In a previous post, I showed how I filled in the frame, in front of the tank, to clean up the looks a bit. This still left me with that big hole in the front of the tank. I suppose the thought is, it is there to serve as an air intake. I feel BH could have done better, as far as appearance is concerned. After making a few cardboard mockups, I felt I had the look I was after. I took two short pieces of tubing, hammered a flare on each one and welded them to a piece of sheet metal, cut to the shape of the gap in the tank with two holes cut in it to match the flared tubes. A piece of 1/4 rod was formed and welded to the bottom edge. Then the whole deal was welded to the tank. As always, when I weld a tank, I connect a length of hose from an exhaust source, in this case, my Diesel tractor. The other end goes to the tank filler. The exhaust displaces the air and, therefore, the O2 and an explosion is not possible. A thin coat of plastic filler, primer and paint finishes it off. I turned the bezels for the little grilles out of some aluminum and cut the mesh from an old desk set, one of those deals with a pencil holder, a letter organizer and so on. I keep my pencils in a coffee can. Looks like two, big ol' nostrils, sorta like Paul Jr.
In the photo, the tank appears shiny, gloss black and the frame, sort of a dull gray. Actually, both need final color sanding and a good compounding and final polish. Lacquer is time consuming, but the results are worth it. Ignore the loose wires. They'll go away, soon.
1 comment:
Looks good John. I hope you're back on the road soon!
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