Thanks, in which case i will leave it where it is. I was thinking it was too close to the choke and might get pressed when moving the choke.
The knob was missing from the seat catch. A new replacement costs £14. You can work out from the picture how much the one that i brazed on cost.
Next up is the petrol tank. Badges, one knee grip and rack removed, chrome strip stuck on. The tank still has petrol in it which must be 47 years old!
The fuel wouldn’t drain out of the tap, and after a struggle the fuel cap came off so i drained the old petrol out which looks like french onion soup.
There is a lot of crap and debris in the tank, which is why the fuel tap was blocked. This picture shows some of it around the filler hole. It’s mostly rust so i will have to clean the inside using a bag of screws and lots of shaking. Also the neck of the filler cap has been knocked in a bit, where the paint has cracked. That’s why it was hard to take the cap off. I can probably pull it out.
Clearing up a small job by refurbing the tax disc holder. Scraped and repainted the metal parts silver and cut a piece of glass for the window. The old tax disc in there expired in 1975 and cost £7 plus a bit more that i can’t read.
First pass at sanding the tank, concentrating on the underside as this is where the rust is and needs more work. Used an 80 grit paper and then wiped with white spirit.
A generous handful of nuts and bolts in the tank, plus two pints of petrol, vigorously shaken for five minutes to get the sediment out of the tank. Here is the muck that came out, in a washing up bowl, so it needs repeating.
A generous handful of nuts and bolts in the tank, plus two pints of petrol, vigorously shaken for five minutes to get the sediment out of the tank. Here is the muck that came out, in a washing up bowl, so it needs repeating. View attachment 152886 I need the exercise!
It took four goes at shake-and-rinse to clean the tank. A new seal for the petrol cap was needed too as the old one had perished. Easy to make from a sheet of cork. This cork was bought from a supplier of automotive cork, but it’s very coarse grained as they didn’t send me what i ordered.
Update on the paint test swatch. It’s a test of two undercoats (red oxide and hi-build grey) the Alaska white topcoat (cellulose) and two different Grenadier red paints. One of the red paints (Halfords own brand) gave a reactive bubbled finish, the other red (Hycote acrylic) works well on top of the white, which is how it will be done on the front mudguard.
The underside of the tank has a lot of rust which was starting to get down into the steel. This rust was too deep to sand or grind away, so a rust treatment chemical was applied, which turns the rust black and back into ‘metal’. Yesterday the tank was checked for leaks, and none were found. Not pressure tested, just looking for pin hole leaks.
And painted today with Land Rover enamel wheel paint on the underside. This should give lasting protection, while the upper parts of the tank will be spray painted with the correct Alaska White soon.
The wear on that side stand spring is amazing. It was obviously looking for the exact right time to let the side stand (and you) down. I had a side stand break on me once. I was at the supermarket, put the side stand down, and dismounted on the same side as the side stand. The dodgy stand broke and gave way at that point, and the bike fell towards me. I wasn't ready to deal with the sudden dumping of 400lbs of weight onto me, and my knee ached for a couple of months after. Preemptive replacement of worn parts is an excellent policy!
The painting looks off to a great start. I've heard people say that the prep work is 90% of vehicle painting. Did the tank have any bumps or dents to fill in, or was the only dent the one you found on the tank filler neck? What is your favourite brand of dent filler?
