SBG's C3

1st skim coat
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normally I don't primer them before they're done; but I need to move the Corvette to my other garage, and I cannot let bare fiberglass get wet (a good trick to pull off in Washington)
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and what it looks like on the car
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I hate it when I do what I shouldn't.... dagnabit!!!
What I did was not pressure test after I cleaned the edges of the tank. Did I mention I filled it up yesterday? d'oh!
So here's a what to do (I've been here before, which is why I'm so irritated at myself)
we've seen this tank before
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mark the leaks you find
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err... houston, there's no seam there? wtf?

so how to weld on a tank full of gas vapors?
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wait a second, first no seam, now no bubbles?
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at least we now know where the top leak was..... err... leaks, there are several
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So here's the deal, sunday after I go wheeling, I'll come back and weld the tank up.... between now and then, I'll leave a C02/Argon mix in the tank. Anyone who remembers chemistry knows why - argon is heavier than air; and doesn't support combustion... so I've used argon to purge the tank and by sunday there should be no oxygen in the tank.... should :)
 
looks good i have never welded on a gas tank with fumes.....does it eliminate the original gas fume vapors or just pressurize the tank (low pressure i guess) with an in combustible gas?
 
bobs77vet said:
looks good i have never welded on a gas tank with fumes.....does it eliminate the original gas fume vapors or just pressurize the tank (low pressure i guess) with an in combustible gas?
Click to expand...

I welded it last night. In addition to pressurizing the tank with inert gas, I also filled the tank with water, rinsed, filled, rinsed. The last step was fill, and let it set for a bit, then put the hose in the tank and let the fuel/water come out. Gasoline is lighter than water, so if you let it sit the fuel will naturally come to the top. When you add water below the fuel it'll simply come out of the tank.

That said, to say I'm careful would be an understatement. Once I get all the fuel out (I did the float thing 3x - fill, wait 2 hours, fill, wait 2 hours, etc).

Once all of that was done, I refilled the tank with argon/co2 and let it run while I welded. Tomorrow I need to get more argon/co2 but at least I'm not in the hospital. :thumbs:

I still plan on welding corner guards on the tank to strengthen it; though probably not fully welded, just tacked to add strength.... we'll see.... today is a day of SAR stuff (search and rescue).... sounds pretty sacrficing huh? it's not, that's code for a day of four wheeling behind locked gates :bounce: (I am part of SAR, so going behind the locked gates is legal :thumbs: still, it feels illegal, so it's all good)
 
~32 years ago, during the Sha/Iran fuel crunch, me and the kid's mom had a reservation at a Martha's Vinyard campground, the 3/4 ton chebby van got exactly 10 mph towing the sailboat behind it,.....the trip was 500 miles one way, we normally would fill up along the Jersey pike where I would pump my own gas, hell with them and their silly law....well anyway the lines were way toooooo long, we decided to get another tank, so back then junkyard tanks were easy to get, so another 26 gallon tank was added, mounted side saddle and so needed welding with Argon that a welder friend did for me,....that little project lasted just one afternoon, we put it all in so just one filler filled both tanks, something I want to do with the Motor Home here now,just need figger how to do it.....so he flooded the tanks, and welded away with impunity, I was nervous but nothing happened.....trip went smoothly.....

Another friend used to be a EMT/Fire Rescue guy, not so much with back woods, as on the Potomac River, running the airboat they used for river rescue, and fishing bodies outta the river ~5X a year after they slip off the rocks at Great Falls, 3-4 days later they pop up......

Guess you seen your share of crap too.....:surrender:
 
i wonder if you could rinse with rubbing alcohol that would mix with gas and then slowly add some water and dump...repeat until its just a water mix
 
I have built a few smokers out of old propane/butane tanks (the 300 gal variety). I will tape a garden hose onto the tail pipe of a truck (my company truck.. haha) and let it idle for about 30 minutes with the other end of the hose in the tank to flush it out. I then use an LEL and make sure it alarms for low 02.. Since the fire triangle is fuel / oxygen / ignition source... remove the o2 and you can safely apply heat. That's not to say that my backside hasn't been puckered enough to make diamonds from coal when the first cut is made.

I realize not everyone has access to an LEL.. they are very handy.

oh. LEL - lower explosive limit meter.. we use 4 gas meters at work: h2s, o2, co, and methane.
 
mrvette said:
Guess you seen your share of crap too.....:surrender:
Click to expand...

yes, but worth it

I didn't get any further on the tank tonight... My 'normal' SAR truck needed unloading and figuring out how to fix a couple things that came up.

You all will find this entertaining.... we had a guy along with a very well equipped F150, I'd call him a prep-er (has something for every situation - which is a good thing), nice guy.... born in NY city, moved to Florida, now in the Pac NW.

