Work on My F8, No. 11

[Mike K]

Jim

Brian Asbury ( CMP parts dealer in Toronto ? ) at one time , had the Ford type plate that sits atop the tank with the reserve tap and fuel gauge sending unit hole . I bought one from him years ago. I'll never use it as I ended up with a correct Chev one later on ( got this from D. Ballard of MCC and F15 fame ).

Like u I have one original tank, the other is a dummy ,I was going to make another tank, but never got around to it , hence my interest in finding the top plate .

From memory the Ford version is a die cast alloy and the Chev is brass affair . They have different setup for each style of fuel gauge sender unit .

You could probably modify an existing standard CMP tank , remove the filler neck and relocate it . But even the normal tanks are very difficult to find these days .

Mike

PS if u want the ford plate PM me . But I think there is a RH and LH version, just to complicate things .. isnt anything easy .. no .

[Jim Price]

Mike:
Thanks for responding to my posting! The plate on my tank is brass and the switch does not work. It's stuck on Main but the tube to the tank section is plugged?!?! I sure could use the one you have. Please advise total cost, including shipping.

Regards,
Jim

[Tony Smith]

Dirk Leegwater still shows his fuel tank plates on his site as "On Sale" (along with some other F8 stuff!). Listed under Canadian Military Parts, then Ford Vehicles.

[Mike K]

Jim

You need to check your plate to see if it's a chevy one. I believe Ford used a totally different fuel gauge system, with a thermo bi metal arm and points device at each end e.g., sender and gauge . The chev system is a more conventional method with a wiper arm on a wire , thus variable resistance .

From memory, the Chev sending unit has 5 holes and the Ford 6 holes .
Mike

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

Jim

From memory the Ford version is a die cast alloy and the Chev is brass affair.

You need to check your plate to see if it's a Chevy one.

Mike/Jim, the die cast alloy plate is the Chev version, the Ford is Brass.

Pic of the Chev cover:

[Jim Price]

Mike and Tony:
Thanks for the info; looks like my plate is a Ford brass one.

Mike: As for the plate you have for sale, I'm waiting on a reply from Peter S. on the tank he has for sale to see if it's the one I need and whether it has the plate. Will let you know if I need yours when I hear from him.

Regards,
Jim

[Jim Price]

More odds and ends to report:

Picked up all the parts from the painter on Day 51; temp stood at 118 F so didn't even bother to unload the second pickup truck bed of parts! Locked it up and let it set until Day 53.

Took Day 52 off.

Dried out the tires and tubes where we'd got water in them while washing the tires.

Wire brushed all the head bolt studs, all 48, and then did the same to the head bolt nuts.

Brushed the valves clean and added some lithum grease in the stems to take care of the initial lubrication when we start the engine up.

Wire brushed all the bolts for the oil pan, intake manifold and water pumps.

Still no word from the spring shop so reassembly of the axles and brake system is on hold.

No word from the steel fabricator on cutting of the windshield frame. Probably not a high priority item with them....

Began reassembly of the engine by re-installing the heads, intake manifold and water pumps.

Got up early this morning and painted the lug nuts. Got to them before it got too hot. Will add a clear coat to them tomorrow morning.

Down to one helper and myself; the other called in early this morning with a bad back. Called this afternoon and should be able to some painting tomorrow. He's a college student and I'll need to replace him by the 20th of this month when he goes back to school. He's got a great work ethic and it'll be tough to find someone as good!

Rained this morning and the humidity was fierce today along with a temp above 105 F.

That's all for now!

Regards,
Jim

[Mike K]

jim is putting us to shame .. he's going to have that F8 going before any of us can blink.

The CHEV fuel tank plates are BRASS .... believe me . Mine is anyway . The alloy die cast plate I got from Brian A still had its Ford tag on it .

Tony, in that pic you posted, you can see the GM AC Delco sender unit , it is a half round shape . The Ford sender units, are 100% round on top , not a semi circular shape .
I may be wrong , but check your parts books . Whats confusing is , the early Chev parts book ( eg C8 ) lists Ford part numbers on some parts . The tank plates may have Ford numbers , but they are Chev parts.

Mike

[Mike K]

here is a scan from the C8 parts list, showing the Ford part numbers for the tank plates ....

Mike

[Jim Price]

Mike:
Do you (or any other reader of this message) know if there's any difference in size between the Chevrolet and Ford tanks? The tank that came with my F8 measures 32" long by 12" wide by 10" high.

Regards,
Jim