Painted top half of fuel tank

Yesterday was Big Little Tsunami Day. I spent the day at home because Civil Defense asked that people stay off the roads. KHNL, the local NBC affiliate, provided non-stop coverage. I was fascinated watching the water flow in and out of Hilo bay. Fortunately without damage.



Today everything was back to normal. Everywhere I went people were talking about where they were and what they did when they first heard about the tsunami. My day began with a stop at Redline for more POR-15 Marine Clean and Metal Ready -- I used up most of what I had last week cleaning the inside of the fuel tank. Then it was off to the shop. I had to quit early because my good friend Ric Trimillos had a birthday party.



I checked the plastic cup I used last week to apply the tank sealer. The paint had set up to something that looks and feels just like plastic, and which popped right out of the plastic cup as though I had used a release agent. Tough, yet flexible.



After taping over the filler neck opening I washed the outside of the tank with a medium strength solution of Marine Clean, using a sponge sanding block like a scrub pad. After that I just worked on the top. Next week I'll do the bottom. When the tank was dry I hit the rusted spots (no rust-throughs!) with a wire brush and sanded the entire thing with 180# sandpaper. Then came the Metal Ready, followed by a generous coat of black POR-15. I did not take a picture of the painted tank because it would just be a big black blob.