Re: 1948 Super Eight Resurrection

Posted by Joseph Earl On 2012/3/1 22:00:13

The latest progress: I drained and dropped tank, and removed the fuel gauge sending unit. There's about a half inch of rust and varnish in the bottom of the tank, and the sending unit is covered with about 1/16" of dry rust. The pickup tube is completely clogged.

I fashioned a plate out of sheet styrene plastic, and using the sending unit as a guide, made a new cork gasket. With the hole blocked off, I then proceeded to carefully rinse out the tank with some mineral spirits. I then flushed it with water, and added about a quart of muriatic acid (approx. 1:1), put in a chain, and wearing an apron, gloves and goggles, sloshed the tank back and forth in all directions to break the rust loose. Then I rinsed it by sticking the garden hose down the filler tube and let it run for about an hour. This process I repeated again, and eventually I could see bare metal on the bottom of the tank.

The pickup tube was still plugged up, and with a coat hanger, I couldn't get past the crook in the tube, so I took a small syringe and introduced some carb cleaner (the kind you soak your parts in) into the tube. After more wrangling with the coat hanger, and the addition of compressed air, the plug in the tube finally broke loose. I then rinsed out the tank one more time, dried it and put about a quart of Ospho in it, sloshed it all around and let it sit overnight.

The next day, I drained the remainder of the Ospho out, dried the tank, and prepared to reinstall it. The Ospho hardened any leftover rust, and neutralized it. I didn't feel the need to coat the inside of the tank since there were no leaks. after cleaning the sending unit in carb cleaner, I noticed the float had liquid in it so I drilled two small holes, one at each end so I could blow it out with compressed air much like you would blow out an egg. after rinsing it out with acetone, I introduced some water with a little bit of dishwashing liquid and blew into it again, revealing bubbles coming out all around the center where the wire hanger attached to it. I then dried it out, soldered it up, and tested it again with the soapy water before soldering up the two holes I drilled. I tested it with an ohm meter, and it appeared to work so I then reinstalled it in the tank with the cork gasket I made earlier.

I cut 24" long strips of 1/16" neoprene to replace the cardboard that was on the top and the narrower ones on the bottom where the straps were, glued them to the tank, and reinstalled it.

Next item: hooking it up and testing the fuel pump!