1.0 Hours -
Time to finish the right tank!
I’ve decided to use sealant on the access cover and the fuel sender instead of the gaskets they are supplied with. I’m not sure about the neoprene sender gasket, but I’ve heard a lot of reports where the cork gasket for the access cover eventually starts to leak over time.
For the access cover, I placed a very thin smear of sealant on the inboard tank rib where the access cover attaches. I then twirled each screw in sealant before placing them in the cover.
I've opted to use tank sealant on the access plate instead of the cork gasket supplied by Van's. Just a thin smear of sealant though.
All of the screws were twirled in sealant before going into the tank.
After the cover was on, I used the same process to attach the sender unit.
The sending unit was also sealed on instead of using the supplied neoprene gasket.
Once the sender was screwed on, I pulled out my multi-meter and did one more electrical check on the sending unit. If I installed the unit wrong, or if the sealant blocked a good ground, I figured it would be easier to fix it now than to do it after the sealant cured. I attached the meter’s leads and then laid the tank down on the bottom side and then flipped it over. I could hear the float arm move and the meter also read correctly in each position.
After briefly admiring my completed right tank, I sat it on the floor and grabbed the skin for the left tank…no time to rest, there’s a second tank to build. On the left tank skin, I used my soldering iron to remove the vinyl coating from the rivet lines. The right tank will sit for several days to cure before performing a leak test on it.
Back to the left tank...I deblued the rivet lines on the skin.
