Tank Bead welt help

[J Wade]

I am replacing the fuel tank on my 28 Tudor I understand I need to put new bead welt around the tank, but it appears to me I should use one continuous piece around the tank and down the cowl line on both sides. I'm hoping someone has an idea as to do this. The tank doesn't seem tough but getting it down the cowl line also seems tricky. Thanks

[Mike V. Florida]

Some staple strips of cloth to the welt. After cutting relief slots in the welt, pull down on the cloth strips to get the welt tight. Tighten the tank down then pull the cloth strips out.

[J Wade]

Thanks for your reply. My concern us how to get the welt all the way down the cowl. Do I start at the bottom and work my way around over the tank to the other side? If you set the tank on the cowl and firewall can you then do it? I hope I'm asking my question to where everyone understands my concerns. Thanks guys. I really appreciate the help

[Tom Wesenberg]

I understand your question, but have never done that job myself, nor done any cowl work, so I can't help, other than to post a couple pictures to show the problem.

[wrndln]

The cowl welting should start at the bottom of the one side of the cowl, up the cowl, over the gas tank and down to the bottom of the other cowl panel. What you can do, is remove or at least loosen the 5 or so 1/4" bolts that secure the cowl to the A pillar on both cowl panels. If the body is secured to the frame, you might have to loosen some body to frame bolts toward the front of the car to allow the cowl to be separated a little from the A pillar. You can gently pry the cowl away from the A pillar and then slide in the welting starting at the bottom of one cowl panel and then work your way up and over the gas tank and down the other cowl panel. You can staple some electrical tape or some other material to the flat area to extend the welting if you can't slide the welting between the cowl/gas tank and the A pillar. This is not a real easy job, but doable. The welting should be painted body color, which can be done before the welting is installed. If your car is black, you can just leave it black like the fender welting. I have installed the welting on my 28 coupe and almost ready to install it on my 29 phaeton - not a fun job but doable with some effort. BTW, original cowl/gas tank welting had a thinner bead than fender welting - 3/16" bead, verses 1/4" bead for fender welting. Hope this helps.
Rusty Nelson

[J Wade]

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Thanks Rusty, I thought that was what I needing to do, but the concern I had was separating the cowl from the A pillar. It is bolted but also appears to have rivets on the bottom braces. I was hoping someone had a trick to make it easier. Thank you sir. Jim Wade

[wrndln]

Jim.
You shouldn't need to unrivet anything. If push comes to shove, just cut a little of the flat part of the weld off at the bottom, then put a little glue to hold the bead to the cowl/A pillar. If you attach some plastic electrical tape to the flat area of the welting toward the bottom, like I mentioned earlier, with a pair of vice grips, you can usually pull the welting into position. You want to make the bead tight against the two metal part between the welting. However, if you really have trouble and can't get the cowl/A pillar separated enough to insert the welting at the bottom, you can easily detach the cowl assembly by removing 2 rivets to get to rivets, one on each side, that attach the subrail to the subrail extension. The rivet is the place where the temporary bolt is installed in the picture. If you drill out the rivet and remove the from 3 body to frame bolts (assuming the cowl to A pillar bolts are already removed) the cowl will slide forward to easily install the welting. I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it isn't too bad.
Rusty Nelson

[J Wade]

Rusty. I just got in and looked at your reply. Thanks a lot. Jim

[mngrant]

Jim,
I replaced the welt on my 29 Phaeton by doing as Rusty suggested. I also took a needle and heavy thread and sewed thread to the flat welt. I did this every few inches and then pulled the welt into the opening. It really saved the finish by pulling rather than pushing against the outside surface.
Mike

[J Wade]

Good idea. Again thanks for all the thoughtful advise. Jim