Builds My first '40 and the venture (11 Viewers)

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Backing up and several posts this am before jumping in again today for a while....

I thought I'd start with what the underside looked like before vs after with some attempt to treat/slow down rust and protect it long enough before I take that bull on by the horns.

Before.
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and
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Not the best one after - and pre tank install.
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and
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Edit - found one more decent one.
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The post are going to be scatter and yet might connect near the last post this am to connect what I am trying to convey...

And a bit of context - the tank protector had a big dent in it when I got this rig. Turns out the tank had a big dent too - did not know that until protector/tank was removed.

So on to the topic of the seperator/fuel evap just behind passenger seat. There were some metal bends taking the cover off & the fuel inlet flairs that screw/secure it to the body was bent up on both sides. sorry no pic - forgot.

To the task was to remove the 4 hoses - they were rock hard, would not bend - and the separator is plastic and really concerned about being brittle and breaking trying to remove a hose. Used a heat gun slowly to heat hose up some and cut slits into remove off nipple.

Can see one bend in front of the lower right hose.
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Here is before and after.
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after
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this are hard to bend even off...
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After the seperator was removed - could see some rust areas - hit with rust reformer etc, better than nothing. Then bent this area up. Hard to explain since not many pictures and the few I have are blurry. Is what it is.

So this part where the fuel intake goes behind was concave down (IE bent in toward ground).
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This is the fuel inlet after we straighten it. The tabs that the screws go into were bent up meaning some reason it was yanked down to make the bend in the fuel inlet and where it secures to the body. It it have been left, but while there address it some.
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And straighten out where the evap cover goes - remember the area by the right hose down low....
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Next up - tank felts etc.

The thought at the time is use a high density rubber vs felts (they are NOLA) and a few things came out yesterday cutting to size 1) didn't order enough and 2) they were a bit thicker then the felts and you need to good push up the secure the tank underneath. (Envy those with tank under the seat as this point).

This is what I got - but not used in the end....
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Can see a bit thicker and it really doesn't compress and based on what you need to do to secure the tank to body - decided not to go there.
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The next step was to remove the felts from the tank carefully and then wash them in how soapy water and see what happens and how they dry (used compressed air to help it along)

before shots of felts on tank (had already removed them from protector)..
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cleaning
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drying rack... Not bad - better than initially thought. Some of the dark areas are really water saturated dripping dry..
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Now attaching the felts to new tank and protector...

Never used this glue before - really impressed - true gorilla snot - you get one shot to get it down right.
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Also - before shot of the protector before cleaning all of it up. The big bend in it had been straighten.
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Work area.... sprayed both tank/surface and felts
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and some results...
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and
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and
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Got the new sending unit on and the suction tube on. In the previous post can see the hoses removed - time shrank them some. And the new OEM hoses are longer. Decided not to cut and get on now and wait and see what the real gap is after tank on - the OEM fuel hoses available are generally longer so beware if doing all this...

Painted up... old hoses...
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So then the fun task of putting the tank in. Two people & a transmission jack and still a lot of effort. Being on a lift is 100x easier. If doing this with car on ground = 4x longer and who know how frustrating cuz you can't move around.

You can't put the strip in with the pin and let it hang because the cross bar limits it ability to hand down and not interfere with the tank - so those had to go in last.

The skinny part of the tank (Passenger side) was angled in first then lift and rotate the larger end up and into position. First tried with protector on (it really goes best in one shot). But that was not in cards. Got tank up and in, trans jack help hold then get the protector up and in. then got the straps in. A few adjustment to make sure butted up right - will try to remember to take a picture what I am talking about (but where one of the felts makes contact with the body by the fuel inlet - there was a gap when we thought were were secured. Hand to nudge it some and re-tighten the strap.

The long bolt for the one of the straps (driver side) in NOLA - so take care removing it.

Tank in shots... Called it a night.
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and - this is the long bolt I was talking about...
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and the Passenger side...
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Going to go back to Omaha soon and today will get the hoses cut to length now we can see the distance. Also the connection for sending unit needs some TLC. I did apply some deoxit to clean up, and Rus found in my parts boxes (sorry Rus) I have terminals and connectors from @Coolerman - some of them are bad and brittle parts of wire - will address that today too. And maybe, we can install rear axle before we call it. Maybe - the way the rig is on the lift, can remove the front spring to cut those raps off. So need the rear axle on so can get tires on and re-adjust the lift points.

Now we know hose lengths... example area of suction tube.
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sending unit connector...
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Other end of the sending unit harness.. wire is brittle at base of connector -
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Lots of little things today - and where things stand after yesterday.
 
B this is looking amazing.

Such solid tedious work.
Thanks - and Rus gets the credit (or blame) - he was pointing out last night, after we were looking for 1 OEM screw for the sending unit and section tubes (10 needed - got 9) so polished up one old one, the difference with old OEM vs new - the new don't have the JES dot stamped in them. I didn't take a picture of that last night. Always learning the tedious details from Rus. And they do matter.
 
The next step was to remove the felts from the tank carefully and then wash them in how soapy water and see what happens and how they dry (used compressed air to help it along)

before shots of felts on tank (had already removed them from protector)..
View attachment 3813885
cleaning
View attachment 3813886
drying rack... Not bad - better than initially thought. Some of the dark areas are really water saturated dripping dry..
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Is this a stock tank? I thought about installing a tank under the floorpan on the back. Not messing with it for now but I'm just wondering how much of a task is this for you so far.
 
Is this a stock tank? I thought about installing a tank under the floorpan on the back. Not messing with it for now but I'm just wondering how much of a task is this for you so far.
Yes and no - it is an aftermarket tank, but in the same shape and location for my year of 40. There are some options out there to add an aux tank where you are talking about
 
Todays report - won't be as bad as earlier....

Here you can see the different in length - old v new...
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and
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B this is looking amazing.

Such solid tedious work.
Tedious/details - installed hoses so the text on hose goes same direction and the clamps are same direction too. I didn't take a pict with the fuel separator hoses - didn't when I had the chance.

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different area - and put the cotter pin in the pins - had to change the orientation of the DS strip pin to get cotter in.

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The aftermarket tank has some flairs/bends that the OEM doesn't - getting the filler hose on and clamps - while not hard, not smooth as silk either.
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All that was done.

Spotted this crusty hose- this ends up going to the charcoal canister - hose rock hard, almost kinked and the clamps holding the tubes (three of them) are all mangled. While there, have a spare hose that fits, make it right.

Before
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after and the metal clamp for tube straightened. Need to find the mangled pic.
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@Chilkoot

How about these for replacement. I’ve been to this place in NH (and I even to the Cruiser Parts place in NH too). Anyway, this place has cool vids of their restorations. They have parts too. Including tank straps

Fuel Tank Straps, FJ40, 1979-’84 – Cruiser Solutions - https://cruisersolutions.com/product/fuel-tank-straps-fj40-1979-84/
Appreciate that I’ve been on their site a few times and never knew they made a reproduction of these. Good to know it’s an option if push comes to shove. Might buy a welder and try and fix mine for that $$$. Thanks for reminding me about Matt parting that 79 he said the tank straps were toast. I’ll figure something out once I get the tank out this spring.

Also thanks again for the detailed pictures of the hoses and tank. I noticed those flares in the spectra tank also and at first I thought it was shipping damage.
 
When I put in my aux tank behind the rear axle back in late 80's I use metal 2" banding (from a trucking place scrap pile) for my straps. I covered them with bicycle inner tubes. As an extra safety I put a 1" nylon strap across the span. When I pulled the tank last spring, all the straps were in fine shape.
 

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