1982 CHP #0327

[Steve]

Finally finished restoring the fuel tank this weekend. I had left it out in the sun at my shop for a few weeks and there were no traces of gas fumes left. First I scrubbed it down good with detergent water and a wire brush, then used coarse steel wool and #220 sandpaper to hand sand off all the rust. I found a Rustoleum paint/primer combo that looked very much like the original steel when dry, so I gave the outside two coats. I did the same to the mounting straps and hand scrubbed the plastic shield with soap and water. A day to dry and it's ready for reinstallation.

Here are a couple of pics. Compare the top pic to the previous one I posted, what a difference. I was lucky there were almost no dents, just a few very small dings. This has got to make 0327 feel good after all these years.

Paint should be starting very soon. I'll visit her this week.

[chp1982]

Nice job. That looks factory.

[ssp5.0]

Looks like a new tank, Steve.

[Wolfe1013]

Looks great. Can you post a photo of the paint you used? Thanks.

[Steve]

Thanks again everyone for the tips and suggestions. It helped a great deal. I took the tank back to the shop where 0327 is today. Below is a pic of it sitting on a stand behind 0327. Just need to glue the protective matting on the top and reinstall. I was hoping to do that today but we just didn't have the time.
My buddy who runs the shop has been super busy, so not much progress lately. But when I go back in to reinstall the tank I'll try to push him a little on the schedule.
I am in the SF Bay Area until Thursday; when I get home I'll post a pic of the primer/paint combo material brand I used.
When I think of how long these restorations take I remember a TV show where they had a yard full of rusting hulks and they'd go pick one out and restore it to sell. No matter what they picked it seemed like in two weeks they had it looking showroom new. And claimed they made a profit selling it...

[ssp5.0]

That turned out great Steve!

[Steve]

Here's a pic of the paint I used to restore the fuel tank. Rustoleum Satin Nickel, got it at Home Depot. It is both primer and paint. As I posted earlier, I took care to get all the dirt and grime off, then hand-sanded and steel-wooled all the rust off. Finally, I used sandpaper to rough up the surface to get good adhesion. Gave it two coats. Even my friend at the body shop said it looked good.

I just got the door glass channel rubber, so I'll take that in next week and see if we have time to reinstall the fuel tank. I'm hoping we make some good progress now, but I doubt it will be ready for the Ripon show in October.