Re: Getting Started on '31 S/W body

Posted by Bob Johnson on November 18, 1996 at 09:49:09

In Reply to: Getting Started on '31 S/W body
posted by Bob Carabbio on November 16, 1996 at 23:47:23

I would only use welting where the metal and wood are attched by bolts and not nails.
The original body wood on a Model A was coated with a black wood preservative. You should use some sort of presevative on the wood.
If you use a MIG welder you can weld with minimal wood burning. This is a high stress area even lead might crack over time.
The front seat should be a self contained unit with it's own metal frame. It is attached to the body on the metal seat adjusting rails.
The gas tank rust problem is common. Dipping the tank can cause additional problems if not done right. The gas tank is not just an empty tank, there are internal baffles. To clean mine I first filled the tank with a caustic solution and then put a scrap iron electrode in the tank making sure that it was not touching the sides of the tank. Then I used a battery charger to run current through the solution. If the positive side is connected to the scrap iron and the negative to the tank then the scrap iron should turn to rust and the rust on the tank should turn to iron. DO NOT do this if you do not know what you are doing. (Note that the Model A electrical system is positive ground. Therefore it should work just like my tank cleaning system. But since the body is connected to the positive side of the battery, it is the part that will rust. So if you store your car for any length of time remove the battery ground cable to prevent rust) Then I drain and dryed the tank. Next I filled the tank with lost of nuts and bolts and "shook" it to loosen the "rust". Then I flushed it out with water to remove the loose "rust". I repeated this process until very little "rust" was left. Finally I coated the inside of the tank with a tank sealer (Use a alcohol resistant sealer).

Follow Ups:
Re: Getting Started on '31 S/W body Bob Carabbio November 20, 1996 at 00:02:20(0)

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