Aftermarket fuel tank fitment issues in the truck...does anything go right for us?

 Last year, I forked out around $450 off ebay for this 1948-60 Ford Pick Up Fuel Tank 65L Under Tray Chassis F1 F100 Truck Pickup 

It looked the goods and seemed nicely tig welded. The thing is: how the hell do you mount this thing?

In other words...where it is supposed to sit? I have had a couple of looks on YouTube but have yet to be convinced that how I have mounted it is actually gonna work? I have seen some people mount them from underneath, but I don't like the idea of having the brackets support the weight, rather, I want them being supported on top of a chassis rail. In yet other words, this is what I have so far come up with...

At least I can get a nut on the bolt from underneath. But of course the tank sits up quite high. That can't possibly work?

It sits flush. But it did take a little bit of grinding of the rail. Not much. About 1mm.

It looks good here. I tried flipping it around but the mounts were around the wrong way. That is, they are staggered to suit the slight drop in the rails. If I turn the tank the other way, I'd need spacers to compensate. 

However, all this is possibly irrelevant, as I am not sure this is gonna clear the wood when I install it.

The only consideration is: the tub actually does not sit on the chassis. It is elevated on a set of rails. So, there is a possibility the tank will clear the wood. See below.

Whether I have enough height is an issue. I suppose the right way is to mount the tank on the next chassis rail. That would eliminate height issues, but how the hell do you bolt the thing in?

The only way to do it is to drill holes in the lower rail, weld nuts and then lift the tank from underneath and bolt it through the mounts and onto the chassis.

Like this example:

Having trouble with Tig welding

 Peter, my new welding buddy, had some strife getting Tig to work.  He hasn't done a lot of Tig, but we're doing a 70 year old project truck and the metal is thin, so he's going to have a go. We bought a welding gun (Michigan) and connected to my Unimig 165. His first few tests blew right through 3 mil plate. He went to test on 5 mil and it burnt through the other side. He said the setting was for 90 amp but he dropped down to 40 and still doing same thing. He said the tip should not be looking like this after only a few attempts. We gave up and went back to mig. Any thoughts? Wrote the story up on Welding Australia Facebook site and the responses were overwhelmingly in favour of a couple of key issues:

1. Was the gun plugged into negative port?

2. Was the gas flowing?

Some suggested Thoriated (red) tips, but these should have still worked fine. 

This is the back of a sheet of gal. Peter had the setting dialed in where he felt it should have been, but you can see how badly the weld went basically right through the metal. This was a sheet of 3mm zinc. 

An example of the tip after just a couple of attempts. This should not be happening.

Peter says he had the leads in the correct order and had the gas working fine. He even tried welding some 5mm plate and incredibly, the weld even showed through. We tried a piece of scrap rusty steel and it obliterated it. 

So, after an epic fail with the Tig, Peter went back to the Mig.  I am hoping he will have another crack at things this weekend, as there is plenty of light work needed on the cabin. 

Work on the Jag IFS for the 1956 F100 continues

 I am actually gonna have to get my welding guy to slow down while I take stock of things. Hard to believe after such a long time that I have had to stand back and evaluate the progress. Good news is, the progress is continuing slowly. With more work planned for this weekend, the front end should be complete and ready for sprucing up. 

The two front body mounts have also arrived and my wife is picking them up from the post office in the morning. That should be the last piece we need for the cabin, as  I think we have everything else.  Sure hope so, it's starting to add up and look a bit ridiculous. 

Meanwhile here are some examples of what is going on and where we are at.

Dopey me painted the Jag front end before welding it, and that made it twice as hard as it should have been to weld. I have to get deep inside that groove and wire brush out all the paint to ensure a good fusion when welding. 

 This is a small area that we are considering adding a piece of 5mm steel into in the shape of a wedge and welding that in there. This isn't much to hold the front end onto. I am planning on reinforcing this area. 

Even though there is a solid horizontal plate now in place, I want to run another plate further across that spring housing structure just for more security and safety. The small arrow points to where the only bit of weld has so far been applied to join this front end. I am introducing this cardboard template model to provide extra strength. 

some nice welding work here. The boxing came up well. I only ground some of the high spots off. 

This is my greatest area of concern as it is really one of the actual areas that welds the front end to the side plate. 

The engineer sent me some examples of how the new plate style looks. This example is from an early Chev truck and quite a bit narrower than the Ford. However, the principle is the same. 

