John Loftus B-J7 Restoration Photos

[Richard Dickinson]

John-

I was looking through your very nice set of photos and a couple of questions came to mind. First how did you restore your gas tank? I've read about everthing from total disassembly to puting rocks in it and tumbling it. I bought a kit from Eastwood but I'm having reservations about using it because of the baffels in the tank.

Second, your dash restoration looks great. Did you do this yourself?

Richard

 

[bighly]

Rich,

I recommend just replacing it. There is a screen pick-up that gets partially clogged when you "slosh" restore it.

The Moss replacement worked just dandy for me on my BT7.

The replacement will outlast you.

 

[John Loftus]

Hi Richard,

The tank I restored had apparently been sitting for a long time so the gas dryed out leaving behind dried out flakes of varnish (I guess) on the bottom. First I made a gasket and cover for the fuel level sender opening and used hose clamps and plastic cap to seal the filler opening. I diluted Marine Clean (avail from Moss and Por-15)with boiling hot water as directed and dumped it in along with 50 nuts (as in nuts and bolts .. about 1/2" thread size). BTW, I counted the nuts going in to make sure none went missing by getting stuck in the tank. I then shook the tank and placed it in the sun, turning it to a different side each 30 minutes or so and shaking it some more. The next day I emptied the tank (lots of debris came out), ran lots of fresh water through it with a hose and repeated the marine clean treatment about 3 times until there was no more debris. I left the tank in the sun to dry out and used a hair dryer on low to circulate the air. I continued to leave the tank out in the sun for several days (bringing it in at night to minimize condensation) to make sure all was dry. At that point I probably could have used the tank as is. There was only very small specks of surface rust noticable inside the tank.

But I ended up using the gas tank etch and gas tank sealer from Hirsch Automotive Products. https://www.hirschauto.com/newpages/index.html
If you check their website there are faq's about their products and I just followed their directions. I did use an air gun to blow out the fuel pick up tube a few times during the sealing operation so that it wouldn't get clogged. There does not appear to be any restriction from the screen.

It really was not too much work and I wanted to use an original tank for concours reasons(some aftermarket tanks do not have the proper side stampings and some had incorrect fittings for the fuel line)and I like to restore as many parts as possible. Call me a freak but don't forget to call me for dinner! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Yes, I did the dash restoration. It's probably one of the easier upholstery jobs. I recommend you get the vinyl from Heritage Trim as it has the correct grain and is much more compliant (stretches around curved areas) than the moss vinyl (I've tried both .. there is a big difference).

Cheers,
John

 

[robert_ellison]

John,

Where are the photos of your restoration. I too am restoring a BJ-7 & would like to see them.

Robert

 

[John Loftus]

here you go ...

https://www.loftusdesign.net/restorationweb/index.html

 

[robert_ellison]

John,

Thanks, very interesting and detailed!

In the zinc plating of small parts like heater valve assembly did you have to completely disassemble everything before plating. Some of those elements seem quite difficult to disassemble.

Robert

 

[John Loftus]

Hi Robert,

It is best to disassemble parts completely for plating since the old plating needs to be stripped (with diluted muriatic acid), and the metal bead blasted or buffed and completely degreased. Some parts can be done as assemblies but it's not ideal. But fortunately the heater valve assembly comes apart very easily. Remove one rivet, twist the top part until the tabs clear the hooks and pull apart. This also allowed me to check the condition of the rubber diaphram inside.

Cheers,
John