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Barn Find '57 Oval
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Last Triumph
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:32 pm    Post subject: Barn Find '57 Oval Reply with quote

After a very long search for a completely original, numbers matching, unmolestered, rot free, unwelded, virgin Oval, I finally found the perfect car. A life long VW enthusiast heard of my search and contacted me about a car he had hidden in his barn for 17 years after he himself had rescued it from a cobbled street in Portugal where it had last been used in 1981.

I'll let the pics do the talking, but add that it is a 1 previous family owner, 36,000 mile example with all the original dated service tags hanging from the bonnet release pull.

Enjoy.

As it was found....

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Last Triumph
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Last Triumph
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Last Triumph
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Home at last!

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The money shot!

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cleaned off nearly 2 decades of dust and crud today. Firstly with a dust pan brush and vac taking it from this....

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to this...

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Lovely patina...

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Then used the typical proprietry products to cut and clean the paint back to it's natural self...

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Only a start, but gives me a cleaner base to work with. I'll tackle the interior next I think?

I'm not shooting to restore, just to remove dirt and grime to releal it;s natural beauty and condition.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Continued with the clean up process today and concentrated on the interior. The intention isn't to get it perfect, certainly not at this stage, but to at least get all the dust and grime out to reveal what I've got to work with.

Polished the glass inside and out first. Comes up lovely and makes such a difference.

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I then vac'd the inside as best I could and gave the seats and interior panels a good wipe over with a soapy cloth and a soft nail brush. I was amazed at how well they came out. The interior of this car really is one of it's best features. I love it.


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I won't lie to you - I'm lovin' this original Oval lark...


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Nice to see all four of the original VW floor mats still in place and pretty much like new.


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Even better when you peel them back and find this sort of stuff!


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Whilst poking around, I found some nice historic touches.
In the driver’s door pocket, there were some maps and other Portuguese documents


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In the glove box was a plaque from the local district and a couple of coins


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Nice tax disc in the screen - last used 1981 which means it was locked away for 12 years before it even came to the UK!


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And one last shot showing the rather nice sun visor. I’d not noticed this before. A new one and a spare one came with the car too!


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A day full of WIN me thinks.

As a side line - if I can't revive the battery, where is the best place to get the correct type. size and capacity 6V battery so I can still use the factory cover plate etc?
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Decided to see if I could get the motor running the other day.

I installed a brand new old style rubber cased type 404 battery to give me good cranking ability, but before I started, I realised that the fuel had been in the tank since 1981 and was 29 years old so used a pump and some tubing suck all the old fuel out - about 8 litres or so, leaving the tank empty and dry.

Here is some of the fuel I sucked out - It looked and smelt just like Ronseal varnish! Grim.... Still burns pretty well though... Wink

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I quick look inside the tank with a torch confirmed that one of the jobs for the near future will be to remove the tank and flush it out as there was a fair bit of bebris in there at the bottom, but I guess that's normal.

Anyway, got the trusty gerry can out and put about 10 litres of fresh fuel with additive in there so I know I had fresh fuel.

Fuel wasn't getting through to the fuel pump so I've either got a blockage in the line or there is a problem with the fuel reserve tap etc, etc. I'll investigate this at a later date once I know the motor is back to health.

I disconnected the fuel unions in the engine bay and tried to blow through to the tank without luck, so tried to pump a little fuel back through the system which highlighted a fuel leak in the flexi pipe above the gearbox, so on the basis that this will be old, perrished and in need of replacement, I cut it off where it exits the engine bay and connected it directly to the gerry can, plugging the tank end before hand. Wink

After a load of priming, fiddling and checking I knew I was getting fuel.

With my new 6V battery, the motor cranked very well indeed, but I wasn't getting a spark.

After some tinkering and testing I found that one of the insulating washers where the LT wire, condenser and dizzy body join had perrised and was causing a short.

I rebuilt and cleaned this area and managed to get a healthy spark at the plugs which was a releif.

