VIN 3695 - Dutch Rob's Car

[RobvdVeer]

Good job you found a beer in the fridge

Scared the bejezus out of me - good thing it didn't overheat on the trip with the camera. I really needed that beer.

[RobvdVeer]

I may need to go to serious measures to fix this issue after the summer. Sniff tests, Head Gasket replacement who knows?

[RobvdVeer]

More things.

After putting my car on the jackstands yesterday I noticed some red oil leaking out from the tank plate (frontside raised).

Oh dear, is that brake fluid? A/C oil?

No I don't have red fluids in my car. What the ****?

So this evening I took out the tank plate. Holy crap. The thing was completely filled with wet loose paint flakes. I removed most of it before I could take a picture:

tankplate.jpg (91.05 KiB) Viewed 3103 times

Turns out this was because I had a fuck up refilling my clutch reservoir. The brake fluids had been sitting on that tank plate for about 2 weeks and you can see the result. I will continue to check for leaks, because the brake fluid reservoir looked quite low to me.

To me, this is a serious setback, combined with the possible head gasket issue, and the amazing weather coming up this weekend

[tourettes tony]

get it over here if you can rob and il do head gaskets at Euro-Tec, only cos your a mate tho

[RobvdVeer]

get it over here if you can rob and il do head gaskets at Euro-Tec, only cos your a mate tho

You just made my day. Oh the kiss is figure of speech.

[Dan 6511]

Interesting, who painted it red.

Sorry to hear about the problems Rob.

[RobvdVeer]

Interesting, who painted it red.

Sorry to hear about the problems Rob.

Thank you Dan, it'll be all right. It's just a car.

Anyway, I think some PO removed the tank plate and had it painted with red primer. Strange enough the grey coating was still semi-intact under it. Not any more i must add.

The puddle of brake fluid also touched some bits of the frame coating. Only where the plate connects to the frame fortunately. I will clean up the crap and do a basic 'summer safe' coating on it, only to do it thoroughly this fall.

The outside (bottom side) is coated with black tectyl (well known spray-on black rust preventer, don't know how you call it). It is completely rust free good riddens. I just need to find a way to clean / respray it properly.

Of course all this means I probably won't be driving this weekend, which is the bad bit. I am OK now, glad to find out now than halfway on a ferry.

[RobvdVeer]

More info on the tank plate. Since the weather was nice, i took the day of from work and started on the tank plate. I've stripped all the bad paint and remaining epoxy of the inside. No rust at all.

With the tank plate fully removed, i spent some time under the car to determine the source of the brake fluid leaks. When changing the clutch line, i spilled some, and when refilling the clutch fluid tank, i messed it up again. I cleaned most of it that time, not realising it could've gone on the tank plate. The bad spots on the frame match up with this location.

I am still not sure, because the level of my brake reservoir was quite low. I checked for leaks on the master and didn't find any hints for leakage, not on the cylinder, the reservoir, or right below it.

[dmc4087]

Might be worth adding a few drainage holes in the plate if your car sits up for any length of time.

[RobvdVeer]

Might be worth adding a few drainage holes in the plate if your car sits up for any length of time.

Great tip I'll do that.