fuel tank value

[ModelA29]

I have used the Hirsh airplane sealer in several gas tanks with good results, though not model A.
closed up pin holes and made the tanks once again useful and having lasted many years.

I've seen some failures of aircraft sealants caused by the alcohol in car gas. There are new sealants for cars that resist it.

 

[ronn]

so nobody on this site would be content with making 40. an hour?

interesting, didnt realize everyone was chging 100. plus an hour. lol

 

[Oldbluoval]

Welcome to today’s world. I have a shop that I’ve invested over $250k. I prefer some ROI as well as paid for time. At $40 an hour working 2000 hours = $80k. Then take out fixed shop expenses such as electricity, etc.
No wonder can’t get anybody to work or many work “under the table”!! Or sit home and draw “something”?????
Ronn…I get your humor!

 

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

so nobody on this site would be content with making 40. an hour?

interesting, didn't realize everyone was charging 100. plus an hour. lol

Ronn, like Bill's thoughts I am sure you are tongue in cheek with that, but this has really become a serious topic. I just had a refrigerator repairman charge me $180.00 per hour with a two-hour minimum to replace an ice maker in a GE 'fridge. Local attorneys are charging $250 an hour. Trades people are wanting wages comparable to many professional white collar jobs.

I had a conversation with mechanic a month or so ago that was interviewing for a position, and his explanation made all the world of sense. In modern times, it is difficult for a mechanic to be successful and have not attended school for his trade. Anymore, techs are trained a minimum of two year -and many attend four years of school. Then, to be efficient at their work they must purchase specialty tools for almost each area they will be working in. The guy who I was interviewing showed me pictures of his huge tool box (-that had to be moved vis a rollback wrecker because of the weight. He told me that the same size tool box from Snap-On was about $20k, but he bought his for about $15k and used the difference to purchase other tools. He also said he had his box and contents insured for $100k and that may not cover everything if something happened to it.

I asked him how he was affording that and he said he wasn't ...but he was making payments like all the other techs do. I'd bet he is making $900-1,000 a month payments for the next decade or so on all of his tools, plus payments for his student loans, plus his house mortgage. His point was, a mechanic or technician these days needs to generate $40 per hour of wage just to support the payments of what I mentioned above (-which does not include the guy's living expenses). Most A level techs are making north of $50 an hour on commission with a guarantee in this area, -and B level techs are not that far behind them. I'd say that in the larger cities or more expensive areas, those wages are even more. That is why the non-franchised shops are charging $150-$180 an hour now. So yep, the $40 an hour shop rate is a distant memory now.

 

[ronn]

of course I am Brent, however I am sure there is some retired fella on the Barn that would be tickled to make 40. an hour, working from home 20 hours a week.

no taxes, not a company with employees and huge overhead, etc.
I actually am surprised that you fixed your fridge at those rates, only because most all
appliances are now made in china and who knows, when it breaks down again. Appliances as well as tvs are all now disposable. Not so much an A gas tank.......

anyway, fixing tanks might be more rewarding then say, working at walmart as a greeter.... again. lol

 

[Phil Brown]

Phil…
I seldom took the baffles out. Albeit many of them were practically rusted loose…then I replaced them.

If you look down inside a tank and it looks good, it may or may not be. The tanks condense and sweat. Water, then rust, accumulates on the underside of the tank top.

I was suprised at how much rust and pitting was on the underside of the tank top when it was opened up, then I realized that it was from the condensation inside the tank.
I removed the baffles to get at ALL of the rust. Just no other sure way to get things clean and rust free between the two pieces of metal.
If your going to use a sealer in there you can not expect it to work over rust, it's just not going to last and that is where your sealer is going to fail
Here is the underside of the tank top as well as the bottom of one of the baffle's and where it sit's in the tank, you can see how the areas need to be cleaned.

 

[Oldbluoval]

The last one I did I put Evaporust (gone to Rust 911) in it and let it sit. Washed out.
I have replaced baffles. Surprisingly, most pin holes I’ve found are not under the baffle.
That posted pic is pretty rough. If a tank had pinholes all way thru, I didn’t bother.
I have a stack of tanks mostly decent (no pin holes) but mostly indented firewall.

 

[ronn]

one final thought, geared toward McPherson graduates.......yes I know Im going a bit off topic......