We'd measured the resistance across the coil outputs etc and were happy that the coil was ok.

With a fresh dab of fuel and some crossed fingers, I gave it a go and managed a couple of coughs, spits and pops from the carb and exhaust, but nothing that threatened to catch on or run.

Next I checked the timing and found it was very advanced but discovered the dizzy was stuck solid. I used as much force as I dared and it wouldn't budge. Gave it some WD-40 and came back to it a while later but no joy.

At this point I was satisfied I'd got clean fuel, decent spark and good cranking - none of which I had that morning, so that's a plus, but I needed to find a way of freeing off the dizzy so I can set the timing.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hooly shit! Applause nice find man! that patina is amazing, just enough rust to make it look perfect! im so jealous Twisted Evil
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drop it here..drag it home.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bit of progress and an awkward problem overcome today so even though it's not much, it's still another step towards getting it running.

I'd been using penetrating oil on the dizzy body for almost a week and it wouldn't budge, so decided a bit of heat and extra force might be required.

Got the case nice and hot with a little bit of heat gun action, being careful not to go OTT.

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I then removed the vacuum and fuel pipes along with the fan belt to give me more rome to work in then using some very strong nylon rope and a screw driver with a hole in the handle, rigged up a homemade strap spanner type of thing.

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With what seemed like an impossible amount of force, it finally gave way and slowly rotated a bit. . . Result! . . . However, it was still very, very tight and needed another few goes with the strap spanner to turn it back and forth a few times, getting a little more free each time, but still needing lots of torque - way more than I could do by hand.

At this point I decided that now I'd 'broken the seal' I'd get a load more penetrating oil down there and leave it for a while.

*****Quick drive about in Dad's '61 Merc 'cause it's rude not to, followed by a stack of bacon butties round at Mum and Dad's and I came back with another homemade tool*****

Dad took a sacrificial Allen key and ground down the end to look like this.

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This was so it would fit into the small hole in the dizzy body as an anchor point whilst the rest of it was used as a lever through the hole that the vacuum advance slides through. I put some rubber hose round the allen key where it passed through the dizzy body to stop it damaging the casting.

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This gave me a decent amount of leverage to wiggle the dizzy back and forth as I added more and more penetrating oil. I must of been there for over an hour - jeez it was hard and slow progress with every dozen or so very tight wiggles yielding about half a mm of vertical travel, but it was coming out, if very slowly.

Eventually out it came, and I must say I was very happy as I sat there, panting away like a woman after childbirth, cradling my distributor in my arms, tears of joy rolling down my cheeks....

Anyway - basically, it was the seal that had turned into a mushy glue that was holding it firm.

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Took this opportunity to clean up all the penetrating oil and other gunk and crap that I had access to with the dizzy off.

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Rest of the motor should come up nice with some elbow grease.
Lovely and original. Love it.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

With the dizzy off the car, I thought it would be a good time to strip it down and clean it all up.
You don’t want to see a load of pictures of springs and clips etc, but here are a couple just in case.

This is the vacuum advance plate that rotates within, all cleaned up and ready for a little grease.

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Cleaned all the silly stuff like the nuts, bolts, washers etc then carefully assembled it all again and without the seal, popped it back in, more to keep it safe out the way until a new seal arrives.

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Whilst I was cleaning stuff, I cleaned up the air filter and under all the grime found this little reminder of it’s Portuguese origin.

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That’s it for now – not much, but it was a pain and needed doing, so I can at least cross that off and know that the distributor is back in business.

Next I’ll have a look at rebuilding the fuel pump, carb and replace the fuel flexi hoses and blow out the fuel lines etc.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great news today - after 6 weeks my birth certificate turned up confirming all the good stuff I'd hoped for.....

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And today's update . . . .

Completed the rebuild of the dizzy with a new set of points and a new condenser.

