gas tank welt

L

larry harding

Senior Member
i'm about ready to install my gas tank in the 31 p/u i'm working on. does the bead on the welt stand above the joint where the tank and cowl meet or should it be down in the offset and compress a bit as things go together? the manuals aren't clear on this, and every thing was apart when i started. i am also thinking of using the old yaller goo(contact cement) to stick the welt to the tank to ease installation. any suggestions?
 
Larry i just did mine the welt bead should be visible between the tank and windshield filler put the welt in place clamp the windshield filler to the tank you will see two big hole in the dash rail those are the bolts you want to put in to bolt the windshield filler to the tank also put the bolt in each end of the tank and thru the windshield filler. Go get some 3m double sided tape land it where the gas tank welting goes then cut the welting to correct length and place it down over the double sided tape. What i did to make the holes which worked very well was to use a center punch and a propane torch I heated the end of the punch and used it to make the hole just perfect when it is hot it will cotterise the welt around the hole. i cut a piece of 1x4 steel strap drilled a hole in the center stuck it in the tank to suspend it with my cherry picker put the two windshield filler screws in first and the let the tank down in place at the front, Go to the lumber yard they make plactic wood shims now and these will help to give a little clearance to get every thing in place.. follow the book in what it says to cut the welt to follow the curve old strips of jean work well to pull dow n the welt hope this helps.
 
Larry I just finished a 30 cc. I took strips of cloth and stapled them to the edge of the welt, laid the welt around with the strips hanging inside, worked the tank into place, pulled the cloth down to work the welt into place. If the cloth polls loose you can get pliers on the welt and tighten it up. On the top of the tank I cut V shaped openings around the holes and worked the welt around. Good luck
 
Tbird have you ever done it? Just described what worked for me. If he needs help he can call me and i can walk him thru it as well the man asked for help so i tried.
 
31a said:
Larry I just finished a 30 cc. I took strips of cloth and stapled them to the edge of the welt, laid the welt around with the strips hanging inside, worked the tank into place, pulled the cloth down to work the welt into place. If the cloth polls loose you can get pliers on the welt and tighten it up. On the top of the tank I cut V shaped openings around the holes and worked the welt around. Good luck
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That pretty much sums it up.. It's not that bad just take your time and go slow. I never needed high tack or tape as I feel being able to slide it easily was an advantage. I guess there are many ways to skin a cat..
The Les red book gives pretty good insight on this..
 
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Be sure to paint the bead before installing the welting. The bead should be exposed in the finished installation. If you are suing a single stage urethane, do not forget the hardener.
 

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If I were thinking about using the 3-M yellow Gorilla Snot I think I would use the 3-M Black one instead. And with either one if it gets somewhere it wasn't suppose to be, wait until it drys a little before cleaning it off because they will mark the paint. Been there done that.
 
31a said:
Larry I just finished a 30 cc. I took strips of cloth and stapled them to the edge of the welt, laid the welt around with the strips hanging inside, worked the tank into place, pulled the cloth down to work the welt into place. If the cloth polls loose you can get pliers on the welt and tighten it up. On the top of the tank I cut V shaped openings around the holes and worked the welt around. Good luck
Click to expand...

I used the same method but instead of stapling I used duct tape. Held nice and tight.
 
Mitch i put my welt in dry i put the windshield filler on the tank first and clamped it together while i put the bolts (4) that fasten the windshield filler to the tank followed the red book after that. I put the 3m thin double sided tape on top of the dash rail and the firewall where the tank sits down and then put anti squeak welt not the beaded welt on there so it would stay in place and pulled the beaded welt down in the corners, opened all bolt holes in the welts and tightened it down.
 
Larry, from experience I can tell you that if you cut the tank welt properly (--and use the welt that Roy Nacewicz sells), no glue, tack, or any other product is needed to glue it into place. Remember that Ford assy workers could not spend more than just a minute or two to install this. Again, most people use the wrong stuff, AND they do not cut the welt to fit correctly, ...and when that happens it just causes stress. If you want to know how to cut the welt properly, Marco posted pictures of original welting here some time back.
 
I also used the stapled on strip method. It was still a booger but it worked. I wouldn't want to make a living putting in tank welt.
 
I could never make assembly line time, but my friend and I did his 31 wide bed as Brent just stated.
It came out nice, but took some time.
 
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