Fuel tank plate desaster

[Bob635]

Lars

I have dealt with this same corrosion problem on 4 deloreans. Cleaning up the corrosion is straight forward task with sanding, acid treatment, epoxy primer and Por 15.

However, i also recommend cutting the plate into 2 pieces. of about equal weight. The plate is heavy and ackward to install. By cutting it in half, it has another drain slot and is soooo much easier to install.

Bob

[Nicholas R]

However, i also recommend cutting the plate into 2 pieces. of about equal weight. The plate is heavy and ackward to install. By cutting it in half, it has another drain slot and is soooo much easier to install.

Bob

Wait what? Can you elaborate on this? Which direction are you cutting your fuel tank plate in half? Longitudinally or transversely? Either way, it doesn't seem like that good of an idea to me. The plate may be a little awkward to install and remove, but who is taking this plate out so frequently that it's become an issue? I'm pretty sure the last time I took mine off was 7 years ago, during my engine swap, so I could replace the rubber coolant hose unions with silicone.

[David T]

Not a great idea to cut the plate. It isn't that heavy and it gives some structural integrity to the frame to stiffen it up.

[larsmhh]

Hi Guys,
I promised to tell you about the fate of my tank plate.
I at least got it back from powder coating.
They said, they tried to blast the rust, but it did not work well. So they did a chemical paint stripping and sand blasted it after that.
This is the result.
BEFORE:
IMG_20190127_180328.jpg
AFTER:
IMG_20190222_072942.jpg

You can see that the coat is not smooth all over the surface, but this photo shows the upper side. The side that can be seen from below the car looks like new.
I decided to use RAL 7011 "iron grey", because in Germany you can buy a repair paint like POR-15 in the US in white, black or grey (RAL 7011) color. It is called TimeMAX and could be used directly on rust (they say...).
You can also see the four new holes I drilled before coating to drain water...

Best wishes and have a nice weekend,

Lars