Did I mention the work today was on several feet of snow, on the side of a mountain (single lane fire road, one side 1000 feet straight up, then 20' then 3000 feet straight down.) He's a good guy, but I suspect his boxers are now squeezed into diamonds after today's run... :D
 
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SuperBuickGuy said:
mrvette said:
Guess you seen your share of crap too.....:surrender:
Click to expand...

yes, but worth it

I didn't get any further on the tank tonight... My 'normal' SAR truck needed unloading and figuring out how to fix a couple things that came up.

You all will find this entertaining.... we had a guy along with a very well equipped F150, I'd call him a prep-er (has something for every situation - which is a good thing), nice guy.... born in NY city, moved to Florida, now in the Pac NW.

Did I mention the work today was on several feet of snow, on the side of a mountain (single lane fire road, one side 1000 feet straight up, then 20' then 3000 feet straight down.) He's a good guy, but I suspect his boxers are now squeezed into diamonds after today's run... :D
Click to expand...

:shocking: My son is age 28 and so spent many a year bumming around the Pac NW regions after graduation at age 21, so he has a Jeep Cherokee for years now, and had done tons of that sort of stuff, he has sent me pix of his Jeep on top of the mountains and in the ditch too, and so he was member of a Jeep club, going on the mudder/snow trips.....methinks he is slightly more tame than he was, met some chick and is getting chick-a-fied.........seems the topic of marriage/family has come up.....:pprrtt::beer:

That term Chick-a-fied comes from my welder buddy here, who is ex Navy and a pipe fitter/welder for power plants, non nuclear.....well his townhouse has always been a bit of a mess, being divorces since before I met him yet, and so several gals move in and then get the toss out.....well this chick moved, she is European==German/Italian naturalized 'Merican' now....so she moved in and the house went from a typical guys batchelor pad, to this fully renovated nicely decorated home, and the front bath always had the toilet/area full of yellow splash , well the room is now all pink and white, and CLEAN, and decorated, and well the group of guys just laugh and grin at Johnny and say he has been Chick-a-fied......:shocking::p:beer:
 
the biggest mistake was talking myself into using the 18 ga that was available rather than running to get some 16 ga..... anyway

it's back, and leak-free
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and my highly effective method of putting the fuel back into the right tank
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then back to sanding on the hood
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and bracing the scoop
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bobs77vet said:
SuperBuickGuy said:
the biggest mistake was talking myself into using the 18 ga that was available rather than running to get some 16 ga..... anyway

/]
Click to expand...

I bet if you had put some rolled impressions in it the 18 ga would stiffen up nicely. nice work in any event!
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the issue wasn't strength, it was ability to put heat in the weld. With 18 ga, you have to be careful how hot you get the weld to keep it from blowing through. With 16 ga that problem is eliminated and you can get a nice penetration weld...

thanks for the kudos :)
 
so I was whining to a friend today about how the hood wasn't turning out well - and he told me about his mustang (which is beautiful) and how he painted it 5x before he was happy.... I'm glad I listened, I ground the primer off because it wasn't adhering well; had I not, it'd have come off later
hard to see in the picture, but the paint was crinkling
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so I ground it off
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and reprimered
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someday I'll buy a camera without the spots
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but it looks LOTS better (the hood)
 
Don't rush out and buy a new camera - just yet. I've had those when shooting in a shed we were building and sanding a great deal.

They are dust particles floating in the air in front of the lens. The flash lights them up them and they show up as white "Water" spots because they are out of focus. They are often called "dust halos." More dust particulate in the air - more spots.

Looks like you have been sanding - so that's what you've got. Most compact cameras are particularly prone to dust halos because the flash is so close to the lens. The light from the flash catches the dust and bounces back into the lens. Not much you can do about them unless you:
1. Use external flash,
2. Use no flash.

BTW - it show why we should always "mask-Up" when sanding. All that goes in the the lungs - if not careful.

Cheers - Jim
 
Well, it took a while, but I finally finished your thread on bang shift. Damn! Very impressed, my friend. I don't know which I wish for more: your skills, your tenacity or your shop :thumbs:
 
back to the c'vette tonight

I wondered why this thing wasn't running well (especially when cold).... well, if you're using plugs you bought for a blower motor that are 3 settings colder - perhaps that might be the issue?
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yeah, I used accel plugs - they were free and they were in my shop....
while I was at it...
I changed the rocker arms
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to a 1.6 ratio
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maybe I should change the cap and coil to a higher power/better quality? .... I have all the bits on the Buick motor on the bench.... might as well, eh?

next up - cold air/air cleaner

stainless or aluminum?
 
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