PNW 67 Patina Blue (2 Viewers)

[rainingagain]

And voila! It's back together.

It's at about this point that I realized that the saddle is to wide to fit up through the body, so back apart it came.

New assembly order... ram in place in the body, then screw driver up through to hold back the clip.

Done.

Back in place under the seat.

 

[rainingagain]

I was finally able to button up the fuel system today. I had to modify my new tank a bit to get it to fit 100% correct.

This seam had to go. The old tank seam was flush welded. This back side sits up against the tub.

I did a test cut to see how well the pinch weld was done. Very nice.

I set straight line and sawed the bastard off.

I should have set the line to follow the curves on the tank. It was a bit wavy, which left me with this gap. Bummer.

Second bummer, the metal at this bend is super thin. I clamped down on the tank to close the gap as best I could and tried welding it up but it's blowing it out on the lowest setting.

I was able to weld up the gap but it wasn't water tight so I had to braze it up in a bunch of spots. It's not pretty but it works. I'll have a pic in a bit.

 

[rainingagain]

The front seam also needed some work. It hits the passenger seat posts.

I decided to try heating this one up and bending it over. It worked great.

 

[rainingagain]

First test fit with the straps and damn. Bummer again.

So anyway, I started blasting...I mean cutting.

And welding.

 

[rainingagain]

Again, I couldn't get a water tight weld so I had to braze it. If I were to do this again, I'd just cut out the square and weld on a patch.

Final product. Not the prettiest; metal work is not my forte but it fits and is water tight.

 

[rainingagain]

I was surprised by how easy that front seam bent over with some heat. If I had to do this again, I would completely bend over that rear seam. The cut and weld method was a bitch. I think it will still fit with just bending it over.

I did seam seal it and then primed the bare metal.

I know that the Rust-Oleom pewter is a close match but it's still a bit off. If I was repainting all the pewter stuff, I would have gone that route. But I didn't want that tank winking at me every time I opened the door.

So I took a piece of pewter to my local paint shop and had them use their fancy camera to color match. Then I had them make me up 2 spray cans. The match is pretty good.

The paint had some metallic in it and was a real bitch to get laid down evenly.

 

[rainingagain]

Mounting time. Here's all the original jute bits and straps.

Based on what's left of the witness marks and some thinking, this appears to be the correct orientation.

Strapped in.

Next up, an OEM sending unit.

 

[rainingagain]

Filler neck is up next.

 

[rainingagain]

Finally the fuel line. Here's how it all goes together.

Slide that collar all the way up, then squeeze it together until the collar and the back "compression nut" clear the nipple.

And that's a wrap.

 

[rainingagain]

I almost forgot the breather tube!

The stuff I bought is to small unfortunately so I ordered up some more. It should be here today.

 

[wngrog]

What year tank are you modifying?

 

[rainingagain]

What year tank are you modifying?

I bought a new one from Mr T. It looks like there are 3 styles from my research. Right after my early style, they seemed to switch to the pinch weld style, but it was flat topped. Like this one.

And the strap mounts also moved back about 3/4" of an inch. Here is a 1966 tub pic.

And here is a 1969.

Whether the mounts moved left or right, not sure. But that little bit of room would have made the difference. Moving the mounts if I was repainting would have been the way to go.

There also seems to be a slight change in seat mount design around this time. The way the feet are bent there's a 90' shift on the bolt plate.

 

[rainingagain]

I'm not sure exactly when the tank mounts moved back. I'm sure someone will chime in.

 

[wngrog]

The way the seat encapsulates the tank I don’t think the straps are needed.

 

[rainingagain]

The way the seat encapsulates the tank I don’t think the straps are needed.

That's a fair assessment. When researching I saw many images of people running new tanks with no straps. Some with just ratchet straps. I even saw one where the guy sliced the strap that was hitting that bump out in half to clear it rather than modifying the tank.

I mean, lets be honest, the freaking tank is already right under the passenger seat. No biggies at the time of production but today, yikes! It's probably fine just sitting there but it would still make me a bit nervous. Maybe I'm just getting old. I did drive a Scout for a while that ran from a 5 gallon gas can I kept on the passenger floor board. Would not do that again.

 

[MDH33]

I was surprised at the fitment of my 68-69 as well. The straps fit well, but that rear seam, even on the factory original was obviously massaged.

 

[Lil Dog]

I must have missed your earlier post on your fuel lines. Where did you find replacement fuel line material?

 

[rainingagain]

I must have missed your earlier post on your fuel lines. Where did you find replacement fuel line material?

Here it is: PNW 67 Patina Blue - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/pnw-67-patina-blue.1289865/page-5#post-14755427

 

[rainingagain]

Found some time to get the passenger seat in place. Started with cleaning this rusty stuff up. This is side between the drivers and a passengers seat. Yuck.

I was impatient and paid the price.

Found a 1987 quarter and some gum wrappers...

Cleaned it up and threw on some rust converter. Gave up for the night.

 

[rainingagain]

There was enough of the broken bolt to grab with vise grips, lucky me!

I applied some heat, let it cool, and repeated that like 5-6 times. I couldn't get it too hot otherwise I'd melt the seat covers. They will be replaced, but not today.

Patience and heat worked!

I cleaned up all the threads. 8x1.25 for those wondering.

I've noticed that this early rig has some thick hardware. Thick lock washers and flat washers. My seat had thin flat washers and thick lock washers.