Because I am basically a lazy bastard, it is not unusual for me, when
ramping up to do a job, to read all the shop manuals, then get all the parts
and do a run through in my mind or with the actual parts where possible. I
try to get the proper tools lined up ahead of time, and most jobs go
reasonably smoothly, barring the "Unforeseen."
One recent job was to fix the rusty old gas tank and replace all the
related rubber bits in the fuel system. As anyone who has ever done this to
an AD truck can tell you, the job is not too tough, and this one proceeded
just about as expected until I got to the final finishing touch.
The fuel filler pipe on the AD truck sticks out of the side of the
cab with a big rubber donut around it sealing it to the cab sheetmetal. My
original donut came off in one piece, but I bought a nice quality repop and
wanted to install it on the freshly powdercoated filler neck.
In eyeballing the job, an assembly sequence seemed to me to make
sense, and all parts were trial fitted to ensure easy assembly. To make sure
of a good waterproof seal, a fresh tube of black silicone seal was readied
and the neck was slipped into the fresh rubber hoses and secured with the
original factory clips, still in surprisingly good condition.
I am always a little uncomfortable working with silicone seal. The
stuff is difficult to wipe off cleanly and once it begins to set, there is no
working with it at all. For that reason, I decided to smear the filler tube
with the sealer just back where it would fit into the donut, fully believing
that the easiest mess to clean up is the one that doesn't get made to start
with. For the donut-to-cab seal, there was just no clean way to make this
joint without oozing somewhat. I would have to rely on speed of assembly to
allow me plenty of time to clean up the inevitable mess before the silicone
seal became intransigent.
As you might have guessed from the title of this story, all did not
go well. The problem presented itself when I tried to squeeze the rubber
doughnut into place. The filler neck poked through the hole as anticipated,
but with the neck in place, there was no longer room to scootch the rubber
doughnut enough to get the donut into place. Being a sharp cleaver lad, I
thought I would just FORCE it into place and picked up a very large
screwdriver already laid out within easy reach.
The top two-thirds of the donut responded to force rather well, and
for a while I thought I might just pull this off, but it was not to be. Now I
am a big fellow, well known for having a strong back (and perhaps a weak
mind) and in 40 minutes or so of life and death struggle, I couldn't make a
go of it. I was frustrated, tired and I had made a huge mess with drying
black silicone goo all over my skin, clothes, tools and worst of all, all
over the truck.
At this point, I stopped to reassess the situation. The original
reason for the particular assembly procedure had been to avoid making a mess.
In this, I had clearly failed. Now, I might just as well do it the easy but
somewhat messier way, after all, I couldn't possibly make the mess any worse!
First, I pulled the rubber donut and fuel filler pipe back off. Next, a new
bead of the sealer was applied to the donut and it was easily popped into
place.
The fuel filler had to go into the donut from the inside of the cab
and I was worried that it would push the donut back out of the hole in the
cab so the neck too got a liberal coating of the slippery silicone goo. The
filler pipe twisted into place easily! Retightening the hose clips finished
the job.
As to the mess, I'm afraid very little could be done. The more I
tried to wipe it off, the worse the mess got. There is black sealer all over
the paint and rubber donut, and although some of it rubbed off the next day,
some remains still. Does anybody have any good way of cleaning this stuff off?
If you are going to do this job, remember that the rubber donut goes
into the cab first, then the filler neck goes in. It's the smart way.
Paul O'Neil, Hudson29@aol.com
1951 Chevrolet 3600 Pickup Project, See it at:
The Poor Man's Advanced Design Tech Tips Page
http://home.earthlink.net/~conntest47/
Fullerton, California USA
AEROMARK - Need Rubber Stamps or Signs? See:
http://hometown.aol.com/hudson29/myhomepage/index.html
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