Hi all, sorry for not getting back to you all earlier, I have been up at mum's, getting 240v set up in her house. Now she can flick a switch inside to turn the inverter on in the shed and has all the lights changed over to 240v. Just need to work out where she wants all the power points, run the cables and hook it all into the breaker box. Maybe next weekend.
Thanks for all the info, offers and suggestions. It's exactly why I find this forum so useful; I can usually find detailed info on what I need to do next, or someone who has done it before and already found the tips and traps, saving me making them again. Maybe.
Saturday morning I ran into town to see what I could find in the way of soldering options. I had already decided arc/mig welding wouldn't be good as the metal is very thin. When I was using the wire wheel on the grinder to clean the flaky paint off the top, the metal was bulging up and down just from the small amount of heat that generated. As it cooled, it laid flat again. Around town, most places had their weekend staff on roster and were not that knowledgeable. One didn't know what brass filler rods were for and another wanted to sell me a pack of 10x 45% silver-soldering rods for $110. I thanked him and left quickly.
I could only see the 2 small holes that show in the pics above, but in a few places I was getting sparks as the wire wheel went over some areas where the metal straps sat. When I had a really close look at these spots, I realised that the rust had made a sort of raised scab under the felt where the rivets held it to the strap. It was almost like the crust you get when stick welding that chips off, (if someone other than me does it). When I worked these spots over with the wire wheel a bit more, they cleaned out to bare metal. In the end I had around 7 small holes, mostly pin-head size, at the bottom of small craters.
I went back into town to check with another place. They have been around for years, have some really ancient and hard-to-get parts and stuff out the back, but can be frighteningly expensive, so I always ask first.
I showed them the pics and explained what I was doing and, similar to what Chazza suggested about gluing it, they recommended that I use some stuff called CRC Minute Mend. It is similar to that Knead-It 2 part putty. The blurb says "CRC Minute Mend is a fast convenient epoxy repair putty that mixes in just one minute for permanent emergency repairs. It bonds to wet or damp surfaces and can even be applied under water."
The idea is that I work with small sections at a time. Knead this stuff up, force it into the grooves and holes with a paint scraper and then sand it flush once it's fully cured. I will paint over it later, but it will be under the new rubber strip replacing the old felt padding, so won't be seen.
I gave the whole tank a coat of Galmet Ironize, the rust converter/sealer. It is supposed to convert any remaining rust to iron chelate, which is inert. It has no effect on bare metal. Once it has done it's job, it forms a coating like varnish which you can paint over. I think the primer would work better on the bare metal so before I fill the holes and prime the tank, I will clean it off with thinners. The boss is going on another 2 week holiday starting Tuesday, so I foresee some short days coming up. I hope to get it cleaned, patched, primed and painted for next weekend.
After I cleaned the tank and ran around town until everywhere I wanted to go was shut at lunch, I came home to have another go at the damn driver's side brake master cylinder. With the use of vice-grips and much swearing, I got one nut and bolt out. That left 2 bolts. Interestingly, these 2 come in from opposite sides, so I have a nut and bolt head on each side. The nut on the outside came off without holding the bolt head under the truck, so either the bolt is seized in the aluminium casting or chassis rail, or it has a captured washer on the inside, stopping it from turning. I can't get into a position where I can see. It's in a narrow gap between the fixed cross-member and the removable one that the transfer case hangs off. I can get a finger onto the nut below it, but not a socket, as it is directly in line with the bracket that holds the hand-brake rod pivot. This is welded to the transfer case cross-member. I can't get my hand in to get a spanner on it, but I just realised that if I cut a hole in the deck timber just above, I might be able to get the ring end of a combination spanner onto it and it would lock against the chassis rail if I turn the bolt from outside.
Cutting a hole in the deck isn't a problem, other than that I have to move the 3 almost new spare tires that are stacked and strapped down and are right in the way. Typical. I have to replace all the timber in the deck anyway as it is rotten. When you look up from underneath, there are big patches of white fungus growing on it. I plan on using Southern Bluegum, Eucalyptus globulus. It's a harder timber than the "Tas Oak" milled around here and has a much higher durability rating. I just need to find a sawmill on the east coast that is still operating and see what sizes they can provide. The boards can be oversized as I have a bench planer and thicknesser to get them to their final sizes. The issue is finding someone milling the stuff who would do a small run of 12 boards at 4.5m lengths.
Anyway, that will do for tonight. Thanks for taking the time to read through my thread.
Greg.