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Apparently, working on old VW's is a spectator sport? This was for my Dad who kept me company for a while this afternoon. He's not feeling to well at the moment. :hug:


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Time for some new plugs. The old three were certainly due for a change. Yes, three - one was missing! Laughing But fortunately the plug lead had been left still in the hole and the threads seemed ok, so in went the new ones, gapped correctly of course. Also cleaned up the original dizzy cap, making sure all the contacts were ok and 'bright'.

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Plusgas finally arrived . . . Laughing


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Decided the next job would be a carb rebuild. So, here's a before shot.


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Rebuild kit on standby....


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Ready for it's first bath.


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At this stage, all I wanted to do was give it a quick sprinkle to get the worst of the crud off, so I've got a reasonably clean base to start from. Once I've got it in bits, I'll clean it properly. Came up nice though.


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Looking forward to actually rebuilding it - love jobs like this.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Next job was to strip, clean and rebuild the carb.

Never done this before so it was a journey into the unknown so with a hot cup of tea and prepared work area, I set about the strip down.

The inside of the throtle body and venturi were caked in carbon deposits.

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I then liften the top of the carb and was greeted with this in the float chamber . .

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Urrrgghhh!

So glad I decided to rebuild the car before trying to fire it up for the first time. Wouldn't have wanted any of that getting into the motor!

Now . . . about carb cleaning . . .

I first soaked all the components in carb cleaner for a while which certainly did a half decent job of cleaning everything - the emphasis on half decent. I just felt that things could have been cleaner, despite me stabbing everything franticly with a stiff brush.

Next up I tried brake cleaner which was a litle bit better and got a bit more of the really stubborn grime off to the point that I felt fairly happy about the cleanliness of everything, but not 100% convinced.

So, just out of curiosity, I dipped everything in a bowl of cellulose thinners for a stir and couldn't believe how much more effective it was. Bearing in mind all the components had been previously bathed in carb cleaner, then brake cleaner for a long time on each occasion, you;d think they were clean? No chance. The amount of extra crud the celly got off was amazing!!

I poured the celly thinners back into a bottle to show how much junk had come off 3rd time round!

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Amyway - moving on, I was now left with this daunting picture!

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Here are the fully cleaned components up close.

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It was at this point I was starting to dread putting it all back together, but got the rebuild kit ready...

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.... and set to it. Mrs LT was curious as to why i wasn't sitting on the sofa with the lap top on my knee, walking into the kitchen to discover this...

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Determined not to go to bed until it was back together, I toiled away until I was left with this...

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Bit better than this, that's for sure!

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Really satisfied with that, considering I'd never done one before.

Next up, I'll rebuild the fuel pump.

Ordered and new coil, plug leads and fan belt today too....
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Right then..... making the most of having this week off work, I did a bit more today.

First job was getting the carb back on. I had a little clean up around the dynamo first whilst access was easier.

Looks much better now.

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As I do each little bit, I've been degreasing and cleaning the surrounding area, but by bit.

Already, the engine bay is starting to look a little fresher. As I've said, I won't be 'over-restoring' this car - it will be kept original and preserved, and that means no powder coated tinware etc, etc.

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Then I decided it would be a good idea to rebuild the fuel pump.
I recoall there being a kit with all the boxes of spares I got with it so went up into the loft for a root.

First box I opened had the original wipers in, and a set of NOS ones too!..... which was nice....

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Amongst all the treasure, I quickly found a nice original NOS fuel pump rebuild kit. Very handy!

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I pulled the pump off and stripped it down, taking pictures along the way to use a re-assembly guide.

This pic shows the installation of the valve plates and springs.

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To be fair, the original diaphram was perfectly servicable, but it would be daft not to replace it now.

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Original and now unavailable bakerlight mounting plate is in very good order.

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For the record - it's a pain in the ass to keep on having to remove the latex gloves in order to take pictures so I don't get my camera filthy!

I then started the clean up process as per the carb - out with the celly thinners again.... For the record, I wash any residue from the thinners off with brake cleaner afterwards, just to be sure.

