1976 280Z Restoration Project

[EuroDat]

My fuel tank had a threw dings in it too. Like ksechler said, they are hard to find and over here darn near impossible. I ended up leaving what looked like a slight forklift fork impression (looks worse on the photos) because it was close too spotwelds and it didn't leak.

 

Inside looked grotty when I started rolling it around with a mild muriatic acid mix and a hand full of old m6 nuts. I weighed them before I started so I could check that I got them all out when I finished and none were wedged in their somewhere.

 

It was my first tank this size, and its not good for your back. I think I was on my kids "most wanted list" for a while after making them help me for a couple of hours.

I sealed it with a kit for motorcycle tanks from KBS Coatings. The shop said it was enough for a car tank especially with the acid treatment I already did. 

It took about a week to do, with all the treatments and drying between and after.

 

Here are some photo's of my hobbiest effort.

 

[wheee!]

That turned out pretty nice Chas!

[HaZmatt]

I took my tank to a local radiator shop to have it acid treated and sealed for about $100. Havent had any issues with it.

[wheee!]

I'll look into that too. Might be easier/cheaper than buying the POR kit.

I can do the outside myself.

[takayuki]

mark, I took my fuel tank to Hunter radiators on the south side of edmonton.  So far, no issues. I refinished my tank with Line-X, Turned out great! hides all the imperfections.

[wheee!]

Thanks Taka! PM or text me the cost (for the service and the Line X) if you remember. Might help me decide which way to go. 

 

BTW, what brake system did you go with front and rear? Techno Toy?

[charliekwin]

I took my tank to a local radiator shop to have it acid treated and sealed for about $100. Havent had any issues with it.

I did the inside of mine by sloshing around some water and a box of large nuts, then muriatic acid, then phosphoric acid, then acetone, then Red Kote.  It came out nice, but it's nothing I'm interested in doing again.  $100 sounds like a great deal!

[siteunseen]

I did the inside of mine by sloshing around some water and a box of large nuts, then muriatic acid, then phosphoric acid, then acetone, then Red Kote.  It came out nice, but it's nothing I'm interested in doing again.  $100 sounds like a great deal!

I agree with that!  If you can get it done for anywhere near Hazmatt's price I'd jump on that.  I spent $50 on 3 things, $30 for a quart of Red-Kote, $10 for a gallon of acid and another $10 for a quart of acetone.  It's an all day thing too, well most of a day. 

 

Make sure the Red-kote or whatever liner's used has cured fully before adding fuel.  I waited a week on the last one I did.  If you can smell the liner, it's not cured yet.  Set it out in the sun when you can to speed up curing time.

[wheee!]

I agree with that!  If you can get it done for anywhere near Hazmatt's price I'd jump on that.  I spent $50 on 3 things, $30 for a quart of Red-Kote, $10 for a gallon of acid and another $10 for a quart of acetone.  It's an all day thing too, well most of a day. 

 

Make sure the Red-kote or whatever liner's used has cured fully before adding fuel.  I waited a week on the last one I did.  If you can smell the liner, it's not cured yet.  Set it out in the sun when you can to speed up curing time.

 

 

, the quotes around here are around $250 for a boil and red-kote so I will probably do this myself, just for fun!

I won't be mounting it or driving the car for a year or two so I think it will be good to go by that time!

[siteunseen]

Read through this,http://damonq.com/techsheets/red-kote.pdf, write down your plan because it's kind of time sensitive.  Get some dollar store baking soda and a few empty 5 gallon buckets.  A leaf blower works good to blow the soda and water rinse after the acid wash.  Then pour in a quart of acetone, slosh it around dump it then hit it again with the blower or some kind of air.  Pour in the red-kote, slowly rotate the tank to get good coverage then let all the excess drip out.  Make sure the small tubes are not clogged with the liner.  You'll have fun, just be really careful with the acid.

Cliff

[wheee!]

After surviving a long painful weekend of the flu, I actually managed to get a little work done last night.

I finished draining the fuel tank and then PB Blasted all of the associated mounting hardware to let that soak a day. Looked around a t the associated parts and pieces I had laying out and decided to reassemble the front grill after I had straightened and repaired all of the individual pieces. I left it in primer to keep it fresh for painting later. The nuts and washers for the grille are so tiny I don't know if I would have found replacements if I lost them!

Removed the nuts of the shock towers and decided to remove the front suspension as a whole with crossmember attached. Blasted the nuts on the frame to loosen them up and I will attempt to remove it as a set this weekend. Just need to disconnect the sway bar and it should just drop right out!

[wheee!]

Made a little progress last night. I recovered from the flu only to catch a chest cold a few days ago... Progress is going slow needless to say.

The bolts were rusty and difficult to access but i managed to pull off the drivers side rear suspension and axle. Started working on the passenger side but I have a seized bolt on the arm that will need some "massaging".