T16 restoration starts in earnest

[andrew honychurch]

the weather has cleared a bit here in Kent, and I have taken the opportunity to get cracking on the T16 again. Received my nice new reproduction seats and cushions from Allied Forces Canvas. A superb job will post up some photos soon.

I have decided against remanufacturing my petrol tanks as they are very solid indeed but pretty nasty inside. I have just cut the ends out of one and was planning on sandblasting it and rewelding the ends up. The other tank is much better and I wonder whether anyone can advise on how to clean the inside out so its fit for petrol? I guess when I sandblast the bad one, I cannot paint it so it will have to be left au naturel. Any ideas how to stop it rusting up again? Photos to follow.

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Andrew

I've been looking at the same issue of fuel tanks on on of my CMPs and I'm seriously looking at leaving the tank as a shell in putting a fuel cell inside.

Part of the reason is that a smaller tank may actually be a blessing in this world of changing gasoline that does not have the shelf life (here in the states) of what we grew up with.

Just a thought.

Cheers Phil

[Blackpowder44 (RIP)]

Originally Posted by andrew honychurch

the weather has cleared a bit here in Kent, and I have taken the opportunity to get cracking on the T16 again. Received my nice new reproduction seats and cushions from Allied Forces Canvas. A superb job will post up some photos soon.

I have decided against remanufacturing my petrol tanks as they are very solid indeed but pretty nasty inside. I have just cut the ends out of one and was planning on sandblasting it and rewelding the ends up. The other tank is much better and I wonder whether anyone can advise on how to clean the inside out so its fit for petrol? I guess when I sandblast the bad one, I cannot paint it so it will have to be left au naturel. Any ideas how to stop it rusting up again? Photos to follow.

My method of cleaning petrol tanks is to put some sharp sand into it and lash it onto the front of a cement mixer and run it for a couple of hours adding more sand if neccesery. Then use Porseal to line the tank, John.

[andrew honychurch]

some good ideas guys, thanks. I am thinking of either sandblasting the worse of the two tanks or if I can find someone who acid dips them locally maybe that. There is a lot of solder around the seams though, so unsure how the acid will affect that. Anyway here are some photos of the tanks. All pretty solid, one small how, just pretty grotty inside.

[horsa]

If you have the tanks dipped, talk with the staff first to find out if their chemicals will cause the solder joints to let go. I know the place I used here in the USA had chemicals that would dissolve the rust on steel with no adverse affects but it also dissolved pot-metal and some other things which was a bad surprise for me with one T-16 part.

[motto (RIP)]

Soft solder,which is an alloy of tin and lead, is completely impervious to any of the acids normally used for de-rusting steel. This includes spirits of salts which is very evil stuff made up of a mixture of sulphuric and hydrochloric acids.

David

[RichardT10829]

interesting that the baffles on a T16 tank run lengthways rather than width ways like earlier universals

[andrew honychurch]

the slot in the baffle is for guiding the sender arm. ( sorry if thats obvious). Not sure why they would be set the other way around, other than the fact the T16 climbs better than a U/C and spends less time on its side !