My dad found this cool tank at a swap meet. I plan on running it on my 26 ford modified. The guy told him it was a tank from a ww2 aircraft. Im thinking later than that. It reads on the side alcohol only?? To de-ice wings? The other side reads remove before combat... cool !!The top has a cool fuel gauge operated by a float on a rod that controlls a needle in the guage. So to see my fuel level I can just look over my shoulder. Im wondering if it was a tank on a de iceng machine? Or something used to start up a aircraft before take off to save in flight fuel? It's only 15or 20 gallons so I dont think its big enough to be used in flight. Any ideas? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I don't know either but it's cool as hell. I hope you're not going to paint over the lettering. If ever there were a piece that needed to just be sprayed a flat clear, this is it.
If it had a data plate with a part number, that would help. Alcohol is used as a deicer fluid but a lot of prop driven planes used the stuff over the years. The TO appears to be from 1965.
Ok I'll look tomorrow closer for a id plate. I didn't see one today, but I could have missed it. Thanks for your help. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
A guy I met was a quality engineer at Lockheed in the 50-80 s. He said he has a source that may tell him what plane this deiceing tank is from. He said it was from large plain like a bomber or transporter craft. It would have been removed before entering unfriendly skies. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
That sounds reasonable, you didn't want 15 gallons of alcohol in the plane with you when you were getting shot at. If my dad were still alive he could probably take one look at that tank and tell you exactly what it came out of. .
I'd be worried about clear coating it without some way of improving the adhesion to oxidized aluminum. When it starts peeling off it will look like hell and probably take the lettering with it. I think I'd just use it like it is. It'll start polishing up around the fill cap where you touch it and should develop a very nice patina. Very cool tank.
I bought that same tank at the LARS swap a couple of years ago. Vietnam era for sure. Still cool. I made it work for my 34 5W. Lots of fuel capacity. 20 gallons. Took up lots of room in my trunk but I don't care. I'll shove my bags behind the seats. Here is my install. ation
You might get that little dent beside the red sticker removed by the guys that pry the dents out of car bodies without breaking the paint. I watched a couple guys doing that dent removal in a Ford dealers lot in Denver a couple years ago. It was amazing.
I noticed that you have a dent in the same place as mine. I have a plan to cover it with some type of plate to hide it.
My father runs a body shop. He has some tools for that will work . I had a motorcycle tank that was smashed we straightened it very nice sll ftom the filler hole. I'll take my time on this and fo the same. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!