During lunch today I made a second trip to the Radiator Doctor in San
Jose to pick the gas tank for my Cobra. This time it was ready, or at
least in a state I was willing accept. The black paint that had been
sprayed on it had been stripped off and apparently the outside had been
sand blasted. I'm not too pleased about the sand blasting but it
appears to have removed most of the exterior rust.
No big surprise. The acid bath had etched all of the (solder,
galvanizing, or whatever) coating off the outside of the tank. The
inside as well, I suppose; assuming there was any inside. I now have a
bare metal tank rusting away as I write this. Even some of the solder
around the seams was substantially eaten away. I really didn't have the
time to check the inside of the tank so I'm not sure how bad it is.
What I do know is that it's not ready to go back into the car yet. So
much for my plan to install it this weekend.
Now to decide what to do with the tank. I could paint the outside, or I
could try to re-tin it. I'm not sure how much of a job that would be.
I was thinking about going to an auto paint supply store and picking up
some tinning compound (or whatever its called). If I paint it, I'm not
sure what kind of paint to use. I suppose I could use Imron. It's
difficult to find decent paint in a spray can anywhere in California
these days. So, whatever I decide on, I'll most likely have to use my
compressor and spray gun. Fortunately the finish doesn't have to be of
exterior auto body show quality. My equipment is definitely not of
professional caliber. A nice dull aluminum finish would do fine.
The insides is another matter. Maybe I'll try removing some more of the
crud. One method I've heard suggested is to dump a can of small nuts
and bolts inside the tank (or perhaps small diameter gravel) and roll
the tank around and let this loose stuff knock the worst of the rust and
crud loose. I'm going to scrutinize the inside as best I can this
weekend. Maybe this won't be necessary.
Roland
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