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It's amazing where all these little bits come from!

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Time for the new diaphram...

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The diaphram needs to be pre-loaded as you clamp down the cover plate onto the pump body, and this is done by depressing the cam link arm within the pump body so it is 35mm beneath the mating face of the body's flange.

You can see it down the centre of the body - it's the shiny bit.

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As the pump rod from the engine presses agains this arm, it pulls the diaphram downwards, drawing fuel into the pump.

I got a hard lump of plastic and cut it down to size - 35mm to be precise, then used a steel rule as a shim which allowed me to manipulate the plastic block until it was all square within the vice jaws.

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Here you can see the amount of pre-tension it puts on the diaphram. The cover plate is screwed on in this position.

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And there it is - all clean, back together with new gaskets, diaphram and valve plates.

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The amount of crud and oily paste that had accumulated under the pump was awesome, so it was a good opportunity to thoroughly clean this area and recover all the dropped washers that had collected there!

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Just before I reinstalled it, I suddenly realised that the kit doesn't come with the gaskets that sit eitherside of the bakerlite mounting plate.

Hmmmm, what to do.....

On the off chance, I ventured back up into the loft to my box of all conquering NOS goodness, and came back down stairs with this....

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... which contains the two gaskets I need.

How convenient!


Last edited by Last Triumph on Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:58 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Even though I had to mask up and paint the kitchen as well as attend my daughter's parents afternoon, I still managed a little time in the garage.

Before I could remount the fuel pump, I had to remove the old gasket from the engine case which was well and truely stuck on. Had to soften it up with plusgas then gently scrape away at the surface until it was all clear. I then smoothed the surface with some 600 grit wet n dry.

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Notice how you an see the cam shaft gear through the hole...

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All ready to fit, along with the gaskets from the NOS kit.

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Much better.

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Refitted all the solid fuel lines etc - engine bay looking better all the time.

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Next up was to flush and sort out the tuel tank, hoses and lines.

First I had to drain the fresh fuel I'd put in when I originally tried to get it going. To do this, I taped a length of tubing to a garden cane to keep it rigid allowing me to poke it into the corners of the tank etc to get as much fuel out as possible. I attached this to a little electric pump, similar to a windscreen washer pump which discharged the fuel down a funnel and into a large fuel container.

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I then needed to remove the tank. On early Beetles, to do this you must first remove the right hand side front wheel to allow access to the split pin that holds the reserve tap lever to the fuel tap underneath the tank.

With the wheel off, I got my fist proper look at the condition of the inner wings etc, which were even better that I'd hoped.

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All over the car is this light coating of dry and dusty surface corrosion with no rot whatsoever - utter fantastic and what I'd always hoped and wished for.

Just before I started on the fuel tap disconnection process, I couldn't resist squirting a little WD40 on the inner wings and wiping it with a cloth , just to see what is underneath the crud....

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Result!

Anyway, the tank came out no probelm (with the flexi hose disconnected of course) and I was yet again delighted to see what excellent condition the underside of the tank is in.

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I've drenched the old fuel tap in plus gas to soak over night to make it's removal easier tomorrow.

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It will of course be replaced with a genuine VW replacement. I was going to rebuild the original, but with fuel being such a safety issue, I decided just to replace, although I'll keep the original as a keepsake.

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Likewise, I have the correct fibre seal for when I refit the tank.

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And finally - the font bulkhead is just as solid and rot free as everywhere else, albiet with a lot more accumulated dirt grease and grime, but I'll really enjoy cleaning it all up and protecting it.

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That's all for today. Tomorrow I'll check if the blockage was in the fuel tap which i suspect has seized in the 'closed position, or whether the solid ful lines are blocked. We'll see. I'll also replace the flexi lines with my new braided nitrile hose and give the tank a good clean out.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Today was fuel tank day.

I wish I'd taken a picture of the inside and bottom of the fuel tank before I started, but let's just say it looked like something between a river bed and a festival toilet on a Sunday afternoon.

