New dbl. 38 project for the winter

[8dust]

Well... I have come into a second set of 38's, and none too soon.
Progress has stalled on my first 1944 set, but these look like they have real promise.



They are galvanized and have a 3/4" neck so I feel like I'm ahead of the game already.
Other than looking like they were painted with house paint and a roller ,they look reasonably well maintained. Haven't seen the insides yet. I plan to strip and repaint, maybe a nice classy white



Question - was wondering if anyone could give me some info on the manifold... looks like it has a HP port running horz. on the back side? had not seen that before?





Seperate but related question - can the black plastic knobs, either or both, the top on/off knob or the J-valve knob on a USD solid bar manifold be replaced with metal ones from an older USD manifold or even another brand which used metal knobs???

Thanks, Fred

[Gilldiver]

The ports should be for attachement of a high pressure hose for a SPG, but I don't know how they could be shut off like a K valve can be. The knobs are just about universial and should be switch-able.

[SurfLung]

Nice tanks! They look like the same size Mike Nelson wore on Sea Hunt. Are they made of Balsa wood? Mike always handled his tanks as though they were as light as a feather... Ha! Ha! Just kidding. I don't understand the modern infatuation with humongous single tanks... No style. Your twin 38's are going to be beautiful.

[1969ivan1]

Nice score. Now get a harness and bands from Allan and Rick and you will be golden. Perhaps I will see them in TN this summer at the rock crusher building.

[8dust]

Got the coated set I bought from you back in whenever it was Mr. Rob!

Tried stripping some paint tonight, had forgotten how much I really hate doing that.
Not a good task when it's too cold to open the garage door.
Might have lost a brain cell or two and only cleaned a patch the size of my hand.

[kgehring]

Take them to a sand blaster and have them strip them. Should cost about $25-30.

[8dust]

Take them to a sand blaster and have them strip them. Should cost about $25-30.

Didn’t want to ruin the galvanized coating underneath. Seems like that would take it to bare metal pretty quick?

[kgehring]

Glass bead works well. I have had several tanks stripped with out damage to the Galvanizing.

[Gilldiver]

Glass bead works well. I have had several tanks stripped with out damage to the Galvanizing.

Wallnut or Plastic Media Blast (PMB) will also work

[8dust]

Starting to look like something if I do say so.
Best part is that the insides are clean as clean can be!!!!!!!!!!!!



While waiting to hear back from a few local strippers, I just kept at it a bit every night. At least it wasn't a tedious as some fancy fireplace mantle or carved wood chair. Gave up on the brain cells and got some of that aircraft stripper. Sweet Jesus that stuff is strong. Got a tiny slurp on my wrist while taking off my gloves and thought it was going to eat clear down to the bone before I could make it to the sink.
They are pretty well cleaned up now. Might make one more pass with a 3M pad instead of a plastic scraper to make sure the last of the primer is off.

As far as repainting goes, I did a thread search on powder coating, but didn't find anything too specific. What would seem to be the current thoughts on that? Bad idea to heat up the tank? OK if you use a "low temp" powder? OK to do a standard 400 deg. bake? What's the best alternative coating? If I'm going to the trouble, I'd like them to look really nice and hold up fairly well. Should I go over the galv. with a fresher layer, then prime, paint, and topcoat? Just prime and paint?

At the end of the day, I'd like them to be white. Of the 50+ whites on the market, has anyone got a favorite to suggest? I've never seen an original old Voit tank, but my impression is that their white wasn't too brilliant or stark, just off a shade or two one direction or another. Could be too that the photos I've seen weren't that great.

The plan is to use some black coated steel bands with a black mil. harness, and an extra USD solid bar manifold I have. I think they should look pretty skippy.

[DaleC]

I'm following along as I have some VOIT 72's in need of redoing.

[Gilldiver]

Aircraft stripper usually has Methylene Chloride in it, great stuff for stripping paint but real heavy on the body – carcinogenic, poison, burns skin, gives a good high which can be followed by a real bad headache ….

In other words, use it but only outside.

[crimediver]

Good project. I need to trip over a set of 38's.
I would stay away from powder coat. Heating tanks is a bad idea from anything I have ever read or heard as it could make the tank prone to rupturing. Even a low heat might have a harmful effect. I am sure if a fill station operator realized a tank was powder coated the may refuse to fill it.

[8dust]

What was the line from Fast Times at Ridgemont High... "yea it can cause brain damage, but only if you do it like every day for a week..." or something like that.

Not real good working outside weather here at the moment, but the upside is that I wasn't very smart to begin with...

Only lasting effect would seem to be I can't get the smell of ammonia out of my nose yet.
With any luck, I'm out of the business.

I know I have read somewhere reference to people powdercoating... I'm up for other good options too... don't hold back everyone...

[1969ivan1]

I wonder if anyone has ever tried to dip or coat the tanks in that tool handle coating stuff (dont know the name). My impression of the original white Voit tanks is that they always seemed to be coated with a similar sort of "paint." The paint was/is so thick on them that many hydro places grind off a patch to make room for the stamp. ONce you get them painted white or black u can score some of those cheveron Voit tank decals and they will be the deal!