Inside gas tank finish

[gdmn852]

Hello, getting ready to repaint the 31 gas tank, have done a search on Ford Barn and also in standards manual , but still have a question on the gloss on the interior side of gas tank , originally were the embossed areas buffed to gloss and rest of tank unbuffed ?Seems to look that way on some original photos. Thank you in advance.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Generally speaking, only the face of the tank was hand polished on the DeLuxe models. All the other cars were just 'as-sprayed' Lacquer.

[JayJay]

Be sure you take that fuel gauge out and mask the opening before you paint!

To the original question, my unrestored '30 town sedan has the raised ("embossed") oval portion of the face buffed, and it extends a bit onto the face outside of the raised portion, but it was by no means an excellent job that extended all the way to the edges. Looks like they buffed only enough to lay down the pinstripe. Since this was a hand job likely there is variability between individual cars, but the lower portion of the tank is definitely not buffed.

[gdmn852]

Hello again, thanks for the reply’s , I thought that is what I was seeing on original photos, as I am using bc/cc will have to figure out how much to dull down clear coat .

[gdmn852]

Have the inside gas tank project done, this how it turned out, looks a little odd , but does resemble original photos.

[Bob Bidonde]

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Many many moons ago, when I took my 1931 Coupe apart for restoration, I found evidence that the gas tank was mounted in the body before the body was painted. The backside of the tank had a large bare metal area, and so to did the upper part of firewall's interior.

I have seen factory pictures where the gas tank was traveling through the paint booth with, but out of the body so the tank was painted on all of its exterior. My Coupe was assembled during February 1931 in Edge Water, New Jersey, and it was originally Thorne Brown with a Straw pin stripe and black wheels.
Another tidbit of info is that the gas shutoff valve had some Thorne Brown paint on it.

[gdmn852]

This car was about the same as you described, top of inside firewall wasn’t painted and just overspray, mostly bare on inside upper of tank . Originally the car was probably a standard roadster, found traces of Lombard blue, and pins for trunk in the quarter panel for hinge. Thank you for your reply.

[henry's 31]

It looks great!

[gdmn852]

Thanks , with two step paint, base coat and clear coat, a lot of masking and time to do the tank, most people just go with gloss.

[Smokedtires]

Fantastic outcome, well done.

[gdmn852]

Finally got pinstripe done.