I pondered for some time about whether to send it away for a clean and flush or to have a go myself.

Needless to say, I thought I'd have a crack myself first.

Before I started, I decided now the tank was out, it would be a good time to check if the solid fuel lines where clogged or not. I prayed they were clear as the idea of trying to unblock them or worse still replace them wasn't something I cherished.

I got some flexible but semi rigid fine piano wire and fed it through, bit by bit. Came out the other side no problem and clean as a whistle!

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Big relief, I must say. I'll still give them a little air line action before I reconnect everything though, just in case there is a little foreign matter lurking in there.

Back to the tank and how to get rid of 53 years of sludge, varnish, gunk, rust and who knows what else was lurking in there.

Firstly, I dropped in the tank this large bowl of nuts, bolts, washers, fixtures and fittings to act as an abrasive.

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I then emptied the remains of a bottle of cellulose thinners, a load of white spirit and some panel wipe for good measure - about 2-3 litres of mixture in total, then sealed the top of the tank with duct tape.

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I then sloshed and shook the tank for all I was worth. Side to side, back and forth, up and down, rolling the tank over and over and over for about half an hour - bloody hard work I can tell you.

On inspection, this had loosened and disolved all the paste and gunk and some of the scale and rust, but there was still a way to go.

I drained the unspeakably grim fluid out of the tank and began phase two.

I added about a cup full of this superb and highly concentrated water based degreaser I discovered a while ago, then added about a gallon of water.

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This stuff has high foaming properties and makes you feel like you're giving it a bath!

Back on with the duct tape and then more shake, rattle and roll. To the point of exhaustion. I knocked myself sick I was at it so hard, and sitting here on the sofa typing this now reminds me of the days I'd go for gold at the gym and not have the energy later to move!
I kept at it for about 2 hours until I couldn't do any more.

I peeled back the duct tape and was delighted to find the inside of the tank lovely and clean and free of all that had sullied it earlier.

The water in there was black, and there was loads of loose debris swilling round so I then flushed it with the garden hose until it was perfectly clear, removing the nuts and bolts whilst I was at it.

I wanted to dry it off as soon as possible, so switched the hoses round on my workshop vac and used it as a blower. 5 mins with the outlet hose in the tank had it bone dry.....

..... and bright orange with a fine coating of surface rust!

D'oh! Laughing

Had a quick think then came up with a cunning plan....

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Why the hell not, eh?

I poured about half the bottle in, then back on with the duct tape. This time I just slowly rolled the tank around for 15 minutes makig sure I kept all the surfaces wet.

I drained this off and then flushed the tank with the hose again until it was well and truly neutralised.

Back on with the vac/blower again to dry it out.

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The result?

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I'd call that a win.

As it might be a little while before there is fuel in the tank again whilst I tend to the master cylinder etc whilst the tank is out, I emptied about a third of a can of WD40 in the tank so it formed a small pool in the bottom. I then rolled the tank around again to make sure everywhere got a decent coating. I'll rinse this out with a little fuel before I reinstall.

Knackered, but satisfied.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not like me to play in the garage on a school night, but I was anxious to clean out the solid fuel line, and as it was a quick job....

I was going to use an air line, but wasn't convinced this would get it as clean as it could be so decided to set up a recirculating flush system.

Firstly, I rigged up some tubing from both the front and rear ends of the solid line.

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Then connected it in line with my small 12V electric pump with both ends in a container of cellulose thinners.

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I simply left this running for about 10 minutes until it ran totally clear.

After a while, I could see the old grotty fuel starting to settle on the top of the thinners in the container. Once this ceased to increase, I knew I'd got them completely clear and clean.

A simple and effective way to make sure all my carb, pump and tank cleaning isn't wasted.

And that's me, up to date..... more soon.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 2:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bravo! Beautiful car, great work.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 2:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Awesome thread! Awesome car! Awesome work!

What was under the other tarps?
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