Christmas in May??
One is a petrol tank and the other is an oil tank. Lets start with the oil tank, shall we! I wanted to have it cleaned off and powder-coated by Alan, so I took it round there (it had been chromed at some stage, so I wanted to have it blasted, too, to give a better ‘key’ to the surface treatment! Kust as well! The front doesn’t look too bad, so would probably ‘bog’ up for a wet-paint-job (can’t bog for powder, too hot, remember?) HOWEVER…
I wondered why for a minute and then it dawned on me…ACID, battery acid! Pockmarks all over the back and sides…some of them all the way through. Oops! So, I could bog it all and just pretend, or I could lead-fill the lot and get it painted, or I could fill with Braze. That’s what I decided to do.
Well, It was probably wrong, as the heat required distorts the thin metal too much, so the repair is probably a bit ugly and would have been a lot prettier if I had lead-filled it (which is actually just as good). Never mind. It will be oil-tight, that’s for sure! Here are the pics after
This is a lot worse than it looks, there is some distortion, though, for which I could kick myself…the tank wasn’t in bad shape, actually, just full of holes! I’ll give it a sand tomorrow and then we’ll see again what still has to be done to make a decent job of it.
The OTHER TANK is quite a different story…
The gods are kind to me and I have a growing number of friends who have been of great help to me to get this project together! One of these friends is particularly helpful and knowledgeable. Just at the moment, he is showing a level of support beyond the call of ‘duty’, and last week dressed up in a red suit with white trimmings and a fake white beard and sent me a parcel from his place in iceland, or whatever…
What turned up in the post? An original 1947 KSS Petrol tank in fantastic condition (as new), painted beautifully. The right one for the Webbs, too. I actually have a postwar KSS tank for Dowty forks, which is not exactly common, either, but in much worse condition, and a prewar MSS tank, which are my ‘swap’ for this beauty. They both need lots of work, though.
Not great pics, but I think you all the idea, right!
© peter gouws 2012