1948 Fordson E83W pickup

I had some spare time today, and the firies pager never went off. So I was able to start the repairs on the fuel tank. The front end and the underside had copped some rough treatment is Clarry's previous life. The bottom stayed dented, but the front was just plated over, hammered in to follow the dents, and filled with bronze. Later it was also disguised with lots of bog, but there was always fuel weeping from it. Hmmm ... time for some real repairs methinks. I decided to grind out the bog and cut off the patch plates, to get back to the original damage. Then I could panel beat the tank and repair it as necessary.

So I made a cut to expose the skin underneath ...

I found a baffle inside, which I was able to remove by breaking it at the spot welds. This allowed me to get into the tank and panel beat the other dents around the tank and especially along the underside. There was a big dent right beside another baffle in the tank, which I had to cut with the narrow cut-off disc to allow me to knock it out. I can chase this out and weld it up tomorrow.

With the damaged tank skin, my plan of attack is to grind/cut off the patch and the skin from the outside and work inwards. This will then let me straighten up the tank end, and close off the tank with another patch properly welded in place. There will be a couple of minor dings which I can dress out with some filler if required later. Then the whole tank can be treated internally with a quality fuel tank sealant.

Hi mate,
That tank will come up great. Keep up the good work on Clarrie, he's looking great. Thanks again for the warm welcome you and your wife gave us while we were up there. It was good to meet you both. Let's hope both our pagers are quite this season.
Cheers Kev

Bugly you are doing an excellent job on restoring your fordson i also am working on one.Currently doing a windscreen repair so you may be interested in seeing how that turns out it is very common for them to be damaged in the bottom corners a big reason is the drains at the corners get blocked so the water sits people dont even know that there are drains.I have done my restoration on the cheap by getting old wrecks and building mine out of the best parts.Mine also had a severely cracked steering wheel.What i found worked well was i sand blasted the old unit.It was just a cheap unit is $30.00 it cleans out the rust in between the cracks mine had chunks falling out i thought i would give it a go anyway didnt think it would work but it turned out like new even i was amazed.I used that epoxy two part compound that you buy at the warehouse i think selleys make it.Cant remember the name it was about 10.00 a tube had some left over after repairing the steering wheel.Somethings i found out along the way was the van doors do not fit the trucks they are a different shape i had some excellent doors but they would nt fit my truck i was disappointed.The front diagonal cross brace on the chassis if it is not secured will directly affect the front steering.On one rolling chassis that i tested thIs brace was broken it twisted the main chassis lifting the right wheel when you turned the steering wheel.This puts excessive strain on the steering brackets and they will break.I know that this has happened on other vehicles not good when you are driving.Regards rustyreks

I found the bottom drain bungs on the fuel tanks seize up what i did was drilled out the old plug and rethreaded it in fine metric thread and put in a bolt this worked really well and i can drain the fuel if i need to.Have done this to other ford tanks i used to own a ford 7y same problem.rustyreks

With the fordsons there was a box style fitting that was purpose made for the passenger side foot well i have one in my vehicle would be simple to make, these were an accessory if required.Am certain that air cleaners and oil filters also were not included on new vehicles as they were extras.On some carbs that i have come across they just had a basic cover on the top of the carb rather than a oil filter.

For freeing up old cable brake lines as in the fordson is to boil them in oil i use auto transmission fluid if you can find an old electric oil heater the stand up type with fins take the oil out as they use atf its cheap and has a high flash point i just simmer them quietly have used this method for seized chains,brake cylinders and other seized parts it works very well rustyreks

Hi guys ... back from holidaying in Perth over Christmas with the kids (?) and grandkids, so it was quite enjoyable. Always good to be back home though.

Hey Rustyreks ... thanks for all the tips, much appreciated!! Always good to hear about an easier way!! I like the sound of the passenger-side foot-well in the Fordson ... I'll look into this one!! Also thanks for the tip about the sand-blaster and the steering wheel. I've got one of the 'el-cheapo' blasting guns, so I'll use it like you did. I hope to get onto the body in 2015. I got my fuel drain plug out OK, so I'll be able to use it again no worries.

Happy to pass on what i have learned.After procrastinating a couple of years on my windscreen repair have nearly finished.Mine had rotted at the bottom corners on both sides quite common in new zealand.The frames being steel doesnt help.To be honest i thought it might be a bit much for me.A friend of mine offered to help he was doing his so i gave him some window frames so that he might help me with mine.That was a couple of years ago.It is one of those things that can become a road block.Anyway i had some prefect frames which are brass and decided to use those instead they have the same profile and brazed sections in.By separating the outer and inner frame and then dropping the donar outer frame in its place and braze the two together it was quite straight forward i dont think anyone else has done this method but it turned out great and i now have a perfect frame which wont rust out again am pleased i decided to give it a go.It was also pretty much my first time brazing.That was new for me. If anyone wants the info send me an email i have photos and info on how to do this.rustyreks

I decided that I wanted to start Clarry up in 2014, because when you think about it all I need is a fuel supply, a radiator and a bit of wiring. As I am still working on the fuel tank, I found a substitute in the old ride-on mower tank ...

I mounted Clarry's radiator, and found that it wasn't a Fordson one because the bottom tank never had the off-set hump for the crank handle in the right place. That means it's probably a Ford Prefect radiator, but it'll work ok.

I may have to lengthen the top hose to get the radiator sitting upright and parallel with the fan blades, but this'll be near enough for a start-up today. Coolant was poured into the radiator ...

... but I forgot about Murphy's Law. When things are cruising along nicely, there'll always be something that pulls you up. I noticed some coolant coming out from under one of the head stud nuts. I tried to pull up the leak with a copper washer, but I also noticed it dripping out the joint in the front pipe to the muffler. That means I've got coolant in #4 cylinder, and running out an open exhaust valve. Bugger. Head off tomorrow maybe.

BugLee
Gudday M8

Gr8 Pix
Keep m Cummin

Looks like Moyfeee won again

LOL
cya