up the silver before I do that
Once I had it in and wired up I went to the gas station in Lakewood that has 93 Saturday is the only day I drive in Lakewood because no one is on the road. Of course I didn't have a funnel to put it in but I had plenty of 3/8 line
And I know how to use it lol. I primed the carb and fired it up the gauge works and everything no fuel leaks. The last thing I did was send the wife a video of it running and tell her it needs insurance now. I'd say it was a pretty successful day.
I did the lock ring to because I don't trust whatever they put on it. Then I installed it in the tank with a little WD on the O-ring being careful not to get it everywhere.
Then I scuffed up the tank with some 400 on the da with a soft pad interface. I tried red Scotch Brite first but it did nothing to that coating. I didn't have any tank tone so on my way in I went to the orange big box store down the street from my house and got a spray can of something close and I think it worked out well
I did the top first and let it dry before I flipped it over and did the bottom.
That's when I realized I only had 3/8 and not 5/16 fuel line for the return so I started calling parts stores. I ended up going 20 miles south on the GSP for fuel line and that took up a chunk of the day but it did let the paint dry.
I had a hard time getting it in and scratched it in a few places but in this car it gets undercoating anyway so I'll touch up the silver before I do that
Once I had it in and wired up I went to the gas station in Lakewood that has 93 Saturday is the only day I drive in Lakewood because no one is on the road. Of course I didn't have a funnel to put it in but I had plenty of 3/8 line
And I know how to use it lol. I primed the carb and fired it up the gauge works and everything no fuel leaks. The last thing I did was send the wife a video of it running and tell her it needs insurance now. I'd say it was a pretty successful day.
Unfortunately trying to install it myself without a jack was a bad idea and it got some scratches but the old tank was undercoated so I think I'm going to touch up the silver and blast the bottom with undercoating like it was. This way it still looks original. I'm not painting the car yet so I'm going for that survivor look. When I do the body it will be one piece at a time. Starting with the worst parts. Coincidentally the worst parts are the ones that have already been painted by someone else. Left quarter, door and decklid where repaired from collision damage sometime in the 80s the rest of the car is bad original paint. But it buffs up
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