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Yes, it sticks fine which is the purpose of Ospho as it is a paint prep. Ospho is much like Hirsch's own etcher but quite a a bit less expensive than the etcher that comes with their kit.

This may be a stupid question, so tell me if it is.

We're still figuring out the fuel tank situation. We'd like to get the car running in the meantime and sort through other issues (engine tuning, freeing valves, fuel pump, etc) while we determine what the next steps are for the tank.

My question is, can we use a small marine gas tank as a temporary tank in the trunk?

We plan on cutting the hole in the trunk floor for servicing the sender. My thought is we can put a small 3-6 gallon tank in the trunk, then run 3/8" rubber line through the hole in the trunk and connect it directly to the hard line.

Is this a terrible idea?

-Kevin

It's not a great idea, but for limited use it should be OK. Gasoline fumes accumulating in the trunk is a potential hazard, and should be guarded against. I would want to secure the tank to the floor by drilling a couple of holes and strapping it down somehow. I'd avoid filling it more than 3/4 full. Any gasoline leaked or spilled in the confined area will leave you with a durable stink.

I'd want to cover the access hole with some kind of temporary cover to keep road dust out if you're going to drive the car.
Another consideration is whether the marine tank is vented. For use on a car, it would need vented, preferabley to some location outside of the car body.

Done properly, you'll never need to service your sender so I have no idea why the hole would be needed.

That said, I have a marine tank for static engine testing but never actually installed it anywhere to the car. Better to just get your tank issue resolved than to put in temporary tank and plumbing.

Quote:

My brand new sender from Auto City Classics failed. It only reads half full when the tank is full. Gauge is NOS and tested properly. I wish I would've cut a hole in the trunk. Instead I get to drop the tank yet again in order to fix the issue. When I get around to dropping the tank, I will definitely be cutting a hole in my trunk floor.

We have a fuel tank on order, and it was supposed to be here 5 days ago. But FedEx apparently forgot about it as it's been sitting in their warehouse since they picked it up. With any luck it will show up soon.

-Kevin

Some good progress this last weekend. I've been plugging away at things on the 200 when I can, and Mort was able to come up and help get some major things done on Saturday.

We replaced all the wheel cylinders and brake hoses. Only one cylinder showed signs of leaking, but we went ahead and did all new as a precaution. Mort will hang on to the originals to rebuild in case they are needed later.

Brake shoes weren't terrible, but the primary shoes on both rears were pretty worn. So I replaced with some good ones I had from my Panama. We performed a major brake adjustment on the rears to recenter the shoes in the drum.

Fronts were good, so we repacked the bearings and put everything back together, along with a standard adjustment for the front.

We flushed the brakes as well. The fluid was nasty. Fully black like used oil. It took quite a bit to flush the lines and get clean fluid coming through. Much better now. Pedal feels good and stops well. There is a small leak at the junction block on the rear axle. It appears one of the flares is messed up. So I'll be replacing the brake lines back there as a precaution. Mort already cleaned up the junction block and axle vent so the axle can breathe properly. Put the wheels back on and torqued the rears to somewhere between 200-270 ft lbs. It was over 200 before we cranked the nuts to allow the cotter pin to slide in.

One of the lug bolts on the rear was somehow messed up by a previous owner. The threads were pretty bad, and it damaged the threads in the drum. I picked up the right size tap and die (9/16 fine) and we were able to save both the drum and the bolt.

Mort also rebuilt the fuel pump using a kit from Then and Now. He did a good job and it works perfectly. Before we installed that, we blew out and cleaned the main fuel line to be sure it wasn't plugged. All good there.

I cut a hole in the trunk to access the fuel sender should we ever have a problem. Fuel tank was supposed to be here but it got delayed and will likely be here this week. To test the car we hooked up fuel hose to the main line, through the hole in the trunk, and into a gas can. Worked fine for testing on the driveway but I wouldn't take it on the road.

Car started up immediately and ran fairly well. The carb needs some definite work. Morticus will rebuild the original carb. Transmission works in all gears, but seems to jump into direct drive at like 20 instead of 35mph. We'll need to do some research on that. Brakes stop well. Still a bit rough...I don't think #8 has fully gained compression yet. And the engine is nice and silent initially, but within a few minutes the loud ticking starts from the front. Either #1 lifter is bad or maybe an exhaust leak?

Overall a productive day and some big steps in the right direction. And for good measure we got some pictures so Morticus can make a Registry entry.

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  Fixed lug bolt next to good one.jpg (50.70 KB)


  Axles torqued and pinned.jpg (70.16 KB)


  Fuel sender hole cut.jpg (81.75 KB)


  He's happy to be driving it.jpg (129.51 KB)


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The fuel tank finally showed up from Auto City Classics. Not their fault, it was all FedEx. I was surprised to see a few differences between this one and the one that I had bought for my own car back in 2020. Both came from the same company.

Mine was painted in a silver color, with the inside of the tank being bare stainless steel. This new one is bare stainless steel everywhere.

The filler neck on the 2020 tank is low compared to the original tank. The new tank has a much better fit and bends on the filler neck. The vent pipe is also much larger than the original.

The replacement sender has a shorter arm than the original. This is likely why it currently barely registers on the gauge....I only put in about 4 gallons. Tested the gauge beforehand and the resistance works as expected. I made a new sender wire to attach to it, and a new connection to the original wire inside the trunk. I'm glad we cut the hole in the trunk....the sender is easily visible now and we don't have to deal with the hassle of dropping the tank anymore.

Some quick test drives up and down the driveway confirmed that everything is working as expected with no leaks. I warmed it up to temp several times and did some running.

-Temperature sender is not working, but temp gun on the engine shows it staying steady.
-Tapping is non-existent at first, but within 3-4 minutes it begins as the engine warms up. Coming from #1 valve area. I'm assuming lifter, but possible that it could be an exhaust leak??
-Still no compression on #8. Valves seem to move freely with no visible sticking. I just put Seafoam in the crankcase (along with Marvel) in an attempt to hopefully free up sticky lifters, if that is the problem. What else would cause zero compression on a single cylinder? Blown head gasket out the back? That seems weird to me. The car has only run for a total of maybe 20-30 minutes since it arrived at my place, so More running may or may not help.
-Car pulls to the left while driving. Not a small amount. Confirmed all the brakes were adjusted appropriately. Is there a quick way to manually check and adjust alignment?

-Kevin

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  New fuel tank installed.jpg (129.42 KB)

Be sure to double check tire pressure.

Zero compression usually means a stuck valve or valve problem. Do a compression test but immediately before put a tbsp of oil in the cylinder. If it's a ring problem, the oil will boost the compression to a readable level. Valve problem, 0.

Quote:

Thanks. Yes, tire pressure was checked and adjusted previously. No pulling when braking, only driving.

I had used Marvel in all the cylinders that originally read 0, with #8 being one of them. Didn't seem to change the reading at all. I have a borescope that I'm borrowing from a friend....I'll see if maybe I can see what's going on with the valves and seats inside the combustion chamber while I crank.

-Kevin

Pull the side valve covers off and see if a valve is stuck. You should be able to see if one of the valves isn't moving when turn it over.