Step one. Bought the van.
Hello Everybody, First post. I camp a lot in tents but after spending three days straight in a tent in the rain at Dolly Sods I swore I'd make a change. Here it is. Bought it Wednesday. Dro...
Forum Discussion
Heater Fuel Tank continued:
With the rustproofing done, attach the fuel inlet.
To waterproof around the edge of the fuel inlet I'm using GE Silicone II Clear Gutter/Flashing. Be sure to use Silicone "II" and not "I". Silicone II caulk is what's called a "neutral cure" silicone, which means no acids are released during the curing process. The acid kind will cause the metal to rust.
Have some paint thinner and rags on hand to help with clean up. Also have whatever tools you'll need to tighten the screws with you. Don't want to be rummaging around for tools after you've started with the silicone.
Apply a bead of silicone to the outside of the hole. I'm not being shy about applying it. You can always wipe off the excess.
Do the same to fuel inlet back plate.
Mate the fuel inlet to the side of the van. Press hard.
The Silicone II has a tooling time of 6 to 8 minutes. "Tooling time" is the amount of time you have to work, smooth, tool or otherwise manipulate the silicone caulk once it's applied.
Because of the tooling time factor I didn't bother cleaning anything up but went right ahead and inserted the screws into place. It's going to get messy but nothing that can't be taken care of later.
From inside the rocker panel you can see that the silicone has nicely filled the gap around the edge of the fuel inlet.
Put the nuts on the stainless steel screws and tighten them down. I'm using two nuts and a lock washer on each screw to secure them in place.
Take the paint thinner and rags and start cleaning up. This is the "after" picture. Had to do a little extra work to get the screw holes and screw heads clean of the excess silicone.
At this point I finally got around to measuring the actual width of the rocker panel just below the floor level. If you remember from my earlier posting where I clamped the T-square to the side of the van and used the tape measure to plot out the side of the van I estimated this to be 6.17". From this direct measurement it's around 5-7/8". All things considered I'd say I got that one pretty close.
continued -
With the rustproofing done, attach the fuel inlet.
To waterproof around the edge of the fuel inlet I'm using GE Silicone II Clear Gutter/Flashing. Be sure to use Silicone "II" and not "I". Silicone II caulk is what's called a "neutral cure" silicone, which means no acids are released during the curing process. The acid kind will cause the metal to rust.
Have some paint thinner and rags on hand to help with clean up. Also have whatever tools you'll need to tighten the screws with you. Don't want to be rummaging around for tools after you've started with the silicone.
Apply a bead of silicone to the outside of the hole. I'm not being shy about applying it. You can always wipe off the excess.
Do the same to fuel inlet back plate.
Mate the fuel inlet to the side of the van. Press hard.
The Silicone II has a tooling time of 6 to 8 minutes. "Tooling time" is the amount of time you have to work, smooth, tool or otherwise manipulate the silicone caulk once it's applied.
Because of the tooling time factor I didn't bother cleaning anything up but went right ahead and inserted the screws into place. It's going to get messy but nothing that can't be taken care of later.
From inside the rocker panel you can see that the silicone has nicely filled the gap around the edge of the fuel inlet.
Put the nuts on the stainless steel screws and tighten them down. I'm using two nuts and a lock washer on each screw to secure them in place.
Take the paint thinner and rags and start cleaning up. This is the "after" picture. Had to do a little extra work to get the screw holes and screw heads clean of the excess silicone.
At this point I finally got around to measuring the actual width of the rocker panel just below the floor level. If you remember from my earlier posting where I clamped the T-square to the side of the van and used the tape measure to plot out the side of the van I estimated this to be 6.17". From this direct measurement it's around 5-7/8". All things considered I'd say I got that one pretty close.
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