The Chevy is much more narrower, so everything is exaggerated somewhat in comparison to the Ford. See how much metal you can get between the spring saddle and the edge of the chassis! 

Action in the garage!

 Finally got some action going in the garage today. Both boxing plates welded up thanks to Peter for getting stuck right in.  Next job is to clean up the welds a bit and roll the Jag front under the rails and set it into position. Still have the horizontal plate to weld and a gusset or two and then a couple of thick plates either side of the front end and she's done and dusted.

Here's a template I have been working on that allows for extra welding on the Jag spring housing. This plate is then welded to that bolted plate. 

On the road pics #2 Travelling around the Illawarra and Goulburn area.

 Now and then there are days and things that you see in your travels that you just want to capture and share with others. Here is a brief photofest of some of the remarkable scenes and curious things I encounter along the way. 

Heading toward Moss Vale. Frosty and cold. This morning it was around minus 2.  Glad I was in the car and not walking. 

Wouldn't want to be dead for quids! Look at this gorgeous sunset. Captured as I was driving through Burrawang towards Robertson. 

Side road through Goulburn. Could have passed for a photo taken many years before. Nice old pickup on the side of the road. 

Somebody taking home an interesting project!

Talking about projects! This one looks more like it! 

Photo's don't do this justice at all. Gorgeous sunrise just out of Robertson NSW.

An old Valiant still doin' her hard chores! Great to see these old girls still working for a living.

Another interesting project on the way. 

Hit and Miss in the garage with the '56 F100

 Guys, just want to show you this photo and let you mull over it for a moment or two and consider whether I am being hyper critical or a complete bum hole about the situation.

What you are seeing here is the culmination of four days work from a guy who I have now dumped due to taking advantage of our hospitality, friendship, free accommodation and food for him and his two dogs and wanting to sting us over a grand in labour charges for what is essentially cutting and shaping two pieces of 5ml plate. Oh, I forgot, he DID drill 14 holes, too. 

Prior to his arrival, he advised me the cutting of the plates would not be a big deal as he had a 9" angle grinder and was able to cut the plates.  Little did I know that for a solid three days, that was all he did. 

There's no argument that the pieces have been nicely cut out and cleaned up. But, do you know what? After 15 hours spent on them, they'd want to be works of art!

Seriously, had I known this guy was gonna take that long, I would have bought a grinder and done it myself. In hindsight, I should have mocked up a cardboard template, transferred it to the plate and marked it out and taken it to a fabrication shop (no, nothing with the word "surreal" in it) and had them cut the plate out with a plasma cutter or oxy cutter etc and saved four wasted days. Days that could have been spent tacking up the rest of the panels. which is what I wanted all along. 

Not only that, when I sent him a message on day four while I was at work asking if he would be able to get the front end completed by the weekend he snapped back at me and told me I had no idea what I was asking! This is coming from a guy whom we offered free accomodation, free meals. My wife even gave up her own bathroom to give him his own bathroom. And we allowed his two dogs to sleep with him on the bed.

Needless to say I have moved on with this guy and am finally resigned to the fact that I will have to complete the work myself. I have enlisted the help of a third year apprentice welder and am confident between the two of us we can complete the project. 

Other news...

Well, the Jag front end is out and the horn things that support the front rubber mounts have been removed. Kinda sad about that as I always thought using the rubber mounts was the best way to go. Seems like it's now a bit passe. 

Just check this out! How is this for a shocking butcher job! The Jag front requires a small notch to be made in the front end to sit snug in the f100 chassis. But this is taking things to extreme! There is only one remedy for that, and that is welding a patch on it. 

Decided to hit the chassis with KBS Rust Seal instead of 2k

 Mark was adament that 2k primer was a much better option and I am sure it is, but I was keen to wrap up any further work on the chassis as I had already given it a good going over with the plastic seaweed wheel and wire wheel. Sometimes you just want a conclusion to a long. drawn out situation, and KBS Rust Seal over the chassis is not a bad option. It's American equivalent would probably be POR-15. I have used KBS before with good results and am very happy with the way the chassis came out. This is a budget build and I thought this was the best option for me

The other news this month is Mark is coming back this weekend to do the plating on the front end. Can't wait! 

The tub should arrive in the next couple of weeks and I am putting money down on a set of steel front fenders as I have sold off those terrible fibreglass front fenders and good riddance to them. 

Also looking at parting ways with the Cragars or at least the rears and getting a set of Ford stud pattern Cragars to match. Might be better off flogging these off and buying a new set entirely?