23-Feb-2014
Almost ready to cut
After marking the tank for cutting, I sucked out the 3 gallons of fuel that was in it and filled the tank with Simple Green and water, twice! It's a little scary to start cutting on a gas tank not knowing if it's going to blow up from the sparks caused by the cutting blade! Once I was certain that the fumes were gone I cut the tank with my Milwaukee metal cutting circular saw.
23-Feb-2014
Top of tank cut off
After cutting the top of the tank off I see why the tank weighs a ton, the whole tank was built with 1/8" steel plate with an 1/8" baffle and and 1/8" thick skid plate!
23-Feb-2014
Suction reservoir
The suction tube was bent over and down to the lowest point in the tank to a reservoir. Unfortunately the builder used a piece of EMT as a suction line so I definitely wasn't going to reuse the EMT tube again. I bought some1/2" tube and a fitting that will weld into the tank that has threads to attach the line from the fuel pump instead of using rubber hose and clamps.
I was thinking about cutting some of the depth out of the tank so it doesn't hang down so far but I'm going to run it as it is for now and change it later or build a new tank later.
26-Feb-2014
Modifying the fill nozzle
Because I lowered the top of the tank, my existing fill nozzle rested on my frame. So I cut the old nozzle off and relocated the new nozzle tube forward a few inches and a little higher. Now the tube sits above the frame with adequate space to attach my filler hose.
01-Mar-2014
Tank welded back together
After taking out almost 2" out of the height of the tank and making new suction and return lines I welded everything back together.
01-Mar-2014
New suction and retun line bungs
I ran a new suction line as well as a new return ine inside the tank. I welded some fittings on the end of the tubes that will accept a threaded fitting to be used from the fuel pump and the return line back from the TBI manifold. The previous owner just had tubing that such out of the tank and used rubber hose with a hose clamp. One of these was the cause of a fuel leak coming out of the fuel pump.
28-Feb-2014
Free steel!
I always like free stuff so I was more than happy to come across some 1/8" steel plate that I will be needing for boxing in the rear sections of my frame.
28-Feb-2014
Patterns made and laid out
I made some patterns for each side of my frame and laid them out on the steel to be cut out. I needed 41" in length so the 2' x 5' piece that was given to me was more than adequate for what I needed.
The Jeepster frame is already boxed in all the way back to the rear spring hangers then it is open to the rear of the vehicle. Boxing the rear of the frame will add some strength to the frame. Since I will be installing a shorter rear spring I will need to build a spring support that will be welded further forward where the frame is not boxed. This modification will give me the strength needed to support the new spring hanger.
07-MAR-2014
Rear Frame boxed
I welded the 1/8" material in place on both sides of the frame. Now when I move the rear spring hangers the rear section of the frame will be much stronger to accept the new hanger location.
07-MAR-2014
Boxed rear
I made some cuts in the material to be able to access the welded nuts that hold in the tank if needed down the road.
09-Mar-2014
Rusty black engine
My engine is really bad appearance wise, it seemed to run okay but I know a tuneup and some fine tuning will be in order once I get everything back together. I know that I will need to address the black rusty paint because I don't want to leave it like this after everything else is painted.
09-Mar-2014
More black and rust
Just another view of how bad the engine is.