Saturday went well, we didn't get quite as much done as we hoped, but we did make a lot of forward progress. Thankfully, the day ended up being quite nice and no thunderstorms so we were able to work a good chunk of the day.
Michael started with the fuel gauge, which did end up needing new holes. Even with the smaller screw heads he couldn't make the existing holes work. While he was trying though, I got to pull out my leather punch kit and start learning how to make holes in rubber gaskets. :-) That was actually kind of fun, once I got past being afraid of hitting my hand with the hammer!
Since we needed new holes, we decided to go back to the original screws, so we pulled out the 10-32 bit and tap and he got the job done. Then he took a look at the tanks and tried to clean out the corner that my short arms couldn't reach. We did our best to remove the top layers of debris and varnish, and then I used the shop-vac to get any particulate up. For now, they are as clean as they are going to get. We'll keep some spare fuel filters on board, but none of us were comfortable putting flammable liquids in the enclosed tank, in the enclosed lazarette, to try and get that next layer of varnish off... We may put in a few gallons of our diesel and then let it sit for a bit and drain it again to see if that helps dissolve and remove any of the stuff before we reconnect it to the fuel feed.
Back to that - we did not quite finish this step. I forgot two important items when preparing for the weekend. Item 1: Hose clamps... for the 3/8" fuel hose. We were able to get the elbow on, and the valves on, but stopped there since we didn't have the clamps to do any of the hose parts. Item 2: wire for the fuel pump (to bleed the system). This week my task will be to get the fuel pump mounted and wired (with a switch), as well as installing the barb for the 3/8 hose and getting the missing items. I will also try to remove and clean the fuel/water separator filter and replace the two fuel filters in the line.
The other project we tried to tackle was the fuel fill. Michael was hoping he would be able to get the hose over the larger side with a combination of heat to warm the hose, and ice to cool the metal, but it wasn't enough and we were not able to get that done. This week I'll need to try and find a machine shop or a metal fabricator and get something done. We have two options there - have them create a new piece - that goes down to 1.5" after the bend, or, have them use a lathe to take the existing metal down closer to 1.5". There is a lot of extra metal (it is a pretty thick piece), so that may be an option, but first I have to find someone who can do it.
With all that, the week is looking pretty full, so I will do as much as I can, and then hopefully Michael can help us wrap up the fuel system and start the engine next weekend! Fingers crossed!
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