Fuel filler tube finish - all done with pics

[bull]

Been doing a lot of research on this site and keep seeing that the fuel filler tube was originally plated with tin/lead coating for a galvanized look. Is that the official word? If so, any idea on the quantities of each? The plating business I normally use offers 3 Tin/Lead mixtures: 60/40, 90/10 or 93/7.

[bill440rt]

Yes, Curtis. They were coated with a tin/lead plating. Very similar to galvanized. I'm not really sure of the ratio you mention, though. Can your plater provide you with a sample plated piece?

[bull]

I guess it's moot because I called the plater I normally use today and he said his tin tank is too small for the filler tube. And when I asked for more info on tin/lead plating specifically he got a little confused (even though their website says they do it).

Maybe I'll just get it galvanized. Might be the same thing, more or less.

[bull]

Well, this filler tube project started down one path and ended up on another. The only place I could find that would galvanize the tube is 100+ miles away for $100 and the closest place that said they might do it wanted $150. Nobody wants to fool with this stuff unless there's a pile of money waiting for them when they're done.

What I ended up doing was scrubbing on the tube for over an hour trying various methods and cleaners. There were several types of goo on the tube on top of the factory plating that needed to come off ranging from paint, rust, grease and dirt to an odd waxy black substance that covered nearly half the tube. The thing that seemed to work best on everything but the paint was Soft Scrub, a stiff bristle brush and 0000 steel wool. The paint had to be removed with thinner and scraping, which took forever. After all that scrubbing I treated the rust with SEM Rust Seal and "sponge painted" over it with a paper towel doused in stainless steel paint. Then the whole thing was clear coated.

Anyway, I didn't take any before pictures because this was just supposed to be a cleaning experiment, but I didn't stop experimenting until I was finished. My conclusion? I don't think the factory tin/lead finish looks much at all like galvanizing. The only similarity to galvanized I can see is that there's a variation in the shades and patterns. If you take anything away from this thread, take this: I would not galvanize the filler tube if you want it to look stock. I'm glad I didn't, and I saved myself $150.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

T-riffic!! 

[tan top]

  nice work , looks real good 

[Chatt69chgr]

I too spent time trying to figure the best way to restore my filler tube-----since they have not been repopped.  I had some rust on the inside and the bottom couple of inches that stick inside the fuel tank was rusted on the outside too.  The outer surface of the tube was not in particularly good condition finish wise.  I removed the rust with one of the rust removal solutions by immersing the whole thing in a plastic pan of the stuff.  I tried to solder over the bottom two inches with no luck.  Final solution.  I thoroughly cleaned the thing on the inside with a steel brush that could be pulled thorough and then lightly scuff sanded the outside.  Then, after thorough drying,  I put duct tape over the opening and poured in some POR15.  By tilting the tube back and forth I coated the inside and the bottom outside of the tube into the stuff to coat it.  After it hardened, I painted the outside with a silvery paint that simulated the old tube color.  They do make a POR that is totally impervious to gas (I found out later)but they told me that the regular POR 15 would hold up for the rest of my life (I'm 66).  The tube looks good and I think it's going to work out OK.  I would note that the part of the tube exposed below the fuel filler cap and where the fuel cap seals was in good condition and it did not get painted.  I spent a bunch of time fooling with this and would have readily bought a repopped one if they had been available.

[bill440rt]

Hey, that came out great!!! Looks real good! 

[bull]

I too spent time trying to figure the best way to restore my filler tube-----since they have not been repopped.  I had some rust on the inside and the bottom couple of inches that stick inside the fuel tank was rusted on the outside too.  The outer surface of the tube was not in particularly good condition finish wise.  I removed the rust with one of the rust removal solutions by immersing the whole thing in a plastic pan of the stuff.  I tried to solder over the bottom two inches with no luck.  Final solution.  I thoroughly cleaned the thing on the inside with a steel brush that could be pulled thorough and then lightly scuff sanded the outside.  Then, after thorough drying,  I put duct tape over the opening and poured in some POR15.  By tilting the tube back and forth I coated the inside and the bottom outside of the tube into the stuff to coat it.  After it hardened, I painted the outside with a silvery paint that simulated the old tube color.  They do make a POR that is totally impervious to gas (I found out later)but they told me that the regular POR 15 would hold up for the rest of my life (I'm 66).  The tube looks good and I think it's going to work out OK.  I would note that the part of the tube exposed below the fuel filler cap and where the fuel cap seals was in good condition and it did not get painted.  I spent a bunch of time fooling with this and would have readily bought a repopped one if they had been available.

There is a reproduction vent tube at least: http://www.megapartsusa.com/proddetail.asp?prod=129%2DRFV6801OM

I did a similar thing on the inside of my fill tube except I didn't want to coat it. There wasn't any rust inside so I bought a long, tapered brush used for cleaning dryer ducts and scrubbed it using some Simple Green. There was a kind of crusty/powdery stuff inside the tube and I was able to get most of it. What kind of screwed me up was when I took the handle off the brush and chucked it up in the drill. While that sped the cleaning process up it eventually destroyed the brush and ripped off half the bristles.

The most rust on my tube was also that 4-6 inch space between the trunk floor and the tank. There were a couple of spots that were rusted so deep I almost expected to see holes in it but I couldn't find any, Thank God.