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It looked nice, but there were some bare spots on the external paint they used, so I put a couple more coats of oil-based paint on it just to be safe. I really do not want to have to do this again.
The polymer coating they used on the inside got into the threads for the drain plug and the pressure relief valve bolts. The drain plug threads were easy to clean out, but I had to get a tap to clean out the bolt holes.
Some of the polymer also got on the mating surface for the fuel tank sending unit. I did not adequately clean that off before I put the tank together, so it leaked. I found out that neither the paint the shop used nor my oil-based paint were gasoline resistant. So I had a bare spot under the sending unit hole I had to repaint. If I was going to do this again I think I would tell the shop not to paint it and paint it myself with epoxy paint.
I used sticky-back felt padding from the local hardware store underneath the tank. It was spec'd at 0.25" thick, but was thicker than that with a relatively light load. This raised the tank height up enough that I had to trim 1/4" off of the fuel filler hose (1/8" top and bottom) in order to get it to fit under the filler neck grommet. I also had to get some longer bolts for the tank straps--the original length was now too short. Nice thing about the felt, though: it was very easy to slide the tank in and out while doing all this.
I used some 1/4" thick cork sheet I have had lying around for years for the padding behind the tank. It seems adequate, but the drain plug is slightly forward of center in the chassis hole. My guess is that 1/2" padding is what is intended to be there. I am leaving it as is, though. Everything seems snug enough at this point and I am tired of pulling it in and out.
I also rejuvenated the sending unit as described in the fuel tank part of the forum. So I am not worrying so much about whether I have enough gas all the time. The gas gauge does not quite read full even when the tank is now. Not sure if the 10V regulator should be a higher voltage or if there is an adjustment on the back of the fuel gauge. Good enough for the present.
The past two days have been driving it around town on errands. I am getting much more confident that I got everything together right. I few more miles and it will be time to go back underneath and recheck the torque on the all the suspension stuff I replaced. A serious pain in the patoot, but it will make me happier and more confident once it is done.
Last edited on 05-01-2014 12:21 am by Tom Bradley