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With the fuel tank out, noted there is a fair bit of crud floating around inside. Curiosity got the better of me so I turned it upside down and shook it around. This is what came out - still around about another litre in there by the feel and weight. Doubt I'll repair this as it has a few holes and a bigger tank will help the thirsty 202. Greg, I'll be having another look at your thread and how you went with the &*#@ xa? tank, but as that has the filling neck on the side (from memory) probably easier to delete the wheel well and go with a Mustang tank (stainless is about $550 at the moment). Or a 69 Maverick tank looks like it could work if you flip and narrow the wheel well (Space Saver anyone?) - but means sourcing from the States and not in stainless. And at around 1K might as well source a custom tank from here. Or am I underestimating the cost of custom?

Marty Dean should be able to give you a pretty accurate quote for a custom tank:

https://www.facebook.com/MC-Dean-Fabric ... 858855612/

Cheers,
Harv

I would be more inclined to solder up the pinhole in that tank and whack it back in - whenever we do any long trips we stop every couple of hours anyway so I have never felt the need to have a bigger tank .

My $0.02

Hey Scott,

I did my tank with the XB as i was hell bent on the spare wheel lying flat and out of the way.

The XB tank is not without issue though, clearance to the diff pumkin (9inch) had to be relieved, the floor in the boot had to have a frame fabricated for it to sit in, filler neck fabricated and filler relocated to the side. Finally, the spring hangers on the rear are very close and will probably end up rubbing on the tank.
Once I get the thing registered I will make a new one, the same shape but smaller and squarer to fit the space a bit better.

I think now the spare wheel is not really an issue as it will never have picnic table or chairs in it and I doubt I will ever have the need for boot storage for family holiday luggage.

In relation to your rear quarters I would suggest replacement panels, that way you can get all the rust that will be in the drop down panels and wheel arches.
Your going great, keep up the good work.

Greg

Harv, thanks for the link - I've seen that name pop up and was who I was thinking if I go down the fab route.
Blacky - I'll spend a bit of time on the tank to work out how much I'll need to do to slap it back in. Sydney to Melbourne was a three/four stopper depending where I'll fill it. Always over cautious as I never trusted the gauge. 2 litres of crud in the tank wasn't helping the cause either.
Greg, some honest feedback there about the spare - flat clean floor would be nice, but this isn't a show car so if I have to push a spare out the way to fit stuff in the back then that's no issue. I looked for dimensions for XA-B tanks and they seemed too big. Well done getting it in. Even a Mustang tank (at me rough measurement) has the tank just past the start of the diff hump. Not by much though.
So order of operations - proper assessment of stock tank, price custom tank, stop procrastinating and make a decision.
Thanks all

Ordered the rear quarters too - seem to be on back order at the moment from the usual go to shops. Found some on ebay 'brand new never used' for $205 delivered. That'll do.

Got my 'cheap' rear quarters in the mail the other day. Should have spent the extra $80 and got new ones instead of NOS ones that look like they have been left out in the weather.
Oh well, stuck the good one in a bath of citric and had a crack at a bit of panel beating on the other.

Can't fit this piece in the press so managed to bodge it up in the vice with my block of hard wood and rod
Scored some lines in the panel and even masked and painted a shadow line to see what it might look like. Panel in the vice and squeeze my way along the line.
Jaws not deep enough to get to the arch so plan B with a bit of bent alloy rod from a shelf in an old fridge
Hammer with block of hard wood
Working the metal made what was a bad fit is now really bad. Will need a bit more love
But you get the idea. Bit rough but I like the line.

You'll soon bash it in to shape once it's on there Scott.

Sent from my SM-G781B using Tapatalk

remember you can always take a reference from the other side of the car

Good work Scott,

Yeh I’m sure we have all made purchases like that! At least your up for a challenge to make it fit. Good to see the vice in action again

Regards
Stephen

I really cannot understand Rares mindset when it comes to panels like these - they are made offshore by a subcontractor, why do they not send them back when in the design phase and say "not good enough , make it so it fits " ?????????????????????????????

Looking good Scott. I like that line too. NOS panels seem to come with NO- rust in my limited experience. I had a lot of trouble with vein-like rust in a NOS bonnet that I used on sedan. It was very difficult to get rid of.

Brett027 wrote: Sat Jul 23, 2022 8:42 am Looking good Scott. I like that line too. NOS panels seem to come with NO- rust in my limited experience. I had a lot of trouble with vein-like rust in a NOS bonnet that I used on sedan. It was very difficult to get rid of.

NOS- these days its referred as Nasty Old Shit by us resto heads, when a customer comes in with a car and has alot of NOS, we usually send him off to sell it for huge dollars, it still needs alot of massaging to fit and sometime just as easy to fix whats stuffed*btw, nothing fits full stop as we like
to think

FCEKHKZD wrote: Sun Jul 24, 2022 11:00 pm

Brett027 wrote: Sat Jul 23, 2022 8:42 am Looking good Scott. I like that line too. NOS panels seem to come with NO- rust in my limited experience. I had a lot of trouble with vein-like rust in a NOS bonnet that I used on sedan. It was very difficult to get rid of.

NOS- these days its referred as Nasty Old Shit by us resto heads, when a customer comes in with a car and has alot of NOS, we usually send him off to sell it for huge dollars, it still needs alot of massaging to fit and sometime just as easy to fix whats stuffed*btw, nothing fits full stop as we like
to think

I have to totally agree, I'm no panel beater but I've done a lot of panel work. It is so true that not even the original pressings from car to car will fit each other. Think about a die punching out 40000 door frames and skins, it will wear with time and can sometimes end up 5mm different in size.
The cars were hand built and usually panels were swapped around to fit best on each car. Lets not even go to the Friday arvo slap together floor pans !!!! The jigs were also hand set and varied from state to state, within tollerance of course.

Greg

Had a go at shaping the rear quarter panel with my knee to see if I could get a bit of curve in the panel. Well got a bit more than I need....
Decided might be about the right time to straighten it out, and put it in a nice warm acid bath.
Swapped it with the passenger side which had been soaking for a few days. With a quick wire brush this one scrubbed up alright. The rod I used first time round is great to draw out the line to use as a guide on the inside of the panel
Repeated the process from earlier. To help the panel curve I shrunk it a bit more. Cold chisel, a couple of old drill bits with a washer between them and some ducting tape does the job.
Using a shifter to help with the bends leaves little scratches so I decided to make some soft jaws out of hard wood and masking tape.
Here is the result