Instead of working in a restoration shop-of which there are few, why dont some of these grads set up to do tanks, fenders etc. Papa Nic has had a nice side hustle for yrs here
of which he has countless happy customers. I know opening large commercial shops isnt viable in most cases, but Brassworks has steady customers, as do rad shops doing a good job on model A radiators. Yes Bergs didnt make it, but brassworks chgs around 1k for a rad and still in business. Proof that it isnt ALL impossible.
For some reason, outlooks on the Barn tend to always be pessimistic. There are many flavors in life.

 

[Rustisgold]

Interesting

 

[Randy in ca]

Randy…I’ve not seen “a really good” tank in years. I bought a NOS indented firewall tank in 2017 for $600. Thought I was crazy then!
If you look down inside a tank and it looks good, it may or may not be. The tanks condense and sweat. Water, then rust, accumulates on the underside of the tank top. You can check it somewhat by your fingers…but not very far.
I’d never cut open a tank that look nice by looking in and feeling…but you never know ??
When storing a car for extended periods, I store the tank dry. Gas goes bad anyway.

A very cheap Endoscope camera will also allow you to easily examine the inside rust condition on the underside of the tank top, especially if the gas gauge has been removed.

 

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

one final thought, geared toward McPherson graduates.......yes I know Im going a bit off topic......

Instead of working in a restoration shop-of which there are few, why dont some of these grads set up to do tanks, fenders etc. Papa Nic has had a nice side hustle for yrs here of which he has countless happy customers. I know opening large commercial shops isnt viable in most cases, but Brassworks has steady customers, as do rad shops doing a good job on model A radiators. Yes Bergs didnt make it, but brassworks chgs around 1k for a rad and still in business. Proof that it isnt ALL impossible. For some reason, outlooks on the Barn tend to always be pessimistic. There are many flavors in life.

Ronn, while I am not certain I have the answer to your question(s), I do feel I have enough first-hand experience with what you are suggestion to at least partially answer you.

So with that said, my thoughts are based on personal experience with me hiring people straight from college including 2 graduates from McPherson. Adding to that experience, my son is an automotive & motorsports instructor with an accredited Tennessee technical college. My point is to explain from this perspective of what we have encountered.

In a nutshell, I think you are expecting these students to be able to go straight out of school with the knowledge to be able to restore gas tanks, or rebuild electrical components -or restore carburetors, engines, etc. Unfortunately that is not how the educations from college-level instruction works in this day & time. Basically, Colleges do not teach students everything they need to know for them to actually do the work, but instead the instructors are there to expose them to to the different areas of restoration or repair. Having hired many of these students, in almost every scenario they must work as helpers or apprentices for awhile before they have the knowledge or experience to do the task on their own. By comparisons, in most trades these days, the requirement for an Apprentice is to have worked for around 100,000 hours of hands-on experience, and most requiring some level of testing to move up to a journeyman level. And so that we are clear, just because a student has 120 credit hours from McPherson, not all of those credit hours are actually spent learning about restoration. Therefore, for these students to do as you are suggesting, they would fail due to lack of experience.

The second side of this is Gery Bergbower did make it, ...however he closed down because of supply issues -and, he learned he could make more money doing a different (unrelated) trade. Many of the subcontract ideas that you mentioned are great little cottage industries where a craftsman can work part-time to make a little extra golf money, or some $$ to supplement their S/S or retirement. It is VERY hard to make a full-time living in a trade any longer simply due costs.

I am not trying to sound pessimistic, but I do think people need to know facts, ...and if those facts come across as, -or are portrayed as dismal, then so be it.

 

[ronn]

Thank you for taking the time to answer Brent. I see exactly what you are saying
and agree, most people in life can not tackle what Im asking, but the thought is still there and my inquisitive nature is just that.
I do remember mention of the Bergs radiators and what happened, just had forgotten
and know everyone can not be set up to run a business. It takes a tremendous amount of energy and time. It also takes a certain "personality".
Still worth the question...... and we should keep on approaching these topics.

so how about shipping 100 gas tanks to Poland, where I know labor is less costly and......
yes of course I jest.

side note- sold a 1937 Cord to a fella in Poland a few yrs back. Had three bidders, India
Germany and Poland. Poland won. When Polish tow truck driver picked it up, asked him where the car was going? He said Poland to be restored.... and then it would be sold in Germany, where the